In a crushing blow to the team’s offensive line, New England Patriots center David Andrews suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during this weekend’s 30-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Andrews, tied for the longest-tenured player on the team with long snapper Joe Cardona, has been a mainstay for the Patriots up front, starting 121 games since signing as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Georgia back in 2015.
However, Andrews has also missed 27 games over his ten-year career prior to this injury due to a combination of factors. In order to determine the affect having Andrews in the lineup has on the Patriots, BetMassachusetts.com used its Massachusetts sports betting mindset to evaluate the team’s performance with him in the lineup versus on the sideline throughout his time in Foxborough. Here are what the splits look like:
How Do Patriots Perform When David Andrews Is Injured?
The data below may prove to be useful if you plan on placing Patriots bets on Massachusetts sports betting apps for the rest of this NFL season.
| With Andrews | Without Andrews |
W-L Record | 74-50 | 18-9 |
Win Percentage | 0.597 | 0.667 |
Average PPG | 23.2 PPG | 25.5 PPG |
While New England’s numbers without Andrews over the past ten years are actually better than when he is playing, it is important to contextualize why this is the case. The majority of Andrews's missed time came in 2019 when he was sidelined for the season with a pulmonary embolism. The Patriots went 12-4 that year, averaging 26.3 points per game in what turned out to be Tom Brady’s final season with the franchise.
Patriots Without Andrews Outside of Tom Brady Era
Outside of 2019, the Patriots are just 6-5 without Andrews and the scoring splits vary widely based on who was playing quarterback. In the four of those eleven games featuring Brady, New England averaged 30 points per game and never scored less than 24 despite only going 2-2. While non-Brady QBs have gone 4-3 without Andrews, the Patriots averaged just 22.9 points per game in those contests, exceeding 30 points only once.
The 2019 season Andrews missed was also one of the lowest-scoring seasons of the Patriots dynasty era. New England’s 420 total points that year was the fewest they had scored since 2008 when Matt Cassel started at quarterback following Brady’s torn ACL and MCL in the first quarter of the season’s first game. From 2015 to 2018, the Patriots averaged 28.1 points per game, never finishing worse than fourth in the league in scoring (New England was seventh in scoring in 2019).
Since 2020, the Patriots’ overall scoring average is down to 20.3 points per game and that is heavily inflated by the team’s 2021 performance where they scored 462 points, 98 more than in any other post-Brady season. New England averaged a meager 13.9 points per game last year, tied with Carolina for the worst mark in the league, on their way to a 4-13 record.
Things have not started off much better for the Patriots offensively this year either. Through four weeks, New England has recorded a mere 52 points, the second-fewest in the league ahead of only Miami. The Patriots rank last in total offense and have thrown for just 449 yards, 95 fewer passing yards than the league’s next-worst aerial attack (the Los Angeles Chargers).
FanDuel Massachusetts Sportsbook currently lists New England as a +370 favorite to finish with the NFL’s worst regular season record. The 1-3 Patriots are expected to be underdogs in every remaining game.
Author
Josh Markowitz is a freelance writer for BetMassachusetts.com. He is a lifelong sports fan with an emphasis on basketball, football, baseball, and the scouting/evaluation process. A graduate of Elon University's School of Communications, Josh also has experience in television production.
