Jets' Sauce Gardner Praises(?) Patriots' 'Simple' Offense?
Through two games, the New England Patriots' offense is still trying to find its groove.
Now under the leadership of Bill O'Brien, the offense has shown some positive signs. Namely, quarterback Mac Jones has looked much better than he did last year, completing 68.8 percent of his passes for 547 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other hand, many of the issues that plagued the offense last year still remain. The run game has been anemic, the offensive line has been prone to lapses and turnovers have been crippling. Even the positive of Jones' bounce back comes with the asterisk of him being forced to throw often because the Patriots have trailed for most of their first two games.
Already staring down an 0-2 start, life doesn't get any easier with a road match against the New York Jets looming on Sunday. The Jets may have lost much of their offensive punch with quarterback Aaron Rodgers out for the season, but their defense remains one of the league's best.
Ahead of the Week 3 matchup, Jets star cornerback and reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner gave an interesting take on the Patriots' offense.
“They don't really have a complex offense," Gardner told reporters. "It's pretty simple for the quarterback to get. The gap scheme, everything is really simple. But they excel at it. What they try to do is get other people to mess up and make mistakes. They just do everything right.”
It's easy to take Gardner's remarks as a weak attempt at praise, but he's not wrong in his assessment. O'Brien's scheme is on the simple side, but that's to help take some of the pressure off of his offense. The results haven't been there yet, but should become more apparent with time.
Gardner represents a matchup challenge for any offense, especially one that's struggled as much as New England's. For the Patriots to win on Sunday, keeping a constant eye on the young cornerback is critical.
"He’s a good player, really long, good ball skills," Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters. "You make a mistake around him, he’s going to turn it over. Defensive rookie of the year last year, 20 pass breakups or whatever it was. He’s definitely a problem. He’s over 6-2, athletic kid with good ball skills. He’s a hard guy to throw on."
The Patriots have won 14 straight games over their AFC East rivals, but getting to 15 in a row won't be easy as they enter the game as only slight favorites.
