Serving Up The Blame Pie: Biggest piece goes to...

[Absurdly Metro]

I've heard people talk about the missed opportunities the Pat's had this year as reasons we're on the outside looking in despite an 11 win campaign. The Gaffney and Thomas blunders in Indy (not to mention some strange coaching decisions by BB e.g. the 12 men on the field challenge play and the TO that negated a first down inside the ten yard line), and the coin flip and 3rd and 15 play in OT vs. the Jets were definitely plays that could have made a difference in the final outcome for us this season (where's the careless Brett Favre toss it up for grabs play when WE needed it?).

However, if I were to cut up and serve the blame pie I think those "missed opportunities" would constitute no more than a 1/8th slice of the whole "blame" pie. Here's how I'd slice it...

Missed Opportunities= 1 slice (12.5%)

Bernard Pollard= 1 slice (12.5%)
IMO the loss of TB for the season by Bernard Pollard had an unsettling effect on the whole team that led to less than stellar efforts by numerous players. That BB had to call out some of the players and leaders on the team after the team was blown out for the second time in three games early in the season tells me that it took roughly a quarter of the season for the 2008 Pats to truly realize all was not lost despite the loss of their leader and best player. Once they took ownership of their situation for good and rejected the victim mentality completely, they would not lose a game (or be blown out) again where it could be said they gave less than 100% effort.

Brett Favre= 2 slices (25%)
I won't spend a lot of time explaining this. it's been documented well enough on this board already. Favre going to the Jets set in motion a chain of events that ended up propelling the Dolphins to the playoffs and the division title. If Favre stays in GB, stays retired, or lands with the Bucs or Vikes as was his initial preference (IIRC he didn't want to go to NY and only came around to doing so after much hand wringing), Pennington never lands in Miami and the Dolphins improvement is probably nowhere near as dramatic. Of course, if any of thiose things happen, Lord Favre is not in a position to choke away the Jet's and Pat's seasons on the same day.

The Weak Schedule= 4 slices (50%)
IMO, this is the biggest reason for the Pats going 11-5 and for them missing the playoffs. As fate would have it we ended up playing the two weakest divisions in football in the same year. While this probably led to a better record for the Pats than they would have had otherwise it most assuredly led to the Dolphins being able to pull off a one year turnaround of historic proportions. IMO, if the schedule had been a bit tougher the difference between the AFC East teams would have been more pronounced. The Pats would have probably lost another game game or two and played some closer games vs. the tougher competition than they ended up playing vs. the weak sisters of the poor. The Dolphins, otoh, would have almost certainly lost many more of those games if they had been playing against higher quality teams. As it was they barely managed to squeak out wins against the weakest competition possible (e.g. last minute wins vs. Sea, SF, Stl, KC, Oak).

This is not to take away from what the Dolphins accomplished. They can only play who was on their schedule and they won those games fair and square regardless of the fact they barely squeaked them out. I'm just saying I think the weakness of the schedule this year helped the Fins much more than it helped the Pats. They needed the perfect storm to come along this season and it happened. I think most objective observers would agree and admit that despite their identical records the Pats are the better team. Just ask the folks in Baltimore who are thanking Brett Favre for sending them to Miami instead of to New England next weekend. Even Jets fans have admitted as much.

I'm open to the possibility that, as a homer, I've got this all wrong but I don't think so. The proof will be next year when the AFC and NFC West are no longer on the schedule (and the Fins are playing a 1st place schedule while the Pats play a 2nd place schedule). When that happens we'll see how good these Dolphins really are. My sense is they'll crash and burn while the Patriots assume their rightful place atop the AFCE again.

Finally, I know this is a simplistic viewpoint and leaves out other important factors that contributed to the Pats missing out this year such as the poor red zone defense, weak secondary, injuries (especially to the OL early in the season), and the Matt Cassel learning curve. Unlike the anomalies described above that I've assigned most of the blame to, these are things BB and Scott Pioli have some measure of control over. And that is very good news. In fact, I imagine they're probably being addressed even as I write this post!

Go Pats!

 

[tart]

Completely agree about the schedule, was having that conversation earlier with a friend. It was a great equalizer for the 'Fins... with so many "gimmie" games on the schedule that both teams won, it really shortened the season down to a handful of games, providing very few opportunities to separate the teams. Granted, the Pats still had their opportunity's to separate themselves, but the easy schedule created little margin for error. The Fins do deserve credit for taking care of their business, and ultimately it is the Pats fault for not winning either the games they should've, but there is no arguing that a smaller sample size = less accurate results.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

I think Bernard Pollard deserves more slices , he took out the best player in the game, but the football gods were not with us this yr..

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

I think Bernard Pollard deserves more slices , he took out the best player in the game, but the football gods were not with us this yr..

I blame Bridget Moynihan for Tom getting injured.

ok, I don't know, im just makin up stuff at this point

 

[Brarrell]

Lets just say the FO did not address the secondary the way they should have. So you don't want to pay Samuel fine other than drafting two corners who are players by the way they did nothing and it cost them. Your the 2nd or 3rd richest franchise in the league your QB is in his prime spend the money and put the best team that you can field every year.

 

[richpats]

The New England Patriots in the 2nd half of the Pittsburgh game (more specifically, the last 35 minutes). A meltdown in all phases of the game. 30 unanswered points. 5 turnovers. Countless drops. A muffed kick return. A muffed chip-shot FG. Very disappointing considering early on the Pats were moving the ball well on the best D in the league, and the Pats D was stopping the Steelers. Win that game and we are taking a break this week as the 2-seed. Unbelievable that one bad half of football was the difference between playoff bye and narrowly missing the playoffs.

They admirably recovered and won out but that 2nd half will linger for a while.

 

[Clonamery]

The New England Patriots in the 2nd half of the Pittsburgh game (more specifically, the last 35 minutes). A meltdown in all phases of the game. 30 unanswered points. 5 turnovers. Countless drops. A muffed kick return. A muffed chip-shot FG. Very disappointing considering early on the Pats were moving the ball well on the best D in the league, and the Pats D was stopping the Steelers. Win that game and we are taking a break this week as the 2-seed. Unbelievable that one bad half of football was the difference between playoff bye and narrowly missing the playoffs.

They admirably recovered and won out but that 2nd half will linger for a while.

...how about the first half of the 2nd Jets game? Seemed like the Jets players and fans saw it as their Superbowl and we came out like it was the 4th Exhibition game.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

The New England Patriots in the 2nd half of the Pittsburgh game (more specifically, the last 35 minutes). A meltdown in all phases of the game. 30 unanswered points. 5 turnovers. Countless drops. A muffed kick return. A muffed chip-shot FG. Very disappointing considering early on the Pats were moving the ball well on the best D in the league, and the Pats D was stopping the Steelers. Win that game and we are taking a break this week as the 2-seed. Unbelievable that one bad half of football was the difference between playoff bye and narrowly missing the playoffs.

They admirably recovered and won out but that 2nd half will linger for a while.

when they took out Welker the offense fell apart and Cassel lost his security blanket

 

[richpats]

...how about the first half of the 2nd Jets game? Seemed like the Jets players and fans saw it as their Superbowl and we came out like it was the 4th Exhibition game.

I didn't see that as a bad half for the Pats on the whole. The Jets came out hot, the Pats were moving the ball but not getting it into the end zone. It was only 24-13. They had one of the most dangerous return guys in the league take one to the house.

 

[richpats]

when they took out Welker the offense fell apart and Cassel lost his security blanket

I think the game was pretty much out of hand at that point, I could be mistaken

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

The biggest component is Bernard Pollard. If we had TB this year, we would have been minimum 15-1. MC was beyond all expectations this year. However, if you look at the 5 losses, we don't lose any of them with Brady. Why?

They would have become shootout games that the opponent would have never been able to compete. The key in the early games was the inability to score touchdowns.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

The New England Patriots in the 2nd half of the Pittsburgh game (more specifically, the last 35 minutes). A meltdown in all phases of the game. 30 unanswered points. 5 turnovers. Countless drops. A muffed kick return. A muffed chip-shot FG. Very disappointing considering early on the Pats were moving the ball well on the best D in the league, and the Pats D was stopping the Steelers. Win that game and we are taking a break this week as the 2-seed. Unbelievable that one bad half of football was the difference between playoff bye and narrowly missing the playoffs.

They admirably recovered and won out but that 2nd half will linger for a while.

:agree:

But why was one half of football the difference maker that allowed a clearly inferior team to finish with the same record and bump us out of the playoffs at 11-5?

IMO, it keeps coming back to that weak schedule.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Blame factors...

1. Loss of Tom (HOF) Brady Duh!
2. Indy game misques by players, dropped passes, penalty and bad coaching decision by BB not going for the TD inside the 10. At the time they were too cautious with Cassel. Note that not long after he and Josh unleashed Cassel and the scoring skyrocketed.
3. Jets game bad team play in the 1st half requiring a terrific literally last second comeback. In retrospect, going for 2 at that point with the Jets back on their heels was better than leting the 3rd & 15 OT debacle unfold.
4. Failing in the attempt to sign FAs and draft for the starting DB position across from Hobbsie.
5. Decimation of the 2008 team by significant injuries. This factor alone, though listed last, could have easily derailed our quest for the playoffs.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

I think Bernard Pollard deserves more slices , he took out the best player in the game, but the football gods were not with us this yr..

Well, I think if you changed the "Pollard" option to a more general "KC Chiefs", then they get a few more slices of pie. Putting aside the Pollard hit, lets remember that KC dropped that terrible game to the Dolphins. They should have won that game, but they just stopped playing in the middle of the 4th.

Had they actually played the entire game, I think they would have won. Miami did not look good in that game at all. It was KC's to win. They win and the Doofins are out and we would have won the division.

That 2 MAJOR impacts that KC had on our season "and lack of the playoffs". In any other year, 11-5 should be expected to get in. In some years, it get you a friggen bye for christ sake.

Change Pollard to KC Chief and I give them 3 pieces of the pie, right behind the schedule.

 

[Deus Irae]

Team went 11-5 even with the Brady injury happening. I really don't see how blame enters into it at this point.

 

[richpats]

:agree:

But why was one half of football the difference maker that allowed a clearly inferior team to finish with the same record and bump us out of the playoffs at 11-5?

IMO, it keeps coming back to that weak schedule.

Actually the weak schedule didn't help the Dolphins at all (unless you are talking about the guaranteed games against the AFC West and NFC West). They were given fellow last place finishers Houston and Baltimore (whereas we played Indy and Pitt) - and Miami lost both games.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

Actually the weak schedule didn't help the Dolphins at all (unless you are talking about the guaranteed games against the AFC West and NFC West). They were given fellow last place finishers Houston and Baltimore (whereas we played Indy and Pitt) - and Miami lost both games.

Exactly! I'm saying the guarantee games were guarantee games for BOTH teams and to their credit they each won them. The margin for error in those contests was less for Miami because they are not as good as NE even though they sport an identical record. Had the schedule not been full of cupcakes, NE would have been able to get separation to some degree because Miami would have lost several (if not many) of those contests vs. the stiffer competition.

 

[vandergraafgenerator]

But at the end of the day the difference was that horrific drubbing that the Phins gave us at Foxborough. All the rest is ancillary really. We got taken apart and that's the game that cost us in the end. No Pats player came out of that game with any credit.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Pissah

I have to give BB a pass on the FA thing. Wheatley looks like he is going to be a playmaker. I have no doubt we would be amazed at his play if he was healthy for the entire year.

 

[richpats]

Exactly! I'm saying the guarantee games were guarantee games for BOTH teams and to their credit they each won them. The margin for error in those contests was less for Miami because they are not as good as NE even though they sport an identical record. Had the schedule not been full of cupcakes, NE would have been able to get separation to some degree because Miami would have lost several (if not many) of those contests vs. the stiffer competition.

Agreed - I think NE would have fared better against stronger foes than Miami.