Patriots' Paltry Passing Offense: NFL's Most 'Underperforming'?

Sports Illustrated picked New England's passing offense as one of the NFL's biggest underperforming units.

In 2023, the New England Patriots finished with their fewest wins since 1992 and missed the postseason for the third time in four years. 

Head coach Bill Belichick and New England parted ways after 24 seasons and now Jeron Mayo takes over with arduous task of bringing the Patriots back to relevancy. 

After a 4-13 season, Sports Illustrated picked New England's passing offense as one of the NFL's biggest underperforming units. The list is created by comparing the final figures to preseason expectations of specific position groups/units and an entire team has never been selected before.

Wrote SI:

"With New England bringing back offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien (who's known for dialing up creative play-action passes), the Patriots expected a bounce-back year from QB Mac Jones (who enjoyed a promising rookie season in 2021, when play-action passes were a key part of the game plan).

"Furthermore, with high expectations for the rushing offense, there was legit optimism for the 2023 Pats' offense. But the season was an abject failure on that side of the ball, ultimately helping to end the Bill Belichick era in New England."

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The other underperforming units in the NFL this season? The Carolina Panthers offensive line, Los Angeles Chargers secondary, Philadelphia Eagles secondary and the Atlanta Falcons passing offense.

On the flip side, the overperforming units: The Detroit Lions offense, Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing offense, the Houston Texans entire team, Los Angeles Rams offensive/defensive front and the Kansas City Chiefs defense.

Now, the Patriots join the other 29 NFL teams in watching the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers battle to earn the Super Bowl LVIII title on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Patriots are tied for the most Super Bowl wins (6) in NFL history. To get back to Lombardi Trophy dreams, New England must solve its quarterback dilemma.  

The Patriots currently have Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe and Nathan Rourke on the roster, none of which figure to be the long-term answer at starting quarterback. The Patriots have the No. 3 overall selection in the  2024 NFL Draft and Mayo has hinted at using the pick on a signal caller. 

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