Patriots X-Factor: Player or Coach?
If Bill O'Brien is going to ever earn a second shot at being an NFL head coach, his best path to doing so may be to lead the New England Patriots' offense to a drastic year-over-year improvement relative to what it was a season ago under the leadership of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.
O'Brien is back for his second stint as offensive coordinator in New England, a post he previously held in 2011. As he tries to clean up the mess that Patricia and Judge -- seemingly more the former than the latter -- left, CBS Sports recently listed O'Brien as the x-factor for the entire offense in New England:
"There was perhaps no offense in football more broken last year than that of the Patriots under Matt Patricia. O'Brien should at least restore competence to the proceedings, but can he deliver more than that?"
After an impressive rookie season in the offense of Josh McDaniels -- who left to become the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders -- quarterback Mac Jones regressed in his second NFL season. While there were always questions about how high of ceiling Jones had, he finished second in Offensive Rookie of the Year Award voting in 2021. In 2022, he tossed 14 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, and by about November, it was abundantly clear he was not comfortable with Patricia and Judge leading the offense.
As CBS said, O'Brien should be able to get New England's offense back to looking competent. But it's hard to see New England's path to being much better than that. Rhamondre Stevenson is a promising third-year running back, and New England added bounce-back candidate Mike Gesicki in free agency, potentially setting up an elite tight end duo with Hunter Henry. But relative to the skill-position talent that the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets have in the AFC East, the Patriots clearly look to be the weakest link in terms of what they have around Jones.
Of course, New England continues to wait on the free-agent decision by three-time All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins, who could bolster the team's receiving corps. At 31, it's unclear whether Hopkins can still be the top target for a contending team, but the best way to find out may be to reunite him with O'Brien.
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