There is nothing I hate more than the "blame the coordinator" game everyone plays after a loss. Here are things that played big roles in the loss today that McDaniels had absolutely nothing to do with:
- Brady's ball getting tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted on the first offensive play.
- Hernandez hurting his ankle on the third offensive play of the game and losing him for the rest of the game and much longer.
- A block punt that gave the Cards a two yard TD drive.
- Stephen Gregory hitting the ball carrier two yards out of bounds that gave the Cards excellent field position on their only TD drive of any significant length.
- Brady overthrowing a wide open Gronkowski in the endzone on a deep pass.
- Welker dropping a crucial third down reception that hit him in his hands.
- Gronkowski holding (or the refs calling BS holding call) on what would have been the winning TD at the end of the game.
- The BS false start on Aiken on the snap of the field goal attempt in the second quarter that if the call was correctly called as defensive offsides, the Pats would have had first and goal on the 6 yard line.
There are tons of reasons why the Pats lost this game. The coaching staff was just one of them.
Great list. I just rewatched the game. I would add the following moments as huge points in the game as well:
- Right after the Pats got a fumble from Kolb and took over at their own 48 with 3:04 left in the 2nd quarter, they ran the following plays:
1-10 (N48) - fake end-around, looking for a deep ball, Brady gets buried for a 10-yard sack
2-20 (N38) - false start penalty on Thomas
2-25 (N33) - another pass play, Arizona ran a simple stunt and the Pats' OL looked pathetic, Brady gets sacked for a 7-yard loss
So instead of producing points, the Pats went completely backward, ruining excellent field position. In fact, on two Arizona turnovers, both of which gave the Pats the ball in great field position, the Patriots netted *ZERO* points from them. That's hard to believe.
- First drive of the 3rd quarter, after a great play from Brady-to-Welker, and then another first down, they had a 1st and 10 from the Cardinals' 33. But then from there, Brady threw three straight incompletions, only one of which was even a decent throw. Settled for a FG but that drive went from great to nothing in a heartbeat.
- After the Pats gave up the short TD following the blocked punt, they went on a really nice drive, taking the ball down to the Arizona 30, where they faced a 3rd and 6. Already in field goal position, what do they do? Run a pitch to the right to Woodhead, and Thomas whiffed completely on a block, and the result was a 9-yard loss. So not only did they not get a first down, they were taken out of field goal range, and they ended up with zero points.
- Arizona's next possession, after an obvious holding call set them back for a 2nd and 18 from their 28, Kolb hits Heap for 28 yards, plus a personal foul penalty on Gregory. Blame Gregory, fine, but if he doesn't get called for that, they had a personal foul on Spikes for roughing the passer anyway. A nice little 43 yard gain on 2nd and 18. Suddenly the ball is down to the Patriot 29. Quite a change of field position.
Now, I will say this about those penalties. Gregory's play was pretty dumb. But there's no way the call should have been made against Spikes. They ruled it a blow to the head, but there was absolutely no blow to the head at all. Just re-watched it five times. No contact with the head at all.
Moreover, the Pats should have had Kolb for a sack. Love and Ninkovich had good shots at him, but they let him slip through. Just a terrible play all the way around. And it was huge. Instead of a 10-yard sack it was a 43-yard gain (penalty included). Enormous.
- Responding to the second Arizona TD, the Pats immediately zip down the field...completions to Lloyd, Gronkowski, and Lloyd makes it 2nd and 1 from the Cardinal 39. Again, getting ready to score. But then an incompletion (Lloyd drop) and then a 4-yard loss by Ridley on 3rd and 1 forces another punt. Ugh....
- Midway through the fourth quarter, the Pats again moving the ball, have it at the Arizona 35, 1st and 10. Brady throws incomplete to Welker, Woodhead gets no gain, and then Brady throws incomplete to Gronkowski, and have to settle for a long FG.
- Two-point conversion play. I'm sorry, but if Gronk is going to get called for the hold on the Woodhead TD, then they *have* to call a penalty on Rhodes for holding onto Gronkowski for the entire route.
- Last drive after miraculously getting the ball back. Obviously, the holding penalty was just......unbelievable. But then, after a nice gain by Welker put the ball on the 18, I didn't have a problem with the Patriots playing it conservatively there. The key was the false start by Gronk. It would have been a chip shot 35 yard field goal from the 18, but the penalty pushed them back. So after the penalty, I would have tried to advance the ball. But really, Ghost had had a tremendous game up to that point, so I can understand not wanting to risk a turnover and putting the game in the hands (er...feet) of Gostkowski. Until that last kick, for his career he's made 137 of 158 field goals from 49 yards and in. That's 86.7% accuracy, for those of you scoring at home. The Patriots went with the percentages. It didn't work out.
So many plays left out on the field that preceded Gostkowski's last miss. If they play like this again, they'll get steamrolled by Baltimore. But I think you don't see too many poor performances like this by the Patriots in back-to-back games.
