Why should Belichick get a pass?

[SVN]

Because of what you said. He won 4 SB's for us and this season is coming of a SB yr with a tumultous off season.For most teams this would be a pass yr and enjoy the ride type of yr. Personally i dont care what happens this yr. But here, one call makes "BB an average coach who is riding Brady's coattails since 2001" according to someone in the game thread today. And that was not even the OT call. NE fans love when sky is falling and kill their coaches and teams on first instance. 2 weeks ago after the eagles loss some were wondering if jets might win the division if they lose to houston and tennesse! .This red sox phenomenon is not as prevelant with the pats but doesnt take long resurface. We have to be perfect and no other team can make a single play vs us, otherwise we are **** with coach and player having lost it.
Regarding BB's "whats best for the team" , thats been his call for 15 yrs. it ends debates and stops further probing and questioning. he has operated that way for yrs.

 

[Bruins29]

BB has said they needed better coaching many times.

Yep, its obvious PatsRuleNFL dosent really pay attention to the details NTTIAWWI. BB is usually pretty clear in every loss that the coaching could have been better. He says it all the time.

Whatever, this is what happens when you put knowledgeable NFL Pats fans on a public forum with all other types of posters. Frustration sets in quickly.

 

[PF_SU]

In OT -It was 3rd and 4 at the Jets 26 and the Pats just stopped the Jets - but wait PI on Butler. If they do not throw the flag on Butler the Jets punt and Pats will likely get the ball back somewhere around their own 35 and only need 30 or so yards to be in FG range. Obviously the plan to kick in OT was bad in hindsight but at the time it was logical particularly with the way the OL was playing.

Wasn't that at the end of the fourth quarter?

That said, I kind of get the decision to kick off. Just look at the performance of the offense today:

1) 5 plays for 27 yards plus a punt.
2) 3 plays for 7 yards plus a punt
3) 11 plays for 69 yards plus a FG
4) chose to run out the clock at the end of the half
5) 3 plays for 25 yards plus an interception
6) 7 plays for 54 yards plus a FG
7) 3 plays for a loss of 2 yards plus a punt
8) 8 plays for 23 yards plus a punt
9) 11 plays 66 yards - TD

They only scored one touchdown in eight drives they actually tried to score - and they needed to go on fourth down for that. Obviously in OT you won't go for it on a 4th and 9, so for the purpose of gambling the chances in OT you have to consider that working with three downs you were 0-for-8 trying to score a TD. Meanwhile the D held the Jets to 2-for-10 in trying to get a TD in regulation, so it was a understandable gamble. In the optimal case you hold the Jets and get a short field for a game-winning FG.

 

[stcjones]

Certainly NOT BB's or the rest of the coaches finest hour today. BBs decision to kick it away today in OT is not only one of the dumbest decisions that he has made....it goes down as one of the worst calls made by ANY coach that I can recall. I am thinking of Norv Turner when I see replays of Slater carrying out BBs wishes.....just absolutely mind numbing how a genius like BB could go all "Marty Schottenheimer" all of a sudden today! Anyways hopefully he got all the brain farts out of his system.....

Let me be clear, I consider Belichick to be the best coach in the game by a long margin just like everyone else, however, some of his decision making make no sense to me. One of the primary reasons why I like Belichick is because he thinks analytically (myself being a mathematician).

He looks at all possible outcomes and selects the best possible one for the team at that moment. However, there are some decisions that he makes which to me makes no sense at all. I believe there are better options available at those situation.

1. What was the point of wasting a timeout at the end of regulation time, when the clock was already stopped.
2. Why did he go for a blocked punt formation and not keep a punt returner? It's hard to block a punt when the blockers already know it. With a good return and a timeout we could have atleast tried a 50 yard FG with the best kicker in the game.
3. Why did he chose to kick the ball in OT? His answer is "It's best for the team". WTF does that mean? It clearly isn't. The Pats couldn't stop the Jets for most of the game and he suddenly realized he could stop them? You get the ball and try to score. The defense then knows what it needs to do.
4. Why was there no urgency at the end of the half when we had over a minute left? I understand that we were banged up, but with this banged up team we wouldn't have scored at the start of the 2nd half either. What's the point of playing if you are not confident in your team. Just take out Brady, Gronk and all the starters and put in the 2nd stringers.

I find it irritating that Bill never (or atleast I've never heard him say) says "I made a mistake with that call". It's always "What's best for the team", when clearly it's not the case in some situations. I'm no coach and I'm criticizing a 6 time SB champion coach, but just because he has won 6 superbowls doesn't mean that every decision he makes is the right one.

\end rant

 

[Sicilian]

Belichick certainly doesn't get a pass. But considering how rarely these things happen (compared to other coaches) he also gets the benefit of the doubt.

 

[stcjones]

Pats almost always struggle in Miami.....ALL the pressure is now on the Pats.....Miami will be playing THEIR Super Bowl .....I can see this blunderous decision by BB coming back to bite this team. We shall see...

This team left everything until the final day. I hope they don't get burned in miami. Miami sucks but you let them hang around and anything can happen. The refs can screwed u.

 

[venecol]

Certainly NOT BB's or the rest of the coaches finest hour today. BBs decision to kick it away today in OT is not only one of the dumbest decisions that he has made....it goes down as one of the worst calls made by ANY coach that I can recall. I am thinking of Norv Turner when I see replays of Slater carrying out BBs wishes.....just absolutely mind numbing how a genius like BB could go all "Marty Schottenheimer" all of a sudden today! Anyways hopefully he got all the brain farts out of his system.....

BB has done this before and it paid dividends. Not sure why you think that every coaching decision needs to be perfect or it becomes "one of the worst calls made by ANY coach that I can recall."

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Certainly NOT BB's or the rest of the coaches finest hour today. BBs decision to kick it away today in OT is not only one of the dumbest decisions that he has made....it goes down as one of the worst calls made by ANY coach that I can recall. I am thinking of Norv Turner when I see replays of Slater carrying out BBs wishes.....just absolutely mind numbing how a genius like BB could go all "Marty Schottenheimer" all of a sudden today! Anyways hopefully he got all the brain farts out of his system.....

I didn't hear BB's presser. Seems morel like a mistake (by Slater to me) and BB not throwing his guys under the bus and taking the heat off his player.

Losing always sucks and glad we aren't used to it, but the hand-wringing that goes on is highly dramatic.

To me, BB stepped up with TO's twice today to stop the team from running bad plays and they were key moments (or bad times to have terrible plays). Until I see a coach who consistently better prepared and puts his players in a position to win, I'll keep giving him the benefit of the doubt and the occasional, he's human.

His job is to win games (which means get us into the post season really) and that goal has been accomplished. 1 game isn't his focus (even if he makes sure the team thinks that way).

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Here's what I think Belichick was thinking:

1. Offense not playing well enough to score a touchdown with decent probability. So if we can force a punt, then only have to score a field goal to win.

2. If they score a field goal first, then always get 4 downs to match them and score at least a field goal.

3. Key is not to get Brady killed given a makeshift DLine and also not get Gronk hurt. That explains their overall caution at the end of the half and in overtime.

 

[venecol]

Is it me or does there seem to be a lot of posters that usually don't start threads starting a bunch of troll threads?

 

[AzPatsFan]

Totally agreed.

..........................................

Love Bill. But he's human and makes mistakes. He made mistakes that cost us today.

I understand exactly what he did and why.

1) the offense was beat up and probably could not sustain a long drive;

2) The defense was in better shape.

3) His strategy was for the Defense to hold them, receive a punt near midfield. move 15-20 yards, and let Gostkowski kick the winner.

Not a bad strategy. The strategy didn't work.

 

[aluminum seats]

Wasn't that at the end of the fourth quarter?

That said, I kind of get the decision to kick off. Just look at the performance of the offense today:

1) 5 plays for 27 yards plus a punt.
2) 3 plays for 7 yards plus a punt
3) 11 plays for 69 yards plus a FG
4) chose to run out the clock at the end of the half
5) 3 plays for 25 yards plus an interception
6) 7 plays for 54 yards plus a FG
7) 3 plays for a loss of 2 yards plus a punt
8) 8 plays for 23 yards plus a punt
9) 11 plays 66 yards - TD

They only scored one touchdown in eight drives they actually tried to score - and they needed to go on fourth down for that. Obviously in OT you won't go for it on a 4th and 9, so for the purpose of gambling the chances in OT you have to consider that working with three downs you were 0-for-8 trying to score a TD. Meanwhile the D held the Jets to 2-for-10 in trying to get a TD in regulation, so it was a understandable gamble. In the optimal case you hold the Jets and get a short field for a game-winning FG.

Exactly. You lay it out well. I was actually hoping the Pats would lose the coin toss, which would take the silly controversy off the table if things didn't work out.

Kicking in OT allows the other team to score a TD to win, this is true. But it's a benefit to the kicking team in every other way--I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. Today it was definitely the better call, and as others have noted, it would have worked if not for Butler's PI.

 

[Concussion Protocol]

After he watched the clock run down before the Butler pick in the SB, I thought he had lost his mind. Looked from my couch like a horrendous decision. After hearing the explanation and seeing video of him calmly monitoring things from the sideline before that fateful play, I realized that he is seeing and feeling things from ground level that I cannot. I still disagree with some decisions (end of first half today), but I don't dwell on it. He's got his finger on the pulse of the team, I have my finger on the "last" button so I can check red zone during commercial breaks.

 

[stcjones]

I think unfortunately it comes down of course to injuries that we have suffered on both sides....but also it reflects his personnel decisions on the depth players that is most glaring. A lot of the backup OL players are marginal at best....and this has ALWAYS been a weakness for Belichick. Secondly the lack of BIG GAME receivers has really LIMITED this offense. When Edelman is your WR offense....and PRIMARILY HE and Gronk ARE your ONLY consistent Receiving threats.....you are going to have struggles....especially when one goes down....and the other gets doubled much of the game. I think Martin can be a decent weapon....and Danny if he can make it back...but otherwise.....what do we have? Lafell is awful this year....just awful. Have NO CONFIDENCE in the guy. My feeling is that we are really one dimensional.....no deep threat .....weak OL and going to be a hard road to get back to the big dance..,.

Wasn't that at the end of the fourth quarter?

That said, I kind of get the decision to kick off. Just look at the performance of the offense today:

1) 5 plays for 27 yards plus a punt.
2) 3 plays for 7 yards plus a punt
3) 11 plays for 69 yards plus a FG
4) chose to run out the clock at the end of the half
5) 3 plays for 25 yards plus an interception
6) 7 plays for 54 yards plus a FG
7) 3 plays for a loss of 2 yards plus a punt
8) 8 plays for 23 yards plus a punt
9) 11 plays 66 yards - TD

They only scored one touchdown in eight drives they actually tried to score - and they needed to go on fourth down for that. Obviously in OT you won't go for it on a 4th and 9, so for the purpose of gambling the chances in OT you have to consider that working with three downs you were 0-for-8 trying to score a TD. Meanwhile the D held the Jets to 2-for-10 in trying to get a TD in regulation, so it was a understandable gamble. In the optimal case you hold the Jets and get a short field for a game-winning FG.

 

[glm]

Certainly NOT BB's or the rest of the coaches finest hour today. BBs decision to kick it away today in OT is not only one of the dumbest decisions that he has made....it goes down as one of the worst calls made by ANY coach that I can recall. I am thinking of Norv Turner when I see replays of Slater carrying out BBs wishes.....just absolutely mind numbing how a genius like BB could go all "Marty Schottenheimer" all of a sudden today! Anyways hopefully he got all the brain farts out of his system.....

This post is all kinds of stupid.

 

[Bruins29]

Is it me or does there seem to be a lot of posters that usually don't start threads starting a bunch of troll threads?

That and the usual suspects that only show up after a loss, like Jimke, brweskies etc... Isnt it obvious by now what these posters are all about? You barely hear anything from them when things are going fine.

Just losers projecting their loserdom here when its convenient.

 

[fair catch fryar]

He doesn't get a pass and deserves the blame for that. I think he'll be the first to tell you that. The biggest difference is that he doesn't dwell on it and moves on to the next opponent utilizing his time to plan for it. In the end, he doesn't give a rat's *** what you or anyone thinks because quite frankly, why should he?

 

[borg]

I'll try here:

1). He wanted to make sure the Pats had the right alignment/personnel/play call and needed extra time to get everyone on the same page.

2). He played the percentages; plus, the punt went into the end zone for a touchback. I was OK with that choice.

3). With the offense on shaky ground with all the injuries, he felt he had a better chance of winning by putting the defense out there to ultimately force a punt and then win with a field goal.

4). This one I couldn't figure out myself, but the Pats have been doing this a lot the last few games. I think it's just a lack of confidence that good things can happen and a concern that something might backfire.

 

[The_Riddler]

Frustrating that at times he tries to put himself and his decisions to look smart because the decision is "out of the box" and against the percentages above the team.

That OT decision to take the ball out of the hands of a HOF QB who would have loved nothing more than to lead his team down to a game winning FG against his hated rivals and has done it on so many occasions is beyond any kind of explanation.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Certainly NOT BB's or the rest of the coaches finest hour today. BBs decision to kick it away today in OT is not only one of the dumbest decisions that he has made....it goes down as one of the worst calls made by ANY coach that I can recall. I am thinking of Norv Turner when I see replays of Slater carrying out BBs wishes.....just absolutely mind numbing how a genius like BB could go all "Marty Schottenheimer" all of a sudden today! Anyways hopefully he got all the brain farts out of his system.....

Y'all are pure goofballs !!!!!!