Getty New England Patriots, WR, Jakobi Meyers
The New England Patriots showed some signs of improvement on offense in their 17-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1. However, one of the team’s leaders shared some concerns with NFL.com’s Mike Giardi ahead of the game.
According to Giardi, wide receiver, Jakobi Meyers was asked about Patriots assistant Matt Patricia’s offense. The fourth-year receiver said: “I question what the plan is sometimes, and how we’re going to attack.”
Here’s a look at Giardi’s report with the quote:
Crisis of confidence? The #Patriots are doing their level best but…my report.
A Week 2 Turnaround for the Patriots Doesn’t Change the Narrative
Meyers led the team in receptions in each of the Patriots’ first two games of the season. He had 4 in the loss to the Miami Dolphins for 55 yards and 9 big catches in Sunday’s win over the Steelers for 95 yards. Meyers’ overall improvement since he entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019 is nothing short of amazing.
Meyers has been productive, so it is tough to take his comments as anything besides a truth bomb. Considering that his comments match what most have thought when watching the Patriots’ offense through training camp, preseason, and the Week 1 debacle against the Dolphins, it would appear Meyers is simply being more candid than we’re used to seeing from any New England player.
It’s important to note that these comments from Meyers came before the Patriots defeated the Steelers on Sunday. However, while Meyers had some moments and Nelson Agholor finally came alive for the Patriots eclipsing 100 yards receiving, the Patriots offense didn’t look like a well-oiled version of Bill Walsh’s West-Coast offense against Pittsburgh.
It simply wasn’t as inept as it was a week before against a team playing without its best defensive player. The Steelers were without all-world edge defender TJ Watt, who is recovering from a pectoral injury.
On the positive side, the Patriots offensive line performed exponentially better in Week 2. It gave quarterback Mac Jones a bit more time to throw throughout the game, but most impressively, the O-Line helped to usher the running game to a dominant second-half performance.
Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris dominated the Steelers with a punishing ground game that sealed the win with the Patriots looking to salt away the final minutes of the contest on the road.
The Patriots’ Biggest Issue on Offense is a Lack of Playmakers
Chances are, Meyers might be a little less critical if asked the same question after the game, but one win doesn’t remedy the uncertainty he made reference to before the first victory of the season. Talent, especially at the skill positions, is an issue for the Patriots. That’s no disrespect to any of the guys on offense working hard to improve.
Meyers is a legit, above-average NFL wide receiver with excellent hands, toughness, and the ability to read defenses. He’d be a solid No. 2 on a team with a legit No. 1 and an outstanding No. 3 on a team with an excellent pair of outside wide receivers.
Unfortunately, that’s not the team profile fitting for the Patriots at the moment. DeVante Parker was brought in to become the team’s No. 1 wide receiver, but he has been a non-factor through two games. After securing just one reception in the loss to his former team in Week 1, Parker was shut out on Sunday as he had just two targets. One of those passes was an ill-advised throw from Jones that the Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick picked off.
Let’s not also forget that Jones hasn’t been good through two games. He’s consistently making bad decisions. His lack of arm strength and accuracy on any pass longer than 20-25 yards is even more of an issue because he’s not surrounded by the kind of talent at WR, TE, and on the O-Line that he had in college at Alabama.
If the Patriots make it two wins in a row and grab a win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3, this talk will quiet down, but for now, Meyers’ comments are even more interesting and poignant–despite the Week 2 win.