The Patriots’ offense is stuck in neutral, and the biggest reason is staring them right in the face: they can’t run the ball.
After getting rolled by the Jaguars, 35-6, in Week 3, New England once again looked like a team that had no answer when things went sideways. A week after beating the Steelers, the Patriots were back to turning the ball over and getting almost nothing from the ground game. That combination has dragged the offense down and put Drake Maye in a tougher spot every snap.
Maye’s play has been rough so far, with bad decisions and mistakes piling up. But the problem goes deeper than the quarterback.
When the run game disappears, the pressure on him spikes, and the errors follow. That’s where Mike Vrabel comes in.
The piece of the operation that needs the most immediate attention is the one up front, and it’s on the 2025 Coach of the Year to fix it before things get even uglier in Foxborough.
The offseason was supposed to help. Instead, it barely moved the needle.
New England did land a top receiver in A.J. Brown and used its first-round pick on offensive tackle Caleb Lomu.
But Lomu is already filling in at guard, stepping in for both Mike Onwenu and Greg Van Roten, who are injured now. None of that has translated into a functional rushing attack.
Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson have both been left working with little room to operate. Henderson has 99 yards in two games and a 4.1-yard average, boosted heavily by a 39-yard touchdown run against Pittsburgh.
Against Jacksonville, he managed just 23 yards on eight carries, a 2.9-yard average. Stevenson hasn’t done much better.
He has 116 yards on 31 carries, a 3.7-yard average, and no touchdowns in three games. He was held to 22 yards on seven carries against Jacksonville.
The issue isn’t just the backs. The line isn’t creating lanes.
That was already a problem in 2025, when four of the five offensive linemen returned after the unit allowed 47 sacks and still couldn’t run block effectively. The Patriots’ personnel department didn’t overhaul the group the way it needed to, and the result has been more of the same.
The starters weren’t good enough, the depth isn’t good enough, and the injuries have only exposed how thin the whole thing is.
That leaves Maye dealing with too much pressure and too many broken plays, which is how the mistakes start to snowball. The offense can’t stay on schedule, and without a run game, it’s hard to imagine that changing on its own.
The schedule hasn’t helped. New England opened with four 2025 playoff teams in its first four games, and three of those matchups were on the road. A 2-2 start was always going to be a challenge, and now a 1-3 start looks likely with Buffalo waiting in Week 4 and Josh Allen on deck.
Right now, the prognosis is bleak. Maye is struggling, the run game is missing, protection is shaky, and the offensive coordinator hasn’t shown a clear answer for the line or for using Maye’s dual-threat ability to help the offense. If Vrabel doesn’t take control and push for a new direction, including help for the offensive line, the Patriots are headed for a long season.
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