The New England Patriots' 30-13 loss to San Francisco 49ers on Sunday was ugly on multiple levels. But if you ask Patriots Insider Phil Perry, the most concerning part of their game is still the offense.
New England mustered just 216 total yards at Levi's Stadium. The team has scored one touchdown in the last eight quarters and ranks 31st in the NFL in points scored per game (13.0), dead last in passing yards per game (112.3) and 30th in yards per play (4.0).
Put another way:
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"They're completely punchless offensively," Perry said Sunday night on Patriots Postgame Live following the game.
While the Patriots' offensive line deserves plenty of the blame -- the unit allowed six sacks and 10 quarterback hits on Sunday -- the team also took an ultra-conservative approach that highlighted its lack of skill-position playmakers.
"This is the kind of game where, you know what, it would be a good thing to have (49ers wide receiver) Brandon Aiyuk on your side," Perry said. "Because they are going to get down in these games. Unless you can tell me they're going to play with an even score or from ahead the rest of the season, they're gonna have to figure out a way to push it down the field."
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New England had just two offensive plays longer than 20 yards on Sunday, one of which was a checkdown to Antonio Gibson that the running back took 50 yards on a busted coverage by San Francisco. When starter Jacoby Brissett did attempt to throw the ball deep, they weren't in ideal situations, such as a fourth-quarter deep shot to a double-covered Ja'Lynn Polk on fourth-and-4 that Polk hauled in but couldn't stay in bounds.
But as Brissett pointed out to Perry, the Patriots were in such a big hole at that point that he had to take a shot.
"I talked to Jacoby Brissett after the game about that long fourth-and-(4) attempt deep down the field," Perry said. "Wasn't sure about the decision there, but basically he said, 'Yeah, they were playing us tight, they were playing us short, they were ready to jump everything that we had through the air.'
"They just don't have any dynamic playmakers to be able to stretch the field to make themselves in any way, shape or form any kind of diverse offense that can come back from any kind of deficit."
As Perry noted, Patriots pass-catchers traveled an average of just 3.1 yards down the field on Brissett's completed passes, which ranked second-to-last among all QBs in Week 4 behind only Denver's Bo Nix, who had negative-7 passing yards at halftime against the New York Jets.
"That is comically short," Perry added. "... They have to find a way to push the ball down the field. They just don't have the people to do it."
The Patriots have a multi-layered problem on offense; not only do they have a porous offensive line that's putting Brissett under constant duress, but they also lack any semblance of a game-changing wide receiver who can put pressure on the defense and make plays downfield.
Add it all up, and it's easy to see why the Patriots are 1-3, regardless of how well their defense plays.
Check out more analysis from Perry in the video below or on YouTube.