Bill O’Brien On Pats Slow Starts: It’s About Finishing Drives

Bill O’Brien says the New England Patriots’ passing game ‘has to improve’ following their 0 – 2 start to the season.

The offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach says the offense has been ‘stalling’, resulting in slow starts to games.

So far, New England has failed to score in the first quarter of both games they’ve played this season. The offense appears to click once they’re playing catch-up. However, 16 – 0 and 10 – 0 deficits have proven too difficult to overcome.

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“For us, I think it’s about finishing drives,” Bill O’Brien said on Tuesday, via the Boston Herald. 

“I think we moved the ball at times, I’m not saying we moved the ball all the time, but we moved the ball at times. But we’re inconsistent. We have to coach it better and try to get to be more consistent and finish drives. We get in there and we drive the ball 30-40 yards and then we stall, so we have to do a better job of stringing plays together to be able to finish drives.”

Against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, the Patriots didn’t have a single passing play of 14 yards or more. 

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“The start of the games, we’ve moved the ball and something’s happened, whether it was a pick-six or a sack like what happened the past weekend,” Bill O’Brien said. 

“I do think we have the right idea when it comes to opening these games, but again, we have to be able to string the plays along so that we can come down and get points and not stall around midfield. So we’re working hard to figure that out and hopefully that’ll improve. It has to improve.”