Patriots' Josh McDaniels Reveals Biggest Ravens Challenge

Accordingly, McDaniels is cognizant of the challenges which lay ahead for his team during this upcoming prime time matchup in Baltimore. Per his acknowledgment, the Pats’ OC must keep his offense on point for a complete, four-quarter effort — an accomplishment which eluded New England during its Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

After opening the contest with 21 unanswered points, the Patriots squandered a 17-point halftime lead by surrendering five straight touchdown drives in an eventual 35-31 loss at Gillette Stadium. McDaniels knows all too well that a similar output by his offense will result in another costly loss for a team attempting to earn its first playoff berth since 2021. In order to reverse the trend, the turnaround must start with his strategy.

“We never really got into a good rhythm in the second half, and that’s my job,” McDaniels said of New England’s recent loss to the Bills. “When you play with a lead, you fight that human nature to relax and want to have done enough … We will figure it out and be better this week.”

Despite their dismal second-half effort, New England’s ability to make plays must begin with getting quarterback Drake Maye into situations in which he may utilize multiple weapons. As such, McDaniels and his staff will make a concerted effort to keep their offense on the field. By doing so, the Patriots would like to increase the snap count of players such as receiver Stefon Diggs and running back TreVeyon Henderson — who logged 26 and 25 snaps on offense, respectively.

“There’s a lot of guys that got fewer snaps [last week] because we didn’t earn enough snaps in the game, McDaniels admitted. “And so we look at it - Stef’s done a great job. And so whether it’s Stef or TreVeyon, who played in the 20s [snap count] - I’d love for TreVeyon to play in the 50s. But when you only have 50 plays, it’s hard for us to establish that volume for any one player.”