Matt Light says AFC championship game was lost because of snap count. Calls it "an abomination."

reflexblue said:

You would think that they would have gone over the silent snap count in practice, after all they knew they were going to need it. And when they couldn't get it right do something about it. BB is know for having the sound system cranked up at practice while going over the silent snap count, i don't understand how this could happen.

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Apparently the o-line coach didn't have them prepared. In BB'S interview on weei they asked him why they didn't make adjustments and he said there were things he wanted to do but were unable to. After that interview and Matt Lights I get the impression the line wasn't prepared to change the count. Don't forget there's rookies on the line so they don't have past experiences to fall back on. Googs apparently didn't put the time in for that aspect of the game and got booted. BB won't say anything publicly but I think we can put the pieces together.

"varjao, post: The Pats would blow (AWAY) Denver if this game was in Foxboro.!!!!!

Fixed it for ya!

stcjones said:

"varjao, post: The Pats would blow (AWAY) Denver if this game was in Foxboro.!!!!!

Fixed it for ya!

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One of those instances where one word makes a world of a difference lol

I don't regret missing out on HFA. The coaching was awful this year--that's where we really came up short. Even with the 1 seed, Pats would have had Pitt in the first round. Everyone on this board just looks past Pit like they are nothing. They were totally capable of pulling a 2012 Baltimore this year. If Pit had to play NE, Antonio Brown plays and passes concussion protocol...if Pit plays DEN, he doesn't pass protocol just to $#$ the Pats loool

robertweathers said:

Yea and it's the a-holes that say..."Well BB and Brady have lost 3 Super Bowls y'know...."

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I'd just say.. you have to make it to a Super Bowl in order to win or lose.. People say Montana is better because even though Brady and Joe have 4 SB rings a piece, Montana was 4/4 and Brady was 4/6... Brady wins that.. he has also won 4, plus he made it to another 2 that Montana didnt.. which means +2 more CC games

I've actually thought a lot on this, considering my unhealthy obsession with the Patriots and the NFL... but 5-10 years after Brady retires, I think that people will reflect back on his greatness and also actually miss him.. even the people that hate him.. because people either love him or love to hate him, and that has been good for the NFL for nearly 2 decades now..

Being a fan of his has been amazing, but being on the opposite end has had to be a very bitter and miserable experience.. so people are just sick of him, but at the same time they NEED to see him just so they can root against him...

he truly is the GOAT

Yes yes yes, and just wait until James White remembers how to catch!

This article makes me miss Scar so much.

cmasspatsfan said:

Apparently the o-line coach didn't have them prepared. In BB'S interview on weei they asked him why they didn't make adjustments and he said there were things he wanted to do but were unable to. After that interview and Matt Lights I get the impression the line wasn't prepared to change the count. Don't forget there's rookies on the line so they don't have past experiences to fall back on. Googs apparently didn't put the time in for that aspect of the game and got booted. BB won't say anything publicly but I think we can put the pieces together.

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The Patriots ran off tackle 0 times. If a runner gets by the DT there was 5+ yards of green. The DTs were fixated on Brady. I can't say for sure but some chop blocks might've gotten the chains moving and slowed down true DTs.

Googs failed epicly, but McDaniels should be in the convo.

Run DMC said:

Glad to see heads rolling on the coaching staff. They blew it this year and that includes BB failing to win 1 game out of the last 3 to seal HFA. This one is not on the players. Coaching staff gets a D+ this year.

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God I get tired of this ******** blaming game.

How about ****ing professional athletes not muffing punts, blowing blocking assignment, kickers missing FGs/XPs, receivers stop dropping passes, secondary allowing 3rd&long conversions or Brady throwing brainfart interceptions ?

My point is we lost due to the sum of all errors from all units. Despite an insane amount of injuries the coaches put the team into the position to get to the AFCCG and this alone makes your D+ grade ridiculous.

Seriously, people here underestimate how difficult it is to win games in the NFL and underappreciate this coaching staff sometimes at least as much as the ****ing pro football writers do when they vote for their coach of the year.

luuked said:

God I get tired of this ******** blaming game.

How about ****ing professional athletes not muffing punts, blowing blocking assignment, kickers missing FGs/XPs, receivers stop dropping passes, secondary allowing 3rd&long conversions or Brady throwing brainfart interceptions ?

My point is we lost due to the sum of all errors from all units. Despite an insane amount of injuries the coaches put the team into the position to get to the AFCCG and this alone makes your D+ grade ridiculous.

Seriously, people here underestimate how difficult it is to win games in the NFL and underappreciate this coaching staff sometimes at least as much as the ****ing pro football writers do when they vote for their coach of the year.

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Although I respect the opinion, any talk of a coaching grade of "D+" this year is ridiculous.

The team was completely decimated due to injuries, had the most games lost to injuries of any NFL team (I believe it was 245 missed games in total), and still found a way to get back to the AFCCG where they may have won had it not been due to a missed XP. As a matter of fact, I'm guessing that they would've.

The coaching deserves a "B-" or so. Just my opinion.

supafly said:

Although I respect the opinion, any talk of a coaching grade of "D+" this year is ridiculous.

The team was completely decimated due to injuries, had the most games lost to injuries of any NFL team (I believe it was 245 missed games in total), and still found a way to get back to the AFCCG where they may have won had it not been due to a missed XP. As a matter of fact, I'm guessing that they would've.

The coaching deserves a "B-" or so. Just my opinion.

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I agree. I think when we play e.g. the Jaguars people just look at their name, assume a win and fully ignore how much work goes into actually preparing the team to be in a position to take advantage of all the weaknesses the other team has. This is not college football where some "powerhouses" can just stomp on lower schools. Which is why so many were so disgusted by the Eagles loss not realizing that we were actually playing another professional football team not a clown show from a Penn based circus.

Also there is all that recency bias since we had an uncharacteristically slow end to the season.

"Players win games, coaches lose them" - Bill Belichickism....

Confident that BB expected more from his O line, but as he cannot fire them because of their poor play he does the next best thing..

For Brady to have gotten hit 25 times is an abomination, if they had done what Light alluded to it probably would have been resolved as their rush would have been less effective because Denver did what they did, is because they could..

IMO Coaching was a solid B... would have been higher if the ST and O Line coaches did not get failing grades...

Sounds like Matt is lobbying for a job

IllegalContact said:

Sounds like Matt is lobbying for a job

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That'd be cool, if he wants to coach. When he was drafted Borges said he "wouldn't help anytime soon"...maybe with this, 15 years later, Matt Light can finally help the franchise!

Apologies if this has been asked, but why didn't the OC or the HC know this. Isn't part of his job to make sure they can do hand or silent counts? Didn't the coaches have at least one meeting before the game to discuss things like this? That happens on the collegiate level, where some teams even have a regular weekly dinner (often on Mondays) where there is extensive pre game discussion?

If true, I can see why Light is shocked.

The way Matt described how they practiced silent snap count, it seems it's an entire offense type of thing, not just the OL. The RBs and TEs would all have to be in sync.

Wouldn't this be on Josh?

ThatllMoveTheChains!!! said:

The Patriots ran off tackle 0 times. If a runner gets by the DT there was 5+ yards of green. The DTs were fixated on Brady. I can't say for sure but some chop blocks might've gotten the chains moving and slowed down true DTs.

Googs failed epicly, but McDaniels should be in the convo.

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Would have been nice to see the team run directly at Miller and Ware a few times. I'm not saying the Pats would have gained anything but at least it would have given the tackles a chance hit them instead of chasing them as they rushed up the field at Brady.

neuronet said:

This is on McDaniels too he should have been ALL over it not leave it to OL coach only. Brady too ya think would have said something..."ummm guys what's the plan here?"

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This makes me think Light is probably wrong in his diagnosis. If it was as simple as snap count, that would be crazy. Too simple and easy an explanation for that debacle. This is the New England freaking Patriots we are talking about.

condon84 said:

The way Matt described how they practiced silent snap count, it seems it's an entire offense type of thing, not just the OL. The RBs and TEs would all have to be in sync.

Wouldn't this be on Josh?

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And obviously the QB too. Just a wee bit important.

Anyone grading the coaching in that game at a B or better is clearly drunk on the Kool-aid. BB has a responsibility to make sure that the team is 100% prepared before the game and is managing the game for all game situation implications during the game. Whether fans here want to admit it or not Belichick is responsible for this team not going to Super Bowl 50. It doesn't make him suddenly not one of the greatest coaches of all time but it doesn't leave him off the hook either. His coaching post Thanksgiving of this season was questionable on many situational instances - which we all know about. I don't remember ever feeling that way as a fan in previous seasons.