Lots to unpack from that game, and how much of it actually means anything, I'm not sure.
My thoughts:
OL is the biggest problem, both personnel and coaching (these aren't mutually exclusive issues, obviously). I'm not sure if they need to redo the entire OL, but they could probably use a new coach. If I remember correctly, things started going downhill after Cole Popovich left the staff for refusing a COVID vaccination during the 2020 season. They opened the beginning of 2020 very strong at OL but following Popovich's departure began declining and haven't recovered since. They look sloppy with their technique, disjointed, disconnected, not particularly accountable. I really doubt Scar wants to come back to full-time coaching, but BB needs to be on the phone with him getting whatever he can get, and working lines with OL coaches elsewhere (perhaps with Scar's input). The unit under Billy Yates hasn't done anything to inspire confidence, and even if Patricia is a better OL coach than Yates (which we do not know at this point), he's wearing the primary OC hat, so I doubt he can be counted on as a full-time OL coach in lieu of Yates. I like Strange and Onwenu, but the team needs to be looking at new players at LT, RT, and potentially C (depending on Andrews' trajectory) heading in 2023.
Mac seems better to me overall. Last night was far from his best game and that INT was as bad as it gets. But he looks better in some of the areas we said he needed to improve, namely arm strength. His front-side seems firmer, the ball is coming out a bit flatter and with more zip, particularly on shorter throws. The mechanics are a bit tighter and cleaned up. Far from perfect, but better. And just overall the guy has clearly worked himself into better shape and improved his functional throwing velocity, both on short, intermediate, and long throws. The issues with Mac, though, seem to be related to pocket presence. This was a problem last year and still seems to be an issue. There's not much more to say other than he needs to stay calm, keep his feet calm, make subtle/small movements to find space, and not bail early and run himself into trouble. This should be easily corrected, but you need a good coach, which brings me to my next point:
Joe Judge. I just really don't like him and he's the guy I'm the most concerned about from a coaching staff perspective. I just get the sense he's a blowhard, asshat, poor communicator. I know this is the NFL and players shouldn't expect to be coddled, but constant scolding and barking is equally ineffective, too. Good coaches know when to push certain buttons at certain times, when to scold, when to bark, when to uplift, when to crack a joke, levity, seriousness, etc; depends on the player(s) in question, the situation in the game/season, so forth. I say all of this from afar, so I'm essentially just speculating based on my intuition, but I really don't care for Judge. I don't trust him coaching Mac, either; they need to find a bonafide QBs' coach who can repeatedly instill good habits in Mac & Zappe on a daily basis. Judge might be a good guy to knock out basic film prep tasks, padding, gathering basic available data/info to share with superiors (who then analyze the info), but I don't think he's someone with the refinement, polish, and depth to be intimately involved with the coaching of the offense/QBs, or involved with any particularly prominent role coaching role on a high level football team that involves much critical analysis. Patricia, while I have hesitations about him for various reasons, I have more faith in as someone who's actually competent and capable of doing his job at a relatively high level. I also get the sense he's a bit of an asshat, and maybe not the best communicator either, but despite those personality traits I get the vibe that he's relatively decent at his job, which is obviously a good thing.
Beyond all of that, I think the team overall could use an injection of some fresh perspective/coaching, and perhaps reevaluate their personnel priorities. It's hard for me to fully articulate these thoughts cohesively in one sitting, but the team and culture seem stale. It seems that BB has began bringing onboard a particular type of player, one that is very disciplined and does what they are told without question. I would argue that the best coaches, but particularly one like BB, will find more success when applying his coaching to players who are a bit more independent, self-confident, self-assured, and charismatic. A hyper-disciplined coaching approach for a hyper-disciplined player is a diminishing return. Taking folks like Vrabel, Rodney, Ty Law, Revis, Browner, etc, and then harnessing the best qualities of these players while putting them in a disciplined, structured climate, seems to be a more synergistic combination. The team seems to lack much in the way of shared identity or leadership. They have a bunch of really good men individually, but I don't get the sense from observing them that there's much natural camaraderie between the players, brotherhood, where they are collectively elevating each other. Again, think of the way Bruschi, Vrabel, McGinest, etc, would feed off each others' energy.
My last thought here is coaching related, and this also ties into leadership. I get the sense most coaches on the roster (particularly those closer to BB, like Judge, Patricia, Achord) are extensions of BB's personality but without the expertise or intelligence BB has. As a result, you have folks imitating a coaching style but without much critical thought about what they are doing. Similar to what I said above, I'd like to see more independent, self-assured, self-confident coaches brought in, not to do what they are told, but to exchange ideas, collaborate, disagree, argue, and ultimately get to a better place. In this same vein, if the players feel like they have a coach who is a bit distinct from BB, someone who is fundamentally different in certain ways, their approach, their personality, their communication methods, the way they see the game, that diversity of culture will lead to better outcomes in terms of exchange of ideas -and- team chemistry/leadership IMO.
I don't think all is lost, far from it. I think BB is still the best football coach and mind in the game. But I think the team culture needs to be steered in a particular direction. Certainly not an uproot, but a reshuffle, bring in some external coaches, perhaps bring in a certain type of player or two, and try to establish more of a cohesive team culture/identity.
