Pats Pulpit Reacts: Fans identify O-line as the biggest problem for the Patriots offense

Despite the New England Patriots standing at 6-4 heading into their Thanksgiving matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, they are faced with plenty of questions — especially on the offensive side of the ball. The unit, frankly, has not been good this season and struggled the last few weeks in particular.

As a result, the New England offense entered Week 12 ranked just 23rd in the NFL in scoring (18.5/game), 25th in yards (317.6/game) and expected points added (-0.061/play), and 29th in giveaways (17). It has had its moments but they were few and far between recently.

What is the biggest issue for the group, though? According to Patriots fans participating in the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, the answer is the offensive line.

53 percent of participants identified the position group led by assistant coaches Matt Patricia and Billy Yates as the main concern. While the unit looked solid earlier in the year, the wheels have recently started to come off due to a combination of performance and injury issues.

While it appears the thigh injury suffered by center David Andrews is not as serious as initially feared, the group as a whole is still facing plenty of questions. And before those get answered, it will continue to stand as one of the biggest concerns the Patriots have.

Elsewhere in SB Nation Reacts territory, we can see that Patriots fan confidence continues to be relatively low. Whereas 44 percent of the fanbase felt good about the direction the team is headed coming out of the bye, that number decreased slightly down to 40 percent — despite New England beating he New York Jets in Week 11.

However, the 10-3 victory was more of the same: defense and special teams held up their ends of the bargain, while the offense continued to struggle. The unit put up only one field goal in a game that was won on a last-second Marcus Jones punt return.

Given that, and the fact that the upcoming opponent is coming off a 40-3 beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, it is no surprise that NFL fans are not necessarily thrilled about Patriots-Vikings taking the primetime slot on Thanksgiving: only 20 percent expressed enthusiasm for the game.

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