Here’s the problem with the state of the Patriots.

There are too many problems to count.

Talent. Coaching. Roster construction.

Fundamentals. Penalties. Mixed messaging and more.

So where to begin with an eye on 2025?

Start here, with the definitive ranking of the Patriots’ on-field problems heading into a critical offseason where the franchise must identify and institute some solutions.

1. Offensive talent

As always in the NFL, talent wins. Or, in the Patriots’ case, keeps them from competing.

If it weren’t for Drake Maye, no GM in the NFL would swap rosters with the Patriots. Even with Maye, it’s a risky proposition.

The Patriots don’t employ a starting-caliber offensive tackle and arguably just one starting-caliber offensive linemen. No wide receiver on this roster ranks above a No. 3 option on an average offense, or scares any defensive coordinator. Both position groups rank among the worst, if not the worst, in the NFL. No wonder the Pats are the league’s only team not to score 25 points this season.

You could argue both positions need a complete overhaul over the next 12-16 months, with only one player deserving to stay in each room (Mike Onwenu and DeMario Douglas).

If the Patriots’ chief problem, indeed, was coaching, they would have stumbled into a few more touchdowns by now; individual greatness breaking through surrounding mediocrity. Instead, all of their best plays have been Maye masterpieces: from the 12-second, game-tying touchdown at Tennessee; 40-yard, pinpoint touchdown to Kayshon Boutte in his starting debut versus Houston; and fourth-and-15 conversion at Miami on a wing and a prayer.

That’s talent, real talent, and the only talent they can count on.

2. Development

Name a player who’s demonstrated appreciable improvement this season.

There’s Maye, Christian Gonzalez, and …?

Perhaps Keion White, though he has one sack since Week 2. Young safety Marte Mapu, selected right after White, has gone from playing 100% of the snaps in his season debut to multi-time healthy scratch. Another 2023 draft pick, Kayshon Boutte, has been a roller-coaster in a better statistical season.

None of the offensive linemen have progressed. That’s on coaching.

3. Defensive coaching

New England Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington faces reporters before an NFL practice on Thursday, Sept. 5 in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Even during the dog days of the Bill Belichick era, you could always bank on a sturdy defense.

Jerod Mayo promised that would continue in September, gloating about how the Patriots would “always have a good run defense” after they upset Cincinnati in Week 1. Let’s check on that.

The Pats’ run defense ranks 29th by DVOA, 21st in yards allowed per game and 20th by EPA. The Patriots have been failed by their coaches on this side of the ball more than offense, for the simple fact there is more talent available to them. Not to mention the missed tackles, poor angles and constant cycle of communication issues that dogged them as recently as last weekend.

Never before have the Patriots suffered from so many fundamental breakdowns this late in the season. Not to mention, the secondary packs plenty of talent; from Gonzalez, Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and others. It’s a new era with new problems that start with Mayo and rookie defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington.

4. Defensive talent

New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) warms up against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Gonzalez is the lone blue-chip talent on the defensive depth chart, and even an elite cornerback can’t stop the Pats from plummeting into the bottom five of the league by advanced metrics like DVOA and EPA. Even by more basic measures, like points allowed per drive and turnover percentage, the Pats rank bottom 10. They stink.

Christian Barmore’s blood clots have been an unfortunate health scare for him, and bad bounce for the team. Barmore and Gonzalez are the only tentpole players on this side of the ball, with White’s trajectory still unclear and veterans like Dugger, Peppers, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai are closer to above average than Pro Bowl-caliber.

Meanwhile, front-seven players like Daniel Ekuale, Anfernee Jennings, Christian Elliss and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. are being asked to play all three downs and surpassing career highs in snaps. And don’t forget Raekwon McMillan (released), Joshua Uche (traded), Jaquelin Roy (street free agent) and Sione Takitaki, who have all played at least 15% of snaps this season.

It should be better than this, but the ceiling was never as high as once believed.

5. Game management

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo watches during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

I had no clue how the Patriots arrived at their game plans to win last weekend in Arizona, especially coming off a bye. Countless screens on offense, which kept Maye’s rocket arm in its holster, and a season-low blitz rate for the NFL’s worst quarterback against the blitz. That wasn’t the first set of head-scratching plans we’ve seen this season.

Van Pelt’s conservative play-calling is, to a small degree, understandable given issues with pass protection. But the predictability is a problem, as is Mayo’s overly cautious game management. Too few fourth-down attempts and too many punts and long field goal tries.

The Patriots must chase winning, not wait for it to fall into their laps.

6. Culture

The starting left tackle quit on the team.

The new veteran wide receiver left midseason in a “mutual decision.”

Several receivers have expressed dismay over the play-calling, including two-time offender Boutte as recently as last weekend.

Veteran defenders have called each other out, while Mayo shields that unit from criticism and goes in on his offense. Asked why the defense has fallen so far this season, Mayo chalked up the Patriots’ struggles to injuries Monday on WEEI.

“I would say early on, we felt pretty good about the (defenders) we had out there. You look at the first game… you had (Ja’Whuan) Bentley out there… you had the safeties rolling… Obviously (Christian) Barmore wasn’t there… those things have obviously hurt us,” Mayo said. “Now, not making excuses and the other guys have definitely stepped up and tried to fill those roles, but those things definitely take a toll and just gotta be better.”

Where is the accountability? Or lessons learned?

7. Infrastructure

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft keeps an eye on Rhamondre Stevenson during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Take it from the players.

The Patriots ranked 29th out of 32 organizations, per the NFLPA Report Card released last February. The report card, otherwise known as a player survey about working conditions, specifically hammered their weight room (F grade), ownership (D-plus) and training staff and training room. The Patriots also ranked dead last in cash spending over the 10 years prior to Mayo taking over as head coach and Eliot Wolf as de facto GM.

8. Offseason errors

Ostensibly, Eliot Wolf’s goal last spring was to reset in Year 1 of a rebuild.

Offload bad contracts, dump veterans who won’t play and trigger a youth movement while stockpiling draft picks.

Wolf had some hits: signing Antonio Gibson and Austin Hooper in free agency, and netting Drake Maye atop the draft. Hitting on Maye means more than any combination of signings or draft picks will for the foreseeable future. That’s the power of the quarterback position, and specifically franchise quarterbacks.

But Maye, so far, is the only hit in a draft, which has cause for concern moving forward. For example, if the Patriots had stuck at No. 34 overall in the second round and selected Ladd McConkey, the whole season trajectory may have changed. McConkey has thrived with similar opportunity in Los Angeles, where the Chargers’ receiving corps is just as unthreatening as the Patriots.

Instead, the Pats moved back and took Ja’Lynn Polk. Through 14 games, Polk has a dozen catches, still can’t run his routes consistently enough and is mired in a historically bad rookie season. Meanwhile, the Pats still don’t have any answers or even insights into their other rookies from Caedan Wallace to Javon Baker, Layden Robinson, Marcellas Dial and Joe Milton.

Not to mention, Wolf failed to rebuild the same offensive line that undercut the Patriots’ 2023 season, and has since been charged with protecting Maye, the face of the franchise. Stocking that position with mid-round picks and low-level free agents was inexcusable in real time.

9. Desirability

The Patriots hired the 12th candidate they interviewed for their offensive coordinator position last January.

Calvin Ridley passed on the Pats as a free agent in March.

Brandon Aiyuk shot down a trade to New England in August.

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If the Patriots fire Mayo and/or a coordinator or two next month, who wants to work for such a fickle ownership group as this? Who wants to play here?

Maye, unfortunately, is the only selling point, aside from whatever bags of cash the Patriots intend to send at their free-agent targets this spring.

10. Media missteps

As others have noted, ex-Patriots assistant Joe Judge once talked his way out of being the head coach of the Giants by pairing disastrous play with equally disastrous press conferences at the end his second season. Mayo may be walking a similar path.

Mayo has walked back several comments this season, after calling out his team, offensive coordinator and delivered mixed messages about his quarterbacks. He’s also made innumerable excuses for his defense. This has exacerbated his poor performance, which was to be expected to a degree, considering Mayo had only coached for five years before this season.

Mayo appears to have a grip on this lately, keeping all answers short and varying degrees of salty during his last press conference on Friday morning.

Smart move. But will it be too little, too late?

Quote of the Week

“No, I’m not concerned. My main concern is the guys in the locker room on a day-after-day basis, the people that know me. Again, it’s all about this game here.” — Head coach Jerod Mayo