Post Bye week - How to fix Red zone offense

[p8ryts]

This week also the offense sputtered and if not for the running game , it might not have been as close as it was .

Looked at stats and saw that both diggs and Boutte have been relatively quiet the month of November and leading up to December sans the jets game .

Against better defenses or experienced coordinators we seem to balk.

I feel the red zone woes are more to do with the fact that they don't want maye to turnover thereby limiting tight windows throws as well as possible options.

What are we doing to help build yac in short yardage zone defenses outside of diggs. If diggs is blanketed we just don't seem to have an alternate game .

We have benefited from deep passes to hollins and few of break away runs of hendo . But we are not able to do the short passes to.move the chains . I strongly feel this is achilles heel of the offense. Even when they did the last drive against buffalo , maye is looking for deep passes as opposed to finding someone intermediate and getting those chunk yards. Either our receivers are not running those routes or maybe is not seeing them.

I think we need to seriously look into our red zone woes on both sides . If we want to go deep in playoffs , we need to get our act together .

The short routes were breaking open. Boutte catches the ball, doesn't get many opportunities. We don't seem to use Pop much in the slot or even use him much.

 

[Toofy]

The short routes were breaking open. Boutte catches the ball, doesn't get many opportunities. We don't seem to use Pop much in the slot or even use him much.

I just feel if short passes are not something that Maye is good at. Sometimes you need to take options that defense gives you. With Maye it's either deep passes or deep runs nothing in the short intermediate areas.

Is there an issue with multiple read options .

 

[Vindicate]

I just feel if short passes are not something that Maye is good at. Sometimes you need to take options that defense gives you. With Maye it's either deep passes or deep runs nothing in the short intermediate areas.

Is there an issue with multiple read options .

McDaniels is known for his "bucket" approach, where he adds something new to the QB's list of responsibilities/skills to work on. It could be that McDaniels wanted to tailor an offense that catered to Maye's strengths first, and will start working on these lesser-developed skills as the opportunity comes, particularly as defenses start to force Maye to figure it out - and we could be seeing that soon.

What is great, though, is this is still year whatever of the rebuild, which we've been able to see in this teams limitations: our run blocking is rough, not great, and that alone really limits the level of offense you can employ. It's the same story for defense: our developing LB/safety corps isn't where we need them, and THEN our primary run defenders are absent. Highly limits what the defense can do.

 

[p8ryts]

I just feel if short passes are not something that Maye is good at. Sometimes you need to take options that defense gives you. With Maye it's either deep passes or deep runs nothing in the short intermediate areas.

Is there an issue with multiple read options .

I think he could be and is good at them, just doesn't do them often enough or maybe value them enough.

 

[Ring 6]

I just feel if short passes are not something that Maye is good at. Sometimes you need to take options that defense gives you. With Maye it's either deep passes or deep runs nothing in the short intermediate areas.

Is there an issue with multiple read options .

That is completely false. The vast majority of Mayes throws are under 10 yards downfield.

 

[Ring 6]

I think he could be and is good at them, just doesn't do them often enough or maybe value them enough.

Average depth of throw for Maye is 8.9 yards.
Average depth of completion is 7.4 (because completions percentage are higher on shorter throws for all QBs)

2025 New England Patriots Advanced Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2025 New England Patriots Advanced Stats including passing, rushing, receiving, defense stats and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[Ring 6]

Average depth of throw for Maye is 8.9 yards.
Average depth of completion is 7.4 (because completions percentage are higher on shorter throws for all QBs)

2025 New England Patriots Advanced Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2025 New England Patriots Advanced Stats including passing, rushing, receiving, defense stats and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

For comparison 2018 Brady was 7.9 and 6.0

So Maye is throwing the ball 1 yard further downfield than Mr get rid of the ball quickly.

These stats are only available 2018 and forward and I chose 2018 instead of 2019 because of Brady’s elbow injury and depleted wr room.