The New England Patriots have shown they can move the ball and put points on the board, but their recent performances have exposed a problem that keeps putting them in difficult positions. Falling behind early has forced Mike Vrabel’s team to spend too much time chasing games instead of controlling them.

Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden believes the Patriots need to address that habit before it costs them again.

Jon Gruden Urges Mike Vrabel’s Patriots to Fix Their Slow Starts

Gruden shared his assessment in a video on X, pointing out that New England’s overall offensive production has not been the problem.

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, who led the team to a Super Bowl XXXVII victory, believes the Patriots must translate that production into better openings.

“The Patriots’ offense averages 23.4 points per game. That’s 14th in the league. They’re eighth in total offense. It’s a credit to them,” Gruden said. “They average 369 yards a game, rank 10th in rushing and ninth in passing. But they have to resolve the slow starts. There’s nothing worse than a slow start.”

He then highlighted how New England has fallen behind in recent games. Against Green Bay in Week 9, the Patriots allowed a 17-0 lead after a difficult opening stretch.

Their previous two games followed a similar pattern, with Chicago taking an early 10-0 advantage and Miami leading 13-3 at halftime. The team ranks 16th in PFN NFL Defense Impact%20assigns,red%20zone%20and%20third%20downs.) with a 74.1 grade.

“I mean, hell’s bells. Their first 15 plays of the game, a lot of negative things happened, and they fell behind 17-0 to the Packers,” Gruden said. “The week before that, they were down 13-3 to Miami at halftime. The week before that, they were down just like that, 10-0 to the Chicago Bears.”

New England recovered to beat Miami 24-19, but its comeback efforts could not prevent losses to Chicago and Green Bay.

The Packers handed New England a 45-27 defeat, scoring the most points any visiting team has managed against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Drake Maye threw an interception on his first pass and finished with 3 interceptions in all, bringing his season total to 11.

Gruden believes the Patriots need to take control from the opening drive rather than rely on second-half rallies.

“They have to start faster, get a lead, man, so they can dictate things,” he said.

The criticism comes as New England tries to regain its form after a 14-3 season and a Super Bowl LX appearance in Vrabel’s first year. The Patriots are now 5-4 and sit second in the AFC East, with turnovers and penalties adding to their problems.

Their next challenge is a Week 10 matchup against the 6-2 Detroit Lions in Munich, Germany.