Game Day Thread Official Post Game Thread- Raiders beat the Pats

[venecol]

It’s not too complicated, the top two wild card spots will most likely go to whichever team doesn’t win the AFC North between Baltimore/Cincinnati and to the Chargers. So it comes down to the last slot, where the Pats would be jockeying with Miami. If they go 2-1 with a win against Miami and Miami goes 1-2, they’re tied - there’s no head to head tiebreaker because they both beat each other once so it then goes to the other tiebreakers. They’re both 2-2 in division right now so NE winning head to head in this game gives them the advantage. If NE beats MIA and BUF then they win the tiebreaker with a better divisional record. If they beat CIN and MIA but lose to BUF, and MIA loses to NE and NYJ but beats GB, NE still wins the tiebreaker. However, if MIA loses to GB and NE but beats NYJ then you fall down a rabbit hole of deeper tiebreakers.

Per 538: makes playoffs

CIN/BAL: >99%
LAC 83%
MIA 72%
TEN 58%
JAX 44%
NYJ 20%
NEP 19%

Sam Darnold's Panthers have a better chance of making the playoffs (23%) than the Pats. So do the freaking Lions (41%). Keep dreaming.

 

[Rob0729]

Really?? But you are his undisputed girlfriend/supporter conflict of interest?? Ok as bad as Mac has been Coached what exactly have Mac shown on the football field?? That he's a whiney untalented athlete. Yesterday was the beginning of the end book it Mac will be a journey man QB going forward he's not alone.

Jones showed promise last year. If you have been watching the last few weeks, his arm strength has actually looked to have improved. There has been a lot more velocity on his balls. Yes, he has regressed this year, but last year he was everything he wasn't this year. He had great pocket presence for a rookie and even good for a seasoned player. He was able to scan the field quickly to find the open receiver. He was cool under pressure. He threw with anticipation.

If you combine last year's Mac Jones with his increased arm strength along with some progression from last year, he could be a good starting QB. He probably will never be elite, but he could become a QB the Pats can win, and possibly a Super Bowl or two, with talent around him.

But unfortunately, we are coaching him like bad teams do to destroy young QBs and again, he will have his third OC and third offense in three years next year. So he could be ruined even if he could have been something if they handled him correctly from the start.

And yesterday was not the beginning of the end of Jones. Nothing changed in Jones' future yesterday. Nothing. Whether he becomes a franchise QB or a bust didn't change one iota yesterday except in the anti-Mac Jones group's mind.

 

[1960Pats]

BB is still a GREAT Head Coach and GM.

He has put together a Defense and Running game to die for, but in THIS NFL you cant win it all without a QB. There comes a day when the RBs or Defense or both are just a step off that day. Your QB must step up and fill the void.

Let me see if I have this right. To be a top team you need a QB but Bill threw our greatest one away with any replacement and is still a great HC and GM. The same can be said at TE also. That simply doesn't add up.

As I've said from the beginning, when this coaching staff was put together and Bill wouldn't answer any questions about who was performing which job, that will leave fans with only the players to complain about. And here you are.

The QB and other players have regressed. How did that happen? Did they decide that they didn't want to work as hard? C'mon man, you sound like a dog-faced pony soldier, whatever that is.

 

[archstanton543]

The QB and other players have regressed. How did that happen? Did they decide that they didn't want to work as hard? C'mon man, you sound like a dog-faced pony soldier, whatever that is.

An old-timey insult from a John Wayne movie.

 

[bigballas]

while we focus on putting the blame on Meyers and Mac (rightfully so), have we considered that **** hit the fan when Rhamondre pitched it back? was that part of play design? or did he just start freelancing when we had been running the ball conservatively (to run out the clock?). so much to unpack here

 

[archstanton543]

while we focus on putting the blame on Meyers and Mac (rightfully so), have we considered that **** hit the fan when Rhamondre pitched it back? was that part of play design? or did he just start freelancing when we had been running the ball conservatively (to run out the clock?). so much to unpack here

It was not part of the play design. He and Jakobi did what they did on their own. They both said so in their post-game interviews.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

It's not unique to the Patriots. Reiss had an article that since 2018 or so the teams that spent the most in FAcy had an avg of 5 more wins that season (Pats had 3). But the following season, those same teams had an avg of 5 more losses, going back to where they were (Pats so far have 3). Basically, spending like fools during FAcy isn't the answer. Kraft even said so, that we used to laugh at teams that did that. I think it's pretty clear the FAcy extravaganza spending of 2021 was an abject failure.

Can you imagine being Kraft and writing checks to the tune of a quarter billion dollars in FA, and then sitting in your owners box watching this **** show unfold?

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I'm sick of watching WRs for other teams (including bad ones) who can effortlessly toe tap for TDs and win jump balls down the side lines time and again. These aren't highlight reel plays any more, if you can't do these things you shouldn't get drafted to play WR.

1st & 3rd for Tee Higgins. There's your toe tapper, outside threat, true X, red zone help, walking 1st down etc

Go after a tackle in 2nd and later in the draft.

Patricia and Judge are spread too thin. Bring in someone from the outside to hold Mac's hand. I'm sure he has a few names in mind. He's getting a year 3 in all likelihood.

I heard @Kontradiction say we should draft Anthony Richardson. He might be on to something idk.

 

[Nikolai]

I was completely out of comms yesterday so watched it this morning. Usually, I say there's a time when it's too early to drink (except vacations of course), but I just made an exception. Bottoms up boys...

I guess we'll see what kind of heart they have going down the stretch

 

[Triumph]

The cold hard truth is that if BB does not make a QB change to Zappe vs Cincinatti this season is over.

It's either trying to win out and make the playoffs or stick with Jones and not bruise his feelings.

Take your pick.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

Whose fault is this? Are you saying Jonnu isn't trying? Are you saying he doesn't get the playbook? Give some more details.

It’s Bills fault for overpaying. We were mesmerized by Smiths athleticism and paid him for what he we thought be could become.

 

[archstanton543]

The cold hard truth is that if BB does not make a QB change to Zappe vs Cincinatti this season is over.

It's either trying to win out and make the playoffs or stick with Jones and not bruise his feelings.

Take your pick.

Season's already over. To get in the playoffs they need to win out and that's not happening so for all intents and purposes the season is over.

 

[jdlboot14]

It's tough to see the D battle so hard, and have such a lopsided team. The O is just so far behind.
And when the D is run by Stevie B and Mayo (who is legit), MP and Judge look even worse. They've both been HEAD COACHES in this league and their unit about the worse in most categories.
How does this not get addressed even before the end of the season?? If BB doesn't make changes Jan 9, then Kraft might have to.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Bill is now running a Family where a lot of people look like Fredo. He can stay but he needs a transition plan and a lot of cleanup work. If he won’t do that, the Krafts will have to take care of all Family business.

yea need more Al Neris and Rocco Lampones

 

[Triumph]

Season's already over. To get in the playoffs they need to win out and that's not happening so for all intents and purposes the season is over.

Not if there is a QB change.

2 of 13 third down conversions yesterday.
3 of 11 third downs vs AZ and no Murray.
3 of 12 vs Buffalo
3 of 10 vs Minnesota

This inept QB play cannot go on. Time of possession is so lopsided every single game in favor of the opponent. It's amazing the Pat's are winning at all.

The only hope is Zappe vs the Bengals. Jones will be embarrassed.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Can you imagine being Kraft and writing checks to the tune of a quarter billion dollars in FA, and then sitting in your owners box watching this **** show unfold?

Checks much bigger than that are still coming in, though

 

[PatsFan2]

It’s Bills fault for overpaying. We were mesmerized by Smiths athleticism and paid him for what he we thought be could become.

Funny how Jonnu Smith came alive with Zappe and is the invisible man with Mac Jones.

 

[203Pat]

If you ever want to compare transcripts, degrees and professional success, just DM me. That would be fun.

 

[Tottie]

The NFL might as well be run by a bunch of hyenas. Change replay rules on the day of the SB with billions on the line and not one media outlet ever talks about it. Now games are officiated in a way to try and get either a desired result or close games. The refs did the right thing calling it a TD on the field but the review process is supposed to take care of it afterwards. The Giants game was so bad it wasn't a watchable finish. Do they not know they have a huge problem? At this point you have to think they are getting exactly what they want and that they don't believe this is a problem.

 

[Thelonious]

I do not think the outcome of this game has anything to do with the playoffs.

The only legit purpose of this year was to assess and develop the roster. We never had any chance at accomplishing anything in the playoffs, and very little chance of getting there.

Neither is it about some "missed call." It doesn't matter really. Focusing on it is an excuse, a distraction, from the core fact: this is a mediocre team which is so badly coached and marginally GM'd that there is little prospect of improvement. Nor is it about the collective brain fart that led to the gruesome ineptitude at game's end. Lousy teams just DO that sort of thing, and this - the REAL takeaway, once again - is a lousy team. They didn't get "robbed." They deprived themselves, from the beginning of the game to the end, of any opportunity to win it.

Nor is it about Mac Jones. It is a real question whether, given the idiotically mismanaged "coaching" staff, Mac has been afforded a legitimate chance at developing this year and showing what he can do. To this point, Mac has NOT, by any reasonable measure, shown that he is a worthwhile "franchise qb,"certainly, but we can draw no firm conclusion on this because the coaching has been so substandard. As for Zappe, he did earn a fuller evaluation, on the field, on game day; but he hasn't gotten it. Given this fact, and Mac's substandard work, there ought to be a genuine competition for qb next year, I suspect Mac would win that competion, but it might well show that neither of them is worth keeping.

The ball is in the Krafts' court. The issue, I say without any happiness at all, is Bill Belichick who, the evidence over the past few years shows, is no longer up to the job, at least as the Coach/GM job has been defined here for many years. He can't do it any more, and it is unclear in my mind - again, sadly - whether what he CAN do, whatever that may be, makes him worth holding on to.

There are, of course, a healthy number of sound and promising players on the team, and the team has shown resilience at times this year as a group in bouncing back from their too-frequent failures. Maybe in a way what I have said re Mac could be said of the team as a whole: we don't really know what they are because with respect to coaching, they have been so ill-served.

One final note: These are pretty dark times for this team. That's a fact. Given this, the asinine notion among certain mods and participants that any negative commentary re the team constitutes "trolling" has got to go. It's ridiculous, and offensive. We are not children subject to mandates that we limit ourselves to delusory happy talk. (And no, I personally have not been (so far? lol) accused of this so-called trangression, but others have: unnecessarily and unfairly, in my view.)