McDaniels' Run Game Gamble Failed. Here's Who Else Is to Blame.

Josh McDaniels came to Jacksonville with a clear philosophy: establish the run, keep Drake Maye's training wheels on in the passing game. It was conservative football built on the idea that you don't need to ask a young quarterback to do everything. The problem? It didn't work. And while the offensive coordinator deserves scrutiny for the scheme, the blame doesn't stop there.

This offense has systemic issues. The offensive line and running backs share responsibility for a ground game that never found its footing. You can't scheme your way around poor execution in the trenches. Rhamondre Stevenson and the rest of the backfield weren't consistently winning at the point of attack, and the protection wasn't consistently there either. When your foundation crumbles, even conservative play-calling looks doomed.

But here's the harder truth: keeping Maye on a short leash might have actually made things worse. If Drake Maye is your franchise guy—and the organization clearly believes he is—you need to let him operate. Handcuffing a young talent's decision-making while the run game sputters creates a third-down nightmare. Defenses load the box. Maye gets pressured. Nothing works.

The Patriots have Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf running this show now, and they'll need to make a choice fast: either fix the blocking schemes and get the run game executing, or unleash Maye and play to his strengths. You can't split the difference and expect to compete. The training wheels experiment in Jacksonville proved that much.