Alex Van Pelt: Patriots offense is ‘multiple’ and ‘versatile’

Coming out of Sunday’s 16-10 win for the Patriots in Cincinnati , one thing was abundantly clear - the Patriots came in with a plan to run the football.

But don’t let 40 rushing attempts for 170 yards in Week 1 fool you, according to this Patriots coaching staff. This team can sling it, too - if they need to.

“I think that’s one of our identities as an offense,” said Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt during his Thursday media availability. “For us, when we talk about being multiple and versatile, again, always talk about putting our players in the best place to make them successful, the best situations to make them successful, and using their skill sets.

“I told the guys in the room, ‘We might run it 40 times this week and throw it 40 times the next week based on the defense.' So, I’m very confident in our group.”

Of course, all we have to go on at the moment is one week of game tape. If we’re just working with the material from Week 1, it would be hard to co-sign on Van Pelt’s assertion of their offense jumping from pound-the-rock to air raid.

Patriots starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed just 15 balls in the victory, only throwing for 121 yards and no touchdowns through the air.

While Brissett was only sacked once, he was on the move in the pocket all game thanks to a Bengals pass rush led by Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson. Hendrickson was so disruptive early, it led to the Patriots benching their starting left tackle, Chuks Okorafor, in the middle of their second series.

Becoming a team capable of switching back-and-forth between pounding the rock and airing it out will require a much better effort from the offensive line, and Patriots offensive line coach Scott Peters told the media on Thursday that his unit still has “a lot of room to grow.”

“We did OK,” said Peters of his O-line’s effort on Sunday. “We have a lot of room to grow, and the guys know that. And I think that when you put a new crew of guys, and it’s a little bit of a hodge-podge there, you’re trying to get guys comfortable, obviously, with the system. But then, where they fit within that system.

“So when you move people around, communication - it should all be very good, because the guys understand it well. But then you got young players, and a mish-mash of different guys. So you’re gonna have some of that. I think continuity’s something we’re aiming to build, and that, again, comes with development and performance. Because we’re always kind of looking to get the best guys out there, and there’s guys that are kind of pushing from below.”

Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but Peters’ boss is still very confident in his offense’s ability to switch it up if need be.

“I’m very confident in this group,” said Van Pelt. “I think our skill group is a talented group. We don’t have any huge names outside at receiver, but we got a bunch of guys that make good football plays. So we’re confident in those guys.”

In their limited attempts to get the passing game going on Sunday, one of those guys they tried working the ball to was veteran wide receiver K.J. Osborn, who led all pass catchers with 6 targets in Week 1. He came away with 3 catches for 21 yards.

When asked about their offense’s ability to be multiple moving forward, Osborn said the team is capable of doing “whatever we need to do to win the game.”

“Last week, the game plan was to run the ball, because we felt like we could exploit them there,” said Osborn. “You know this week, the game plan will be different. The week after that will be different. So whatever we need to do to win the game, that’s the type of team we have. A very unselfish team, and we’re able to do that and go execute and hopefully get a win.”

If the Patriots are to be “multiple” in 2024 - given the current construction of this roster, you have to imagine a consistent passing game involving players out of the backfield will have to be a major factor.

To quote Van Pelt, the receiving core is lacking “huge names.” And to quote Peters, the offensive line still has “room to grow.” Having sure-handed running backs to work into the offense is a great way to mitigate these deficiencies.

The Patriots have a couple of running backs in Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson who are more than capable of filling this role in 2024.

In 2022, Stevenson led the team in catches with 69 on 88 targets. That total dropped to 38 balls in 2023, but the running back played in five less games that season.

Gibson - the fifth-year running back in his first season with the Patriots - has never had a season as prolific as Stevenson’s 2022 catching the ball, but has consistently been able to make big plays in the receiving game.

Gibson has averaged 7.5 yards per catch for his career, almost a full yard more than Stevenson. He’s caught at least 40 balls each of the last three seasons - with a career-high of 48 coming in 2023 - and he catches nearly 81% of his targets, compared to Stevenson at 77.5%.

And in 2022, he had a 73-yard touchdown catch against the Bills that had fantasy football owners sprinting to their waiver wires.

When I asked Gibson on Thursday if he felt like he could be the security blanket for this offense catching the ball out of the backfield this season, he said, “Definitely, but I’m not just gonna sit here and act like we don’t got a whole bunch of people out here.”

“You got the receivers that do their job well,” said the former Commander. “And you know, I do my job well, too. But, you know, whatever the game plan goes and however that fall, however that may lay - you know, at the end of the day, man, I told myself this year, I’m focused on winning.

“I haven’t been a part of that in my career, so my biggest thing is winning right now. So whatever they need me to do - if that’s catching, running, protection, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

We’ll see if Gibson can start the season 2-0 for only the second time in his career on Sunday, as the Patriots host the Seattle Seahawks in their home opener .

BetMGM currently lists the Patriots as 3.5-point underdogs.

That game kicks off at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX.