Josh McDaniels Hints At Different Patriots Game Plan For Week 2 Game

The New England Patriots won their season opener against the Miami Dolphins all while relying on a run-focused offense. The Pats offense was read-option-centric and big on heavy personnel. It looks like the team is willing to make some changes. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels shared some details about the Patriots game plan for the upcoming contest.

New England kept the ball on the ground in Week 1, but McDaniels is willing to take a different approach in Seattle.

“It’s more of a function of what we feel like is best to do against the specific opponent that we were playing,” McDaniels told media members in a video conference. “I know we did some things that we really haven’t done much of around here for a long time — or maybe ever — but I think that’s just a function of using the players that you have to the best of your ability against the opponent and scheme that you’re playing.

“I would say we’re going to be in the same boat that we always are, which is we try to adjust appropriately, change from week to week based on what we feel like gives us the best chance to have success.”

Josh McDaniels and other Patriots coaches may change their game plan

Patriots players had 42 rushing attempts and 217 rushing yards in the 21-11 win over the Miami Dolphins. This was much more than they recorded in any game in 2019. Veteran quarterback Cam Newton led Patriots rushers with 15 carries for 75 yards and two scores. He attempted just 19 passes and that’s the fewest by a Patriots signal-caller in a full match since Jacoby Brisett’s 19 attempts against Houston in 2016.

Only one match in Belichick’s time with the team had fewer pass attempts. It was the 2008 game against the Buffalo Bills. Matt Cassel threw just eight passes in that game.

“I was thinking about this the other day: We’ve been a part of games where we’ve thrown it 65 times,” McDaniels explained. “That’s difficult to sustain for a long stretch of time. We’ve had games where we’ve run it an inordinate amount of times. I mean, I’ve called over 50-some runs at different times in my career here. No matter what it is you do one week, you’d better be ready to handle a totally different challenge the next week.

“And I would say there’s probably not a greater discrepancy between two different types of defenses than the two that we’re playing here to start the season. So I know we saw some new things (in Week 1). Again, it’s a function of what we felt like we could do best against Miami. Now we’re working hard to figure out what’s going to be in that bucket here for Sunday night against Seattle.”

Seattle plays smart

The Seahawks do a Cover 3 scheme. They allowed 450 passing yards to Matt Ryan in Week 1. It was a big win over the Atlanta Falcons, and a 38-25 win seems a bit scary. Many of the passing yards happened while the Seahawks were up big in the second half of the contest.

If New England engage in an air-based attack in Seattle, Pats pass-catchers will need to elevate their production. This doesn’t apply to veteran wideout Julian Edelman.

Jules was able to catch five passes on seven targets for team-high 57 yards in Week 1. He played half of the team’s offensive snaps after seeing limited activity in practice due to a knee injury.