Is Steve Belichick part of the problem on defense?

[captain stone]

He has been holding a clipboard...for quite some time now. Same thing with his brother.

And he's been doing a lousy job of that too...same as his brother.

 

[Sciz]

If only he had LEARNED from it. He's obviously not ready to be the guy calling the plays yet. Limit him to the clipboard holding for at least another couple of years. He's not making the right calls to win games. Giving up 24 yards on 3rd and 25 is inexcusable among other bad game-losing play calls.

Was that a bad play call, or just poor execution? The Patriots love that cover-1 swap where the underneath zone safety jumps crossers and the CB replaces the safety as the underneath zone defender. I can't say I've ever seen it where the CB falls into a different zone than what the safety just vacated. It sure looks like Jackson should have ended up exactly where the ball went, rather than doubling the TE on what would have been a much more difficult throw to the sideline.

 

[1960Pats]

Comments:

a.) Steve is not the DC. He's the play caller....there's a difference. With the Patriots, BB has all play calling piped into his headset and he can interrupt and change things if he wants to. BB is the de facto DC. Period.Full.Stop.

b.) 82 defensive snaps. That will wear down any defense.

c.) Injured guys like Jon Jones, Hightower, Wino, Bethel, etc...came at inopportune times.

d.) Nepotism is a part of the NFL and always will be...I mean NFL coaches don't grow off trees...they are cultivated in-family. And before Steve was given the play calling duties...he did 9 years of work in Foxboro from being a defensive assistant, safeties coach, secondary coach, and now outside linebackers coach/play caller. He has paid his dues....not to mention that he also grew up with arguably the GREATEST DEFENSIVE MIND IN NFL HISTORY..... I mean my old man was a basketball coach...and semi-successful at the high school level...and it rubbed off me in a big way. Even today, I can talk basketball with anyone and I am one of the few people on planet earth that can explain to you the NBA's Byzantine illegal defense rules in the 1990's. I don't care where people come from as long as they can do the job and rose through the ranks the same as everyone else.

e.) This defense made Tom Brady super conservative 3 weeks ago.

f.) Kyle Shanahan took 6 years to rise to OC himself....and Sean McVay is only a year older than Steve B.

a.) Bill's coaching ability can't be denied but his GM-ing can be.
b.) Dallas beat the Pats at their own game.
c.) I don't think Bill would approve of using injuries as an excuse.
d.) If I was a HC all of my family would have jobs.
e.) I'm not as confident about the defense as I was when Bill let Gilmore go. In Bill I Trusted.
f.) The young coaches confirm my belief that coaching is overrated.
g.) It's a players game.

 

[1960Pats]

Nah let's stay on topic. Idiot poster 1971 comparing 4th year #1 pick Mayfield to Mac Jones who has played 6 games and holding his own. Mayfield who has Chubbs, Beckham, Landry to throw to, Mac meanwhile running for his life with the worst OLine in the league.

I would say this was a home run draft choice, the fact that half-wit 1971 is even comparing our rookie QB with the 4th year #1 pick in Cleveland.

Let's stay in reality. Mac is crushing most people's expectations of what he could do by October 2021.


.

That's how it looks to me. Before the season started most fans wanted to wait on Jones' starting. I was not one of those fans but now I'm afraid he's going to get clobbered and it might have been a good idea. I expected much better OL play.

 

[1960Pats]

you mean "son of head coach" isn't great coaching experience?

It's not as great as being given a job to get that experience. What he does with it is up to him but none of it is as important as having the right players. That's where Bill has been failing as a GM.

 

[Thelonious]

Bill runs the team. He hires the coaches, he hires the players. If there is an issue. Its on him. You cannot praise him when the defense is good and then blame someone else when its bad.

Agreed. His job to fix the coaching staff.

 

[borg]

Love to know how Bill carves up the Pats coaching staff salary pie, especially on the D side.

 

[JayNM]

This has been on my mind for awhile and, now that we have seen our Defense have its up and downs. There is one question that I think it's very important and will remain uncertain, maybe forever.

What does he bring to the table, really? This hasnt been discussed enough and it's way bigger than I see being given credit for.

He must have learned almost everything from his Dad and the Patriots system. Common sense says he also got information from studying/conversing from others/experience as Position coach. Plenty for sure, but is it DC worthy? He could be a prodigy, since I think no one really know how good he is truly, because we never seen a body of work of his outside the club - and probably never will, since I doubt he'll ever leave BB's side. (and I will admire him greatly if it happens)

And here is another HUGE point I havent seen mentioned yet

BB will not fire his son (ok, he's coldhearted, but that would be almost Putin level ) . But seriously, unless he takes a job somewhere, we are stuck with him for the rest of BB's career.

Anyway, I hope I never have to complain about the Defense. So far they have been good, with the pieces that they have. Next year we need a #1 CB- or a really good Outside corner - maybe one safety to replace McC and some LBs (preferably one that isn't built like a tower and run like one too)

 

[Wozzy]

What defensive problem?

The only problem the team has had is the offense ranking 29th in turnovers entering the Jet’s game, poor blocking, penalties and all around poor play.

Defense can’t prevent points when the offense is handing the ball to the opponent three times a game and punting after three plays. It’s a team game.

 

[Ring 6]

What defensive problem?

The only problem the team has had is the offense ranking 29th in turnovers entering the Jet’s game, poor blocking, penalties and all around poor play.

Defense can’t prevent points when the offense is handing the ball to the opponent three times a game and punting after three plays. It’s a team game.

The defense is ranked 6th in points allowed and 12th in yards

 

[JayNM]

What defensive problem?

The only problem the team has had is the offense ranking 29th in turnovers entering the Jet’s game, poor blocking, penalties and all around poor play.

Defense can’t prevent points when the offense is handing the ball to the opponent three times a game and punting after three plays. It’s a team game.

This OP is a bit old already, dont take it too seriously

 

[Wozzy]

The defense is ranked 6th in points allowed and 12th in yards

And would be substantially better if the offense hadn't started off so slowly and wasn't so mistake prone.

 

[Wozzy]

This OP is a bit old already, dont take it too seriously

What a difference a week makes...

 

[captain stone]

What defensive problem?

The only problem the team has had is the offense ranking 29th in turnovers entering the Jet’s game, poor blocking, penalties and all around poor play.

Defense can’t prevent points when the offense is handing the ball to the opponent three times a game and punting after three plays. It’s a team game.

The defense is ranked 6th in points allowed and 12th in yards

...and cannot get off the field when it Really matters to save their lives.

What defensive problem? We'll all see the problem after Herbert finishes with them.

 

[captain stone]

What a difference a week makes...

It.

Was.

Da.

Jete.

 

[Ring 6]

...and cannot get off the field when it Really matters to save their lives.

What defensive problem? We'll all see the problem after Herbert finishes with them.

If they couldn’t get off the field when it really matters to save their lives, they wouldn’t be 6th in scoring defense.

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy. The defense has played well. They are 6th in points allowed. 26 other teams allowed more points. They are also 8th in takeaways.
A good defense and a positive comment about a defense is not saying it is perfect.
All defenses allow plays. All defenses have weak areas.
But the implication that it’s bad because you point out a weakness is wrong. What about the 26 teams that allowed more points? Do you think they get off the field every time they need to on 3rd down?

If you want to be negative you can trash everything but when you do that it diminishes your opinion being taken seriously.

 

[Wozzy]

It.

Was.

Da.

Jete.

And they slaughtered them by 50 points… oh yeah, they also didn’t miss blocks, fumble, turn the ball over, create a bunch of penalties or do what they did in weeks prior when they should have beaten the Cowboys and Bucs. Teams don’t roll over and quit midseason, even bad teams have talent.

 

[Wozzy]

...and cannot get off the field when it Really matters to save their lives.

What defensive problem? We'll all see the problem after Herbert finishes with them.

Clueless

 

[captain stone]

Clueless

Wrong, but we'll see soon enough, don't you worry...

 

[Thelonious]

I don't think we have the access to know, but, very importantly, I have seen NO evidence to this point that he was hired for any reason other than sheer nepotism. I think Mayo deserves a full shot before Li'l Steve gets his.

Oh, and fire Patricia while you're at it.