How the Patriots Offense Got Back on Track in Week 16

The Patriots' offense looked far better than they have all season on Saturday. But what caused them to have so much success?

This season, the New England Patriots equipped themselves with several targets that do entirely different things and have entirely different play styles. However, their strengths weren't being utilized, the blocking from their once great offensive line from a year ago dipped down dramatically, and their was little to nothing going on in the run game. That is why for most of November and early December New England struggled to move the ball offensively, and in result lost to the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, and Kansas City Chiefs.  

But last Saturday was a turn for the better. The creativity reappeared on offense during the Patriots' 24-17 win over Buffalo, getting many players involved, which opened up every facet of the offense and allowed them to score points against a top Bills defense. 

But how exactly did they go about moving the ball consistently against their division rivals? Let's take a look: 

Short to intermediate passes 

One way New England found success was the short to intermediate passing game. This is how Tom Brady started the game 9-for-9, by making short completions and putting his receivers in a spot to make a play. 

On the first drive, Josh McDaniels tricked the Bills by having N'Keal Harry run in motion as if he was running an end around. Tremaine Edmunds, who is suppose to be covering Rex Burkhead if he goes out for a pass, bites on the Harry motion and steps up in Brady's face after realizing Harry did not have the ball. This left Burkhead wide open on the screen pass with room to run. 

Unfortunately, Jordan Poyer made a great play from behind and knocked the ball out of Burkhead's arms, which negated a huge gain on the opening drive. It was a great play call nonetheless. McDaniels knew Buffalo would properly prep for some end arounds to Harry, and they got exposed for guessing wrong. 

New England's tight ends were more involved more than usual. Here is a quick gain to Benjamin Watson, who when thrown to this season has been pretty dependable. He would go on to pick up a third down conversion on Brady's very next pass. 

Matt LaCosse caught his first touchdown as a Patriot. This shows that Brady is starting to build a rapport with some newer targets and is starting to trust them more. 

Fans thought the Patriots would involve Sony Michel in the passing game more this season. Instead, almost every time he was out on the field, the call was either play action pass or run up the middle to Michel. It was a good sign to see him targeted in the last two games. That will create some unpredictability when he is out there. 

This is a prime example of giving your target a shot to make a play with the ball. Here is a short pass to Harry on the perimeter, who is quick and hard to tackle. The results speak for themselves here. 

Lastly, this play design is genius. The Patriots can build off this by not only having Harry and White go out for passes at opposite directions, but also having Julian Edelman run a slant route. There is no way to cover all three guys like that. McDaniels once again uses his player's strengths to the team's advantage. Get Harry the ball in space and let him make a play. 

Buffalo was not a particularly strong tackling team and struggled to tackle on Sunday. Those short to intermediate passes gained a lot of yards after the catch from those missed tackles. 

Brady did not complete a pass above 14 yards and did not need to. Good gameplan and execution here. 

Balance

Brady mentioned after the game that Week 16 was the most balanced New England had been on offense all season. The offensive playcalling was not as predictable as we had seen in prior games. With strong run blocking and a good running by Michel, it was easy to establish the run early on. The rushing attack averaged 4.3 yards per carry on the day and during the game, the Bills struggled to identify what the playcall would be on the pre-snap read. 

Sony Michel played with tremendous contact balance against the Bills and even showed some wiggle at times. Arguably his best game of 2019.

On 4/21 carries, Sony was able to either break a tackle or make someone miss in the backfield. Also did a great job protecting the rock. pic.twitter.com/Y7Ql3bBN5n

— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) December 22, 2019

Blocking

The run game blocking has been leaps and bounds better over the last two games than the rest of the season. Everyone got involved blocking on Saturday, including Brady. 

After Marcus Cannon went down and Marshall Newhouse took his place, many fans rolled their eyes. However, Newhouse actually had his best performance of the year against the Bills. He was even executing pulls and downfield blocks. 

Elandon Roberts did a nice job at fullback in James Develin's absence. He rushed right through the running lanes like a linebacker and instead of delivering a tackle, he delivered vicious blocks. 

Y'all wanna see Elandon Roberts fullback highlights? pic.twitter.com/CjXNq0QZmW

— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) December 22, 2019

Other notable blocks Saturday were from LaCosse, Edelman, and Harry. They all delivered in the blocking game and opened up lanes for Michel. 

#Patriots film: if the Pats can get this kind of effort in the running game from Matt LaCosse consistently it would go a long way. Nice combo block. Bumps the end into Wynn to help him square up his man, then gets up on the safety to carve out a hole for Burkhead. pic.twitter.com/X5ld5Mgi7R

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) December 24, 2019

lol Tre'Davious White was big mad and N'Keal didn't flinch. Just went about his business. pic.twitter.com/JbEBBlH4gc

— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) December 23, 2019

Different looks

The Patriots showed a pistol look Saturday, had two runningback sets, ran several different play action screens and end arounds, and lined Harry up at runningback. Those were not things Buffalo was used to seeing out of their division rivals, and McDaniels knew that in order to win, he would have to reach into his bag of tricks. 

What struggles appear to be gone

The imbalance and predictable playbook were a thing of the last last Saturday. If McDaniels builds off that game and calls the upcoming games like he did against the Bills, the Patriots will be a very successful team moving forward. 

Plays are finally being formulated for players like Burkhead, Harry, Meyers, Michel and Watson, who were all dramatically underutilized throughout the season. Brady has had less pressure on him, which has led to improved decision-making and accuracy. If you scheme up a way to protect a guy like Brady and have success with it, you have a good chance to win ball games. 

If the improvements shown in Week 16 are here to stay, this Patriots team can make the trip to Miami in February. Anything short of that and the light starts to get dimmer very quickly.