Cool Link Article: Bill O' Brien, Mac Jones and the Offense

[Patsfan1958]

Long read about BOB, Mac and the offense.

Which Bill O’Brien did Bill Belichick hire?

 

[Kasmir]

Damn, this is a great read. It's must read whether you are a homer or a troll. Something for everyone.

A sample:

Tempo all-but evaporated from the Patriots' offense last season. They ran only 37 snaps in the no-huddle last season on dropbacks when trailing or leading by a score, but were the fourth-most effective offense in such situations in the league.

 

[Dr. Mind Flayer]

There's more than 1?

 

[PatsFan2]

Damn, this is a great read. It's must read whether you are a homer or a troll. Something for everyone.

A sample:

Can you give us a summary lazy long reader.

 

[Kasmir]

Can you give us a summary lazy long reader.

Courtesy of ChatGPT:

- Bill Belichick's experiment with Matt Patricia as offensive coordinator and Joe Judge coaching quarterbacks was a failure.
- The offense shifted to a wide-zone-centered run game, which resulted in poor performance and a low hit-at-the-line rate.
- Gap-scheme runs, which the team used pre-Patricia, were more profitable.
- The team struggled with spacing in the redzone, iffy blocking mechanics, and busting rudimentary play designs.
- Mac Jones' development was hindered, and he struggled with consistency and accuracy, particularly in the intermediate portion of the field.

Also lots of interesting commentary on Mac Jones's strengths vs weaknesses, such as:

Back in his Alabama days, Jones had two elite traits: Playing as the trigger man on RPOs; driving the ball down the field. He operated quickly, both on quick-hitting RPOs and in reading out the shape of the defense and the geometry of his receivers on those deep-breaking options.

The Patriots have installed precisely zero of those core concepts into their offense with Jones at the helm – beyond the rudimentary adjustments-vs-coverage that are featured in every side’s playbook.

In Jones’ time in New England, they have run precisely two (!) downfield RPOs. Even Patricia, who tried to add some optionality to the offense, preferred the bubble-screen tag variety rather than the downfield basics, typically to put a backside stretch on the defense away from the targeted run side. It was an addendum, a break glass option, something to boost the potency of the run game, not to feature Jones as a downfield bomber

 

[captain stone]

Obie's gonna get Mac killed or give him PTSD if they go empty as often as he might want to go empty here. All the rest is just words.

 

[Kasmir]

Obie's gonna get Mac killed or give him PTSD if they go empty as often as he might want to go empty here. All the rest is just words.

LOL what an epic put down and so easily reusable!

 

[Kasmir]

[Bump]

I'm actually surprised this article hasn't generated more interest. It is very well written by the very football knowledgeable Oliver Connolly who is a former NFL/CFB scout.
Maybe it is both too long and too technical for most of you? Or is it maybe firewalled?

It contains many observations I have seen nowhere else, and is refreshing alternative to the endless troll vs homer "debate" all too common here.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

[Bump]

I'm actually surprised this article hasn't generated more interest. It is very well written by the very football knowledgeable Oliver Connolly who is a former NFL/CFB scout.
Maybe it is both too long and too technical for most of you? Or is it maybe firewalled?

It contains many observations I have seen nowhere else, and is refreshing alternative to the endless troll vs homer "debate" all too common here.

Not firewalled. Assumes some knowledge - me, I'm looking in from the outside, always glad to get something more than "but his draft picks..." But it's not incomprehensible.

That said, it's a horrible article from an engagement point of view. It doesn't invite a flame war or fan hate speech. Nobody's really roundly condemned, although he says, as everybody agrees, that last season was a failure. My GOSQ (grain of salt quotient) went way up every time he started swapping around some metric that he and his friends have decided are real, like the one that measures how much a play is the QB's fault. I was like, O. My. Gawd. Yeah no. do not do that. Do not no do not no do not do that. You gon make PFV snap.

But the main thing is it's deeper than most, it's longer than most, and it's fleshed out. Nobody wants that in a message board.

 

[Kasmir]

But the main thing is it's deeper than most, it's longer than most, and it's fleshed out. Nobody wants that in a message board.

Not nobody but not many, apparently.

 

[Triumph]

Obie's gonna get Mac killed or give him PTSD if they go empty as often as he might want to go empty here. All the rest is just words.

Lets see it on the field.

Lets see wins and beating post season contenders. A high 3rd down conversion rate, 4th quarter comebacks and game winning drives.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

[Bump]

I'm actually surprised this article hasn't generated more interest. It is very well written by the very football knowledgeable Oliver Connolly who is a former NFL/CFB scout.
Maybe it is both too long and too technical for most of you? Or is it maybe firewalled?

It contains many observations I have seen nowhere else, and is refreshing alternative to the endless troll vs homer "debate" all too common here.

It is very long and formatted in a way that it is hard to watch on my phone.

 

[Patsfan1958]

[Bump]

I'm actually surprised this article hasn't generated more interest. It is very well written by the very football knowledgeable Oliver Connolly who is a former NFL/CFB scout.
Maybe it is both too long and too technical for most of you? Or is it maybe firewalled?

It contains many observations I have seen nowhere else, and is refreshing alternative to the endless troll vs homer "debate" all too common here.

I think you're exactly right, it's too long and technical for some people. I just thought it was informative and was worth posting though.

 

[PP2]

[Bump]

I'm actually surprised this article hasn't generated more interest. It is very well written by the very football knowledgeable Oliver Connolly who is a former NFL/CFB scout.
Maybe it is both too long and too technical for most of you? Or is it maybe firewalled?

It contains many observations I have seen nowhere else, and is refreshing alternative to the endless troll vs homer "debate" all too common here.

Dude, didn't you know? We don't dabble in actual football here, only drama!

 

[50-yard-line]

[Bump]

I'm actually surprised this article hasn't generated more interest. It is very well written by the very football knowledgeable Oliver Connolly who is a former NFL/CFB scout.
Maybe it is both too long and too technical for most of you? Or is it maybe firewalled?

It contains many observations I have seen nowhere else, and is refreshing alternative to the endless troll vs homer "debate" all too common here.

I devoured it. Fantastic piece showing the importance of tempo and varying strengths and weaknesses.
It gave me great hope and great fear for this season, Jones, and the rest of BB's tenure here. BOB and Mac could become something special or could flop terrifically.

Either way, we're going to learn a lot about who Mac Jones really is this season.

 

[patfanken]

WOW!!!!!! What a great find. This is the best article I've seen to date that both explains WHY the offense and Mac Jones failed last year, and gives insight and depth on what we MIGHT expect to see this coming year. IF you had the patience to get through it, and some football understanding, even if you are a Mac hater, you should walk away from this article much more confident about Mac's future.. I couldn't subscribe fast enough, and the only other thing I have ever subscribed to was Bedard.

I LEARNED a lot of stuff by taking the time to wade through this. I REALLY hope that people will take the time. It's the kind of article that IF you really want to learn some stuff, you read through TWICE......and then do it again.

Over the past 2 years I have pounded the table trying to COUNTER the myth that Mac is not a good athlete. You CANNOT run a 4.8 forty and a 7.04 3 cone and NOT be a good athlete. The problem with my assessment has been that for the first 2 years of his career, we have seen VERY few examples of that athleticism. Last year we saw NONE. No escapability. No quick movement in the pocket to make people miss.. No apparent running ability.

However, one of the things I got from this article is that the BOB offense MIGHT just unlock some of that hidden athleticism that Mac HAS, and we haven't yet seen. Now that doesn't mean we will see Mac running and dodging rushers like a Mahomes. But that we will see more movement from him.

I think Mac is ready to run an RPO now. He is 2 years bigger and stronger than he was coming into the league. He WILL be able to take off and run smart when it is called for. But perhaps the most important element I took from it, was Mac will LIKELY be going into an offense that he is very comfortable in and will highlight ALL his strengths. (Of course finding answers to both the OT questions will go a long way in how good this offense will be.)

BTW- as far as I'm concerned, if you want to comment on the future of Mac and the offense and HAVEN'T read this post, then your comment means nothing to me because you aren't even trying.

There is a lot more to this article BTW, and I look forward to finding even more gems the next time I go through it.

 

[BTTA]

Courtesy of ChatGPT:

- Bill Belichick's experiment with Matt Patricia as offensive coordinator and Joe Judge coaching quarterbacks was a failure.
- The offense shifted to a wide-zone-centered run game, which resulted in poor performance and a low hit-at-the-line rate.
- Gap-scheme runs, which the team used pre-Patricia, were more profitable.
- The team struggled with spacing in the redzone, iffy blocking mechanics, and busting rudimentary play designs.
- Mac Jones' development was hindered, and he struggled with consistency and accuracy, particularly in the intermediate portion of the field.

Also lots of interesting commentary on Mac Jones's strengths vs weaknesses, such as:

LOL, the new "I'll Google that for you" - "I'll Chat that for you"

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Dude, didn't you know? We don't dabble in actual football here, only drama!

Dum Dum DUMMMM

 

[Joker]

Personally I do NOT need to read any article on what transpired last season. I KNOW what happened and I persistently pointed it out all season. After the first couple of games ALL 31 teams in the NFL had the book on the Patriots offense. First down? The Patriots are running the ball. This pattern of playcalling remained consistent all season right to the very end. Fans screamed about Jonnu and the WR's and Mac and Mac can't throw under pressure and blah blah blah....
Even the dumbest D co-ordinators in this league ATE the Pats lunch....krist...stop the first down run you have the offense by the neck on 2nd and 3rd. The offensive coaching was PUTRID because, for some unknown reason, BB gave the offensive reins to a defensive co-ordinator.
The special teams were the 2nd Achilles heel on last year's squad....PUTRID is being generous> Why was that? Seemed someone was heading up ST's as if it were Division 3 college.
So far this offseason it LOOKS like BB has taken the proper remedial steps to right the ship. We'll see BUT..there's a long way to go here with a ton of data to be looked at leading to our first game. THIS is why I could care less about "articles" written before any actual information is collated.

 

[Kasmir]

Personally I do NOT need to read any article on what transpired last season. I KNOW what happened and I persistently pointed it out all season. After the first couple of games ALL 31 teams in the NFL had the book on the Patriots offense. First down? The Patriots are running the ball. This pattern of playcalling remained consistent all season right to the very end. Fans screamed about Jonnu and the WR's and Mac and Mac can't throw under pressure and blah blah blah....
Even the dumbest D co-ordinators in this league ATE the Pats lunch....krist...stop the first down run you have the offense by the neck on 2nd and 3rd. The offensive coaching was PUTRID because, for some unknown reason, BB gave the offensive reins to a defensive co-ordinator.
The special teams were the 2nd Achilles heel on last year's squad....PUTRID is being generous> Why was that? Seemed someone was heading up ST's as if it were Division 3 college.
So far this offseason it LOOKS like BB has taken the proper remedial steps to right the ship. We'll see BUT..there's a long way to go here with a ton of data to be looked at leading to our first game. THIS is why I could care less about "articles" written before any actual information is collated.

I think Patricia doubling as OL coach and especially Joe Judge as QB coach were even worse decisions. I'm sure Mac discovered early that he knew far more about quarterbacking than Joe Judge did.