That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

We go up 21-0 quickly thanks to 2 INTs by Kyle Arrington.

We have a comfortable lead going into the 2nd half.

We're on the road, against a good offense, with a pumped up crowd.


Instead of killing the clock and taking the crowd out of it.... we continue to pass as if we were DOWN 21-0 and trying to catch up.

The momentum swung when Barnett slammed Woodhead and then someone hit Welker helmet to helmet a couple plays later. Defenses don't get that brave when they've got 300lbs Offensive Linemen pancaking THEM and blocking them. Woodhead then missed a pass from Brady and the Bills get an INT.

We then continued passing. Theres no doubt in my mind that O'Brien was going to record books, with the Win as an afterthought.


Ridley would be brought in for a couple runs, and did good. But Ridley and the OLine were never allowed to get in a groove, because shortly after we'd be passing the ball again and again.

Then BJGE and Woodhead would cycle in. Edelman was even used on some failed runs. We'd try draw plays far too often. None of the RBs were allowed to get in a rhythm.




Did OBrien not watch last weeks game when lined straight up for run plays and closed the game out with our OLine and BJGE in the 4th??


Our offense became PAINFULLY predictable. The pass to Gronkowski that was Intercepted is a play Ive seen us run numerous times this year already. Ofcourse he got doubled late in the game, because it was obvious Brady would be throwing his way.

The short routes underneath were getting cut off late in the game. There was little to no surprise or unpredictability to our attack.



There's no reason Brady shouldve thrown 4 INTs, because he shouldnt have even been passing so much after we went up 21-0.

Brady also has 40+ passes in each of the first 3 games this year. That's a good way to prematurely end a 34 year olds career. Every time he drops back, he puts more wear and tear on his arm. He takes an unnecessary risk of being hit and injured. Theres absolutely NO REASON he shouldve been slinging the ball around so much on the road when we had such a comfortable lead.

We also have on of the best OLine's to pound the ball with Mankins, Light, Waters, and Solder. Yet OBrien insisted on passing the entire game.


All I can say is it's only week 3, and hopefully the coaching staff notices this and the team learns from it. If not, we're going to fail in the playoffs once again.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

No, the loss goes on the New England Patriots. It's a team sport. The only phase of the game they didn't severely **** up in was special teams.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

Up until the INT's started piling up, we were passing with almost no trouble and actually weren't getting much on the ground. You don't abandon what's working in the first half against a team averaging almost 40 points.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

I disagree.

The coaches are the ones who dictate the game. They put the players in position to win or lose.

We were in comfortable position to Win, and OBrien was calling plays that put us in a position to lose.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

Averaging 40 points?

They had only played 2 games before us, and I garauntee they arent good enough to avg 40 points the entire season.

My point is, we didnt have to play it like a shootout when we were winning 21-0 and our Defense was picking off Fitzpatrick.



We beat ourselves.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

While I agree that we should have been running the ball more, how can you attribute the entire loss to any one person? We had soooo many people out with injury, was that BOB's fault too? What about our nightmarish secondary play? Is this somehow his fault too? And the ~50 yards in penalties?

While I agree that the playcalling needed more run plays, there were a lot of reasons why we lost that game.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

The more you pound the ball,the longer the defense is on the field and the better chance the running game becomes more prevalent as the defense starts to tire.

Thats what you do with a 21 point lead...not try and score 60

Belichick is not Don Coryell and Brady is not Dan Fouts.....more run with a good lead is almost a no brainer.

I think sometimes the team gets a little bit too nuts on trying to score 40 points or more than to keep a lower profile and take time off the clock,thereby running a defense ragged.

I hate the Steelers with a passion but they won tons of games over the decade with that in mind...it may have been different before NE had this anemic defense because we knew the D would stop the opponent, but now things have to change.

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

Not sure it sunk in that Brady's day was going south on him....2 of the passes were fluke tips that usually don't happen ..... but agree being up by 21 it would be time to ground and pound until they stop your running game..kick the field goal if necessary and be up by 3 scores.....the pass to Woody isn't a high % int type pass but Ridley was running nicely...WTF was BOB thinking???

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

Hey, why don't all you arm chair QB's focus on the injurys and the bad prep & play from our multi mlillion dollar head coach and QB.
Placing blame is for losers. Winners find the problem and fix it.

In the words of Captain Conner (Sir Sean Connery)

-"I am very, very okotta!
- Pissed off?
- Yes! Pissed off."

Re: That LOSS goes on Bill O'Brien
 

This point is exactly how I feel. I too would like to see some more balance in the offense especially since we drafted two running backs, one of whom has shown some good stuff in his limited time in real games. But this loss is not one mans fault. It's the fault of the team. You can pick out one instance where the team failed to win the game or save the game. But you're picking that instance from a very large pool of similar failed instances. Give credit where credit is due and the patriots as a TEAM deserve credit for this loss.