New England Patriots: Positives and negatives from 2020 season
New England Patriots Negative: Lack of firepower in the passing attack
Something that has been an area of weakness on the Patriots offense over the last few years has been the lack of talent on the outside of the field and in the passing game.
The passing game and the weapons within it was already an issue in the final few years of Tom Brady’s time in New England and it carried over to the 2020 season with Cam Newton and others taking the field under center.
Over the last few years, the receiving group has been led by Julian Edelman and a few others on the receiving end, but that unit became even more thin throughout this season mainly because of injury issues taking place among multiple players.
As a group, the Patriots finished with a total of just 283 catches (second-least in NFL) for 3,124 yards (third-least in NFL) and 12 touchdowns (tied for least in NFL) receiving, most of which was paced by the running back group and their ability of being able to catch out of the backfield.
The first thing that didn’t help the receiving unit and the passing game in general was the fact that New England’s top two wideouts missed multiple games due to injury. Edelman managed to play only six games in 2020, with N’Keal Harry also missing three games with his own injury issues. Those two players were viewed as the top targets in the passing game coming into the year.
Leading the receiving group this season was Jakobi Meyers with 59 catches for 729 yards, followed by running back James White with 49 catches for 375 yards and one touchdown and Damiere Byrd with 47 receptions for 604 yards and one touchdown.
Harry ended the year with just 33 catches for 309 yards and two touchdowns, with Edelman adding 21 catches for 315 yards in those six games.
Moving forward in 2021 and beyond, New England needs to add some help in the receiving group to help out the struggling passing game. If that doesn’t happen, that unit will once again be a negative at the end of next season as well.