Worst coached game in BB's Patriots tenure?
 

Racking my brain, I am having difficulty coming up with a worse one...

(1) The bad challenge on the 12 men on the field call. Either thinking that the actual 12th man got off, or for thinking that the 11th man running off was actually the 12th man... just terrible.

(2) Burning the final timeout. In retrospect, the play WORKED. Cassel got the first down, but there needed to be some understanding that, if the play wasn't there, Cassel needed to take the Delay of Game penalty, and and have Ghost try a 30 yarder. That timeout is too valuable (primarily for challenge purposes). Case in point, there was a play that NBC glossed over where it was pretty clear Dallas Clark fumbled. It was also pretty clear that there was clear recovery by a Patriot (a "play through the whistle type deal"). But, no timeout = no challenge.

(3) The 3rd and 16 shovel pass to Faulk. Obviously, this one is on McDaniels (who I thought called a great game, except for this play). But you're playing a small, fast Colts defense. You're finally getting some mid-range pass plays underneath. Why, in the name of all that's holy, not try to pick up 8-10 yards there, either to (a) set up a manageable 4th down, or (b) get Ghost a 53-54 yard game-tying field goal attempt.

(4) The 2-point conversion... pure panic on BB's part. Midway through the third, you don't chase points, period. Baffling...

(5) Why is Deltha O'Neal playing 10 yards off his receiver when a first down all but ends the game?? Not sure if that was by defensive design or not... but goodness...

A mind-numbingly frustrating loss. This makes it VERY difficult to win a Wild Card birth (a bad 3-3 conference record, with tie-breaking losses to the Colts and Chargers). Certainly this isn't a devastating loss for the season... but man does it complicate things....

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

Good post.

Sad thing is, I think BB had a very good game plan, which the team executed well ins spite of the horrific game management by BB.

So depressing.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

I hope the thread does not get moved. I do not post much but I was having exact thoughts. BB is human and is entitled to an off-day. Unfortunately, some of his decisions did not help tonight. Of course, this does not take Dave Thomas and Jabar Gaffney off the hook either.

In the end, the Patriots are still in the running for the playoffs. They can really help themselves with a win over the Bills next Sunday.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

They need to sweep the Buff-NYJ games before I exhale.
As for BB, he is like the kid who studied so hard leading up to the test, pulled an all-nighter and was totally prepared...but then fell asleep before completing the exam.
Great game plan...poor in game coaching/decision making.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

It wasn't the worst, but it did seem awkward.

My biggest complaint about the coaching of this game was calling that stupid wildcat play. Yes it works when the other team hasn't seen it yet, but the entire league is prepared for it. Unless Moss is going to throw a TD to Gostkowski, you aren't going to fool anyone and it's just a wasted play. I really thought BB/McDaniels would be smart enough not to use someone else's idea and come up with something on their own.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

the 12 men challenge has to be on someone upstairs who counted wrong and asked bb to challenge.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

Uh, going for it on fourth and 13 from the Giants 31 ring any bells...? The Superbowl was his worst coached game ever.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

I'd have to agree. The lack of adjustments in that game was baffling.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

Pretty much.

As far as in-game coaching, it is the worst I can recall since he's been in NE.

Re: Worst Coached Game in BB's Patriots Tenure?
 

I can't think of a worse game by BB. One of his very few clunkers. I found myself disagreeing with him at numerous points in the game, especially the terrible challenge. I really felt like the Patriots were the better team and the coaching along with two awful plays lost it for them. Thomas and Gaffney are big-time goats this week.