Which Team WIll The Patriots Beat On Sunday?

The Patriots have two games left, one versus Miami and the other versus Buffalo. Even though I think Bridgewater is serviceable, this is a game the Patriots only lose if they beat themselves. 

Rounded up, the Dolphins are allowing 4.3 yards per carry. And 9.7 yards a completion. This is a game where the Patriots need to let the backs loose and let Mac dink and dunk all over the Dolphins defense. And try to play ball control unless the backs break a few long runs and can get a two touchdown lead.

The Patriots are going to need good play from their defensive line for stopping the ball because they're gonna need to drop six or seven into coverage multiple times this game. Continue the bend don't break style defense and wait for the right moment to zero coverage. 

The Patriots have the defensive minds on the coaching staff to manage the game even with injuries. The true concern is the offense. This is a game the offense needs to dictate. It's not a question of can they, it's a question of will they. Unless the zebras get heavily involved, the Patriots only lose this game if they go out and once again, beat themselves.

I have said on more than one occasion that the Patriots are a wildcard team until someone takes their spot from them. Will they let Miami take it? I think this is a game where the players are going to go out of their way to show they belong. So Bill Belichick is going to need to calm them down and keep them focused.

Every game here on out is playoff football for the Patriots and the Patriots can only afford a loss if they get help. However, if they cannot beat Miami, I wouldn't count on them beating Buffalo even if Allen sits. Patriots Nation, how are you feeling?

Former Players Criticize Mac For Things They Would Allow Their Former Star Quarterback And Teammate To Do.

Tom Brady was the quarterback of the Patriots for 20 years. There were many occasions when Tom would be seen bitching and angry. However, the quarterbacks since his departure are not allowed to get angry according to former Patriots alumni.

This season Mac has been clear and visibly angry with the Patriots offensive staff. While the coaches have been around for a while, they're not coaching like an offensive coach would. And Vance Joseph of the Arizona Cardinals called out Matt Patricia before their victory over the Patriots.

Joseph said about the Patriots play calling, "It’s a very conservative pass game. Lots of screens … it’s like a defensive guy is calling offense. It’s how a defensive guy would call offensive plays. Let’s not turn the ball over, let’s get four yards a play, let’s burn clock..."

So Mac Jones may have reason to be upset because he may know or at least understand offensive football better than his coaches. However, here's what former Patriots have had to say.

Vince Wolfork said, "I’m tired of that, honestly. I’m tired of it. You’re the leader of this team. You’re a quarterback. So you can’t be frustrated every single week, every single play. I don’t care if you’re getting the play called in late or whatever it may be. At the end of the day, you have to show some poise because you do operate the ship. You’re the head of the ship when you’re out there. Control what you can control. That’s all you can do. But I’m tired of seeing him throwing a fit and a temper tantrum.”

And Vince's former teammate Julian Edelman said this after the loss to the Cardinals, “He doesn’t practice all the antics after plays, and waving off coaches and all these little pissy faces and stuff. He doesn’t practice that and he does it. Why can’t he make the tackle?”

And former Patriot Ted Johnson had this to say about Mac Jones, "To see a second-year quarterback show up his offensive coordinator…that’s what he was doing. Mac Jones wanted us all to see how frustrated he was with his offensive coordinator in, Matt Patricia. I mean, there’s no other real way to kind of slice it other than that. In the old ecosystem, that would just never happen.”

I get Brady won a few rings in his first few seasons but why was he allowed to get mad and publicly show frustration about the offense throughput his career and Mac Jones who is an intelligent football mind is not. It's either a lack of memory or the former players are being hypocrites.

Granted I would like to see Mac keep things in doors but with three or four weeks left in the season, if complaints are being ignored and things aren't getting better. And your pay is tied to your stats. And you're a captain who's career is in the line, especially when the fans are calling for your backup.

Then as a team leader it's time to call people out publicly or at least show frustration to alert people to a problem and make sure that upper brass knows who's at fault. And hope they step in if the next in command won't take action. What Jones is doing is warranted even if it's not the Patriots way. If Bill is gonna change, than the way is going to change with him.

Denver Could Steal Mayo But They Could Also Steal O'Brien.

The Patriots defense has been good for many years. In 2020 and in 2021 the Patriots had the number two defense. And Steve Belichick and Jarod Mayo have been the brains behind the defense. 2023 may see one of them leave.

The Denver Broncos fired Nathaniel Hackett and Mayo's name has come up as a replacement. Hackett is an offensive coach. Denver fields a top six defense but their offense isn't even a top 20. Hiring Mayo makes little since because they don't need help on defense. 

With the Broncos needing help on offense, if Sean Payton does not become the next head coach, as much as the Patriots might not wanna hear it, Bill O'Brien is a good candidate for the job. O'Brien did well as the coach of the Texans but he was not so good as the general manager. Bringing an offensive mind is needed and he's looking to get back into the NFL reportedly.

The Patriots have had some bad luck when coaches have left. Flores and Josh McDaniels robbed the Patriots staff and Mayo could do the same. The Patriots still haven't recovered on offense. And because Bill hasn't named a defensive coordinator, although unlikely, if Mayo offered Steve the title of defensive coordinator; it would be a promotion. Again, very long odds but improbable doesn't mean impossible.

The 2022 season is not finished yet, however in less than a month, Denver should start looking for their head coach. The Patriots will have to wait to see what the Broncos are planning on until then.

Bill Belichick May Be Hindering His Offense But He's Not Holding His Defense Back.

Bill Belichick gave two statements after the Raiders game about why he didn't throw a hail mary. "It's too far to throw that play in that situation." And “Couldn't throw it that far...” And now he may have some explaining to do. If not to the media, at least to the Krafts.

Against the Raiders to end the game, the Patriots chose not to throw a 55 yard pass. And you read why Bill said they chose not to. However, Mac threw a couple of bombs vs the Bengals. Two traveling at least 53 yards although one ended up being a 48 yard completion. 

The offensive line has not been consistent but it showed it has the capability to buy Mac enough time to escape and throw. So Belichick has some explaining to do because if he wasn't gonna throw it up, why did he allow Stevenson to be put at risk instead of taking a knee and heading into overtime? It's quarterback's job to kneel.

Does Belichick have faith in his offense? Does he have faith in his quarterback? Does he have faith in his pass catchers and offensive line? It doesn't look like it. Last week I thought everything that happened at the end was the players fault but Bill put them in that position.

I don't see anyone in the media with the balls to straight out ask Bill Belichick if he has any faith in his offense. Bill Belichick made a mistake by not bringing in an offensive coordinator to replace Josh McDaniels. 

Honestly, I think Bill thought with the minds he has on the coaching staff, plus Mac and Hoyer, that he had enough offensive intelligence to pull it off. He was wrong.

Let's be real, McDaniels was McVanilla because he wasn't aggressive enough and didn't mix in the right type of passes for Cam. And for Mac, he could've mixed in some as well. I'm talking about deep passes and RPOs. And the team has to understand that if they're gonna throw fifty fifty balls that turnovers will increase but they had Harry and now Parker. If you don't wanna throw picks, you avoid those passes and that's why Harry failed.

Under McDaniels, the pass catchers have seemed to struggle to get separation since 2018, when the team had to rely on Sony Michel, who fans quit on. McDaniels couldn't scheme them open.

Josh McDaniels barely tapped into the ability of his fullbacks ability to catch and had no idea how to use the H-back in the passing game. And I don't think he knew how to use Speedsters like Agholor, Dorsett or Corey Coleman either. It was a track meet for Agholor in 2021 which got guys open underneath but Josh didn't do much else with him.

There were people available for Bill to choose from when McDaniels left. It was said that Belichick didn't want to take a coach from Nick Saben at Alabama, who is a friend of the Patriots long tenured head coach. That doesn't mean other names we're available for at least a season.

Belichick could've signed former Jets and Dolphins head coach Adam Gase for a season while he waited for Bill O'Brien to become available. He could've asked Frank Reich to come in after his termination, Hell, he could've even brought in June Jones for a season when Hawaii purposely screwed him.

The fact is Bill has messed up the offense this season. And he deserves the blame. And it's not the first time Belichick has hindered the offense. In 2020, there were calls to bench Cam with how poor he was playing. Instead of saying of he thought Cam should be benched, here's what than offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had to say:

"That’s Coach’s decision and I honor whatever he makes in terms of those choices. We work as hard as we can to get everybody ready to go. I’ve seen plenty of Jarrett in practice. I see him every day. I’ve seen him for two years. I’m confident that I understand where Jarrett is at in his development.."

McDaniels didn't out right challenge Bill but at the same time, he chose not to endorse starting quarterback Cam Newton and that's all one needs to know. Like Cam or not, in that situation, McDaniels didn't have his back in public. Not saying Stidham would've made a lot of difference but Bill refused to make the change. And that situation is probably one of the reasons when McDaniels was offered the Raiders job, he took it. McDaniels wanted control.

This season the offense has handicapped and regressed Mac Jones and Bill Belichick has reportedly been involved more in the game planning but how much so? And I am a big critic of McDaniels as the offensive coordinator because of play calling but how much was truly his fault?

Here's a few more questions, how much did Bill hold McDaniels back if any on play calling and depth chart moves? And how much is he interfering with Matt Patricia's game planning and play calling? How likely is it that Patricia would be doing a better job on offense with play calling but Bill is stopping him, there is a percentage, so how low is it?

I doubt either McDaniels, Belichick or Patricia will answer that, so we will never know but it's something to keep in mind because it's a possibility regardless of how improbable people might think it is.

And on the other side of the ball. Both Mayo and Steve Belichick are involved in game planning and Steve has been calling plays. So why is Mayo getting all the credit for when the defense does good and why Is Steve Belichick getting all the blame when it doesn't? And why when someone does go to praise Steve for play calling or for how well his unit is doing, people shoot it down and say it's Bill doing?

Also why is Bill getting critized for not firing Steve when there has not been a legit reason to fire his son from play calling duties? Let's be honest. The most likely reason why people want Steve fired is because he's Bill's son and Mayo is a former Patriots linebacker, that's it, there may be other reasons but the odds of them being the main reason are so small that anyone claiming them cannot be taken seriously because it's not enough to warrent Steve being demoted or fired.

Steve did a decent job as a positions coach prior to taking on play calling duties and the defense is still good with him as the play caller. Of course Mayo and Bill get credit for the defense because they're part of the staff and they do their jobs with that side of the ball.

People are scared that Steve might become the next head coach, partly because he might tarnish the Belichick name and partly because it could mean more of the same professional corporate regime and conduct for a decade after Bill leaves. And that is why they are upset about him being Bill's son.

People are tired of the winning culture, they want the disfunction that other teams have for entertainment value and they're willing to sacrifice quality football for it.

So while fans have a legit beef with Bill Belichick over the offense, they have no good reason to be upset at Belichick for not trashing his defense so that fans can have some reality TV bull crap drama to watch.

Echo Chambers And Fans

This is going to be a short article. There are a lot of stories and opinions about the New England Patriots but what I am going to say can be applied to pretty much everything.

There is talk about Belichick possibly being gone next year. Talk about Mac Jones being gone. Talk about Matt Patricia and Joe Judge being gone. Talk about Robert or Johnathan Kraft getting involved and giving ultimatums. And A few other things.

 Can anyone guarantee that anything being said will or will not happen? The answer is no. There is a difference between improbably and impossibility. Certainty and probably. Leave room for possibilities of things going a different way then your opinion. 

With sports there are echo chambers and those chambers criticize each other for being too negative or positive. It's easy to find people who agree with you but that doesn't mean your chamber is right. 

There's a saying I use, expect the worst but hope for the best. It's the same with your opinion, think what you want but keep that other opinions as a possiblity. That way you're not surprised or let down. That's it, thank you for reading and have a good holiday season.

The Patriots Line Is Holding Them Back

The Patriots beat the Cardinals to take hold of the number seven seed on Monday night. It doesn't matter how they won, the fact is they won. Like I have said since training camp, the Patriots are a wild card team until someome forces them out.

Monday night the offense was forced to show it has the talent and the ability to use that talent to be better than what they were. The problem again is their hand was forced and they tried to avoid doing so but couldn't help it at times.

Even if the stopped making penalties and shooting themselves in the foot, and wanted to utilize the talent on offense better they cannot. For one gaping reason.

Whether it's because Matt Patricia is doing double duty, I don't know. The line is too bad. It seemed like on almost every play either the line was getting beat or at least one player was going backwards on the line or letting someone bye.

The way the line is playing, to call a better game the Patriots would have to start playing with seven linemen during passing downs. That's great but it limits the play calling ability and no way they can be successful playing like that.

The Patriots are good enough to sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team but that's it. If they do that, fans should be happy. That's about as good as they can be expected to be. If that's not good enough for you, than stop watch the rest of the season. The team is not divisional round worthy. 

How Bad Truly Is The Offensive Line

Matt Cassel was on with Tom Curran and Phil Perry and was talking about the Patriots offense. He implied that the line was worse than it it, that it's handicapped the offense and that the play calling is due to the offensive line.

The Patriots have been sacked 8% of the time and have been letting Mac Jones get pressured around 40%. And Mac Jones's completion percentage when under pressure is 34%.

There are similarities between the 2019 Patriots and the 2022 Patriots. In the Marshall Newhouse year of 2019 the line was also bad. The left side was an open door. The team couldn't run to the left and Brady was sacked 27 times that season. 

Mac has been sacked 25 times and is lacking the staff that Brady had. Plus Mac isn't as experienced. Like the NBC guys said, that does fall on Belichick. 

If it's the line talent, that's on GM Bill. If it is the line coaching, again it's on Bill. Bill could be sabotaging Patricia as offensive coordinator. If the talent isn't there on the line, Patricia cannot open the playbook. Everything falls on to Bill Belichick.

what areas need improvement for New England

There are holes on the New England Patriots roster. If the Patriots went August with the current roster, here are the areas they need to improve on in no order. Side note, this will not include coaching staff.

The Patriots need a domain pass catcher that can get separation. Doesn't matter if it's a tight end or wide out. They need a guy who can get open.

Jonathan Jones is a good number two corner but he cannot shutdown the top guys. Maybe with five games left, he makes me eat my words but bringing in a number one shutdown corner slides the secondary down by one position.

Both tackle positions need addressing. I like Wynn but the Patriots moved him to right tackle and he cannot cut it and Brown is too inconsistent. They need to bring in guys that can do the job and give Mac time.

How much longer will D-Mac play free Safety? He could retire at the end of the season. Who replaces him? The team needs to get a guy who can fill the role immediately but who can also be a depth piece if McCourty plays in 2023.

Interior lineman Andrews has shown he's a valuable piece but he's also shown the Patriots don't have a starter behind him. And then when Strange is needing to be benched, the Patriots need a guy who can slide from center to guard. 

Interior defensive lineman. The Patriots have Christian Barmore but they still need a pocket disrupting run stiffer. They need a guy for when the team wants to drop into heavy coverage, can handle the line.

Speed linebacker. I like Tavai, Uche and Judon but they need to upgrade at the position with a middle guy that can play side to side. That can also go get the quarterback but also drop into coverage.

The Patriots have a few needs but how many will they address? The Patriots need to finish this season and a lot can change but I still see the same needs come may as I do now.

Patriots Made Buffalo's Job Easy On Thursday Night

The Patriots lost to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, 24 - 10. The problems are mainly one sided and should not be taking place at this point of the season.

I am going to start with defense. The defense's problems were simple and only one can be solved this year. The Patriots need a number one corner which would adjust the secondary and allow them to shut down guys like Diggs. Their other problem was their offense couldn't hang on to the ball forcing them on to the field.

Nick Folk missed a field goal but that wasn't a problem. I saw no issues with special teams. Which leaves the offense.

Mental errors, execution, blocking and separation were all issues against Buffalo. Play calling wasn't bad but Patricia failed to scheme up separation because the pass catchers were struggling to get open by natural talent.

Blocking was a joke and there were too many costly mistakes. Coaching needs to improve as it seems to be lapsed. Mac could've had better ball placement but most of his throws were to covered pass catchers due to separation issues.

Patricia is a bottom third to bottom fourth coordinator. If players were executing and not commiting mistakes, he might be good enough to be an average offensive coordinator at best. He clearly cannot handle doing double duty and it shows. 

If Patricia going to be the offensive coordinator, the Patriots need to hire an offensive line coach. And there has to be someone better currently available.

However, if the Patriots are doing as I suspect and holding the coordinator spot for Bill O'Brian then they may need both. And Bill would probably be better off letting Mac call his own plays for the remainder of the season.

Honestly the Patriots should've just found a way to call a more aggressive Brady offense this season. If the Patriots cannot fix their line and separation issues, the offense will continue to drag this team down and they may find themselves six and eleven at the end of the season.

To Patriots Nation, do not hold any expectations of this team for the remainder of the season. Expect them to lose out and if they win, enjoy it. Just a quick thought with how this season is going. Is this how Belichick tank's? I know most of us think it's above Bill but it's not out of the realm of possibility.