end of first half play calling and my mutilation of a Napoleon quote

I'm almost guaranteeing that I'm mis-quoting Napoleon here. Yes, he was an arrogant db. He wasn't a sarcastic, arrogant db. I'm pretty sure I've put my spin on it.

If you find yourself doing what your opponent wants, maybe you should do something else.

When the Dolphins called time out, did McDaniels pause and reflect on what he was doing?

Don't get me wrong. Unless he knew they'd get a 32 yard return and have time for one 35 yard TD pass attempt, making them use timeouts rather than letting them save one if the pass is incomplete isn't a bad strategy.

Still. Didn't one part of him say, "Hey, this is what they want!"

There were 11 seconds left and Miami had zero timeouts and already in FG range.
A play in the middle of the field would have run out the clock, a pass to the sidelines would have only made an easy FG easier.
For some reason Malcolm Butler decided to let the only deep threat on the field get behind him in that situation.
You don't blame the offensive coordinator for that.

Tedy Bruschi mentioned before that Bill Belichick seeks to eliminate "bad football." The Patriots offense had been playing poorly just before the half and there was little to be gained in throwing the ball down field with such little time left in the half. Belichick figured that he'd stop the bleeding and get to half time knowing that his team will get the ball to start the 2nd half.

Unfortunately, the bad football shifted to special teams and defense and it didn't work out. After thinking about his decision for a day, I think he made the correct decision. He couldn't have known that his special teams would allow a big return and his defense a long TD pass.

Can we stop Blaming McDaniels for everything around here? That was on Bill. Bill is the best head coach ever in my eyes, but played this scenario poorly and admitted that much today. Bill is the head coach of this team and it's very much so a dictatorship. He makes these decisions. I'm not a big McDaniels guy myself but anytime Tom throws a pick, people on this board are calling for McDaniels head. Ludicrous.

I don't get the point. They were trying to get to halftime up 14-6. This was the best shot at that. And quit blaming McDaniels for everything, you can bet your last dollar that Belichick told him to run and keep the clock moving/force timeouts.

New England Pride said:

Can we stop Blaming McDaniels for everything around here? That was on Bill. Bill is the best head coach ever in my eyes and he played this scenario poorly and admitted that much today. Bill is the head coach of this team and its very much so a dictatorship. He makes these decisions. I'm not a big McDaniels guy myself but anytime Tom throws a pick, people on this board are calling for McDaniels head. Ludicrous.

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I don't think BB was saying they should have thrown the ball. I think running was the smart play. The problem was they ran it poorly, then they covered the punt poorly, then allowed a ridiculous TD when it was the only kind of play that could have hurt them.

I can blame McDaniels/BB for use Vereen 3 times instead of a power formation with Develin, extra OL and Gray/Blount. You cant blame McDaniels for the poor special teams play and Butler bad coverage.

New England Pride said:

Can we stop Blaming McDaniels for everything around here? That was on Bill. Bill is the best head coach ever in my eyes, but played this scenario poorly and admitted that much today. Bill is the head coach of this team and it's very much so a dictatorship. He makes these decisions. I'm not a big McDaniels guy myself but anytime Tom throws a pick, people on this board are calling for McDaniels head. Ludicrous.

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BelichickFan said:

I don't get the point. They were trying to get to halftime up 14-6. This was the best shot at that. And quit blaming McDaniels for everything, you can bet your last dollar that Belichick told him to run and keep the clock moving/force timeouts.

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I thank you "esteemed" gentlemen for NOT reading my post.
Especially you Belichick fan. Tell me what part you disagree with AFTER you actually read it.

Let me help your lazy butt out: "Don't get me wrong. Unless he knew they'd get a 32 yard return and have time for one 35 yard TD pass attempt, making them use timeouts rather than letting them save one if the pass is incomplete isn't a bad strategy." What part do you disagree with?

lurker1965 said:

I thank you "esteemed" gentlemen for NOT reading my post.
Especially you Belichick fan. Tell me what part you disagree with AFTER you actually read it.

Let me help your lazy butt out: "Don't get me wrong. Unless he knew they'd get a 32 yard return and have time for one 35 yard TD pass attempt, making them use timeouts rather than letting them save one if the pass is incomplete isn't a bad strategy." What part do you disagree with?

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My post wasn't directed at you specifically. It's everyone across New England. Every bad throw or bad decision on offense and its McDaniels fault. Bill isn't perfect, but he is the best, maybe the best ever. We need to just deal with it when he makes a bad decision, not blame guys further down the totem pole.

Why it took until Q3 for Zippy to call pass plays that require a little arc OVER the hands extended DL is beyond me. Brady deserves equal scrutiny as well. Formula seems simple.....Gronk tall...Gronk get ball....uggg.

lurker1965 said:

Let me help your lazy butt out: "Don't get me wrong. Unless he knew they'd get a 32 yard return and have time for one 35 yard TD pass attempt, making them use timeouts rather than letting them save one if the pass is incomplete isn't a bad strategy." What part do you disagree with?

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You said it was probably what the Dolphins wanted. I expect the Dolphins would have been very happy to have an incomplete pass and stop the clock. The Patriots strategy, while not working, had the highest percentage chance of working.

I was hoping at the time that they should try, on 2nd down, a WR screen, Jet reverse or something else in order to give the football to a fast player in space, while exposing the ball to minimum time if any in the air.

BelichickFan said:

You said it was probably what the Dolphins wanted. I expect the Dolphins would have been very happy to have an incomplete pass and stop the clock. The Patriots strategy, while not working, had the highest percentage chance of working.

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Not as executed. If you genuinely believe that running three times and forcing Miami to burn their TOs gives you the best chance of winning, wouldn't your odds of success increase if you do so in a manner that might create a first down? Or even a yard?

It was terrible, which is why Bill himself admitted so immediately afterward. No reason to defend the indefensible.

Oswlek said:

Not as executed. If you genuinely believe that running three times and forcing Miami to burn their TOs gives you the best chance of winning, wouldn't your odds of success increase if you do so in a manner that might create a first down? Or even a yard?

It was terrible, which is why Bill himself admitted so immediately afterward. No reason to defend the indefensible.

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I absolutely would have run three times there. Just like in Indy at the end of the half it was more important to get out of the half without the opposition scoring than for us to score. Of course, we failed miserably. Would I have tried more of a power run with Gray ? Probably. But the failure at the end of the half was the bad punt coverage and the bad defense not the decision to work the clock so we were punting with 25 seconds left (would have left them at their own 40, 18 seconds left approximately and no time outs on a good punt/coverage).

BelichickFan said:

I absolutely would have run three times there. Just like in Indy at the end of the half it was more important to get out of the half without the opposition scoring than for us to score. Of course, we failed miserably. Would I have tried more of a power run with Gray ? Probably. But the failure at the end of the half was the bad punt coverage and the bad defense not the decision to work the clock so we were punting with 25 seconds left (would have left them at their own 40, 18 seconds left approximately and no time outs on a good punt/coverage).

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When Bill Belichick publicly says, "I f*cked up" we should listen. It was terrible all around. Strategy, play calls, execution.

Oswlek said:

When Bill Belichick publicly says, "I f*cked up" we should listen. It was terrible all around. Strategy, play calls, execution.

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Bill constantly deflects the criticism to himself. I would have run the ball three times, you wouldn't. It is what it is. The way we were passing in the first half we played the odds and crapped out.

BelichickFan said:

Bill constantly deflects the criticism to himself. I would have run the ball three times, you wouldn't. It is what it is. The way we were passing in the first half we played the odds and crapped out.

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I didn't say I wouldn't. And Bill never says anything remotely like he did here.

“You just want to put the whole thing on me — bad coaching,” he said Monday morning on a conference call with the media. “It was a poor end of the half. Nothing we did is the way we wanted it to go, and so that’€™s my fault. So it’€™s bad coaching, I’€™ll take responsibility for it and try to see to it that it doesn’€™t happen again. It was a poorly coached sequence of plays, period. And poorly played, I might add, to go along with that.”

Bill will deflect and obfuscate, but never point to a specific sequence of events like this. Just let him accept blame for a terrible series and move on.

Oswlek said:

I didn't say I wouldn't. And Bill never says anything remotely like he did here.

“You just want to put the whole thing on me — bad coaching,” he said Monday morning on a conference call with the media. “It was a poor end of the half. Nothing we did is the way we wanted it to go, and so that’€™s my fault. So it’€™s bad coaching, I’€™ll take responsibility for it and try to see to it that it doesn’€™t happen again. It was a poorly coached sequence of plays, period. And poorly played, I might add, to go along with that.”

Bill will deflect and obfuscate, but never point to a specific sequence of events like this. Just let him accept blame for a terrible series and move on.

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Nothing there says they shouldn't have run the ball. In fact nothing says when the "poorly coached sequence of plays" began.

Regardless, I expected, and wanted, three runs, the best probability to get in at 14-6 and to try again.

BelichickFan said:

Nothing there says they shouldn't have run the ball. In fact nothing says when the "poorly coached sequence of plays" began.

Regardless, I expected, and wanted, three runs, the best probability to get in at 14-6 and to try again.

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I'm not sure why you keep going to the fact that they ran three times, which is probably what bothers me least about the whole misadventure. I've even illustrated a three run possession I'd have been fine with.

Just saying whether they ran is oversimplifying things, the same way someone might say after three 50 yard bombs ask, "what is wrong with passing on all three downs?" It misses the reasons behind why their approach was so terrible, and why Bill felt it deserved a special apology.

reneluar said:

I can blame McDaniels/BB for use Vereen 3 times instead of a power formation with Develin, extra OL and Gray/Blount. You cant blame McDaniels for the poor special teams play and Butler bad coverage.

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True, I wouldn't have been nearly as mad if they had Blount/Gray and ran 3 times with them. But VEREEN!? Not once, twice, but THREE times!? In that situation, the only play I'd run to Vereen would be a screen pass.