Damien Harris speaks out about the dysfunction on the Patriots offense in 2022

[Thunderhead]

I still maintain that Belichick is the greatest coach of all time, but his decisions the last few years here are things you would expect from the worst coaches in the league.

I believed that Bill was the greatest coach of all time at the height of the dynasty, but don't know how anyone could say that after what transpired post Brady. 83-101 without Tom under center overall. 4th lowest winning percentage of all time without Tom amongst coaches with 150+ games. Reality is what it is.

Bill Belichick, Patriots part ways: Here's how legendary New England coach fared without Tom Brady

Belichick's record without Tom Brady isn't ideal

www.cbssports.com

 

[sb1]

I wouldn’t in a million years have thought BB would sabotage a team…but…the facts of what happened with the offense are pretty clear. This leaves one to believe one of two things happened:

1. He got so insular, and arrogant that he woefully misjudged the importance of offensive football, just how great TB was AND lost the ability to bring in the right players.

2. He sabotaged the team, even if subconsciously, by orphaning the offense in favor of his Defense.

Either way, he had to go.

I’m not convinced Mayo is the guy, but willing to give him a fair shot.

Right. Bill is a defensive coach only and always was. Pair him with an offensive savant named Tom Brady and we have a dynasty.

Take the GOAT away and he goes back to being a defensive coach only in a league where offense is king. That explains a lot about his subpar record without the GOAT.

 

[TheRainMaker]

First, Harris is extremely well spoken unlike many athletes such as Lamar Jackson who has trouble with the English language.

I've always liked Harris' quick decision-no nonsense running style, but he just couldn't stay healthy. In fact, you could argue he's among the best RB to Corey Dillon on a per game basis in the BB era. I like him way more than Rham's slow lumbering style. He's basically echoing what many of us were saying in real time on the board regarding the direction of the team. While he's very limited as a passer, I do think Mac Jones with hard work, determination and good coaching (x's and o's) that he'll resurface at some point and be a decent starting QB. He's not going to be an All Pro, but he can be serviceable in the right situation.

For many years, teams were copying the way Bill was running his teams. But since 2020, Bill has laid the blueprint of what not to do when running a team - especially 2022 and 2023.

 

[Toofy]

If Jones ex teammates are calling out Bill for setting Jones up to fail.. then he was set up to fail.

And yeah he's no leader which is why he probably won't be starting anymore in this league. Leaders step up with adversity and he can't/didn't.

How many QBs were put up in a situation like Mac.. you need the draft the strongest gun of em all to overcome it..

And the fact that when you are under the gun you just have no respite either from coaches or talentless wide receivers or fans.

How many QBs can survive that ? I am not sure.

You put Maye/Mahomes through what Mac went through and I can bet the results might be eerily similar .

Based on what Harris is saying, I am thinking it's a open secret in pats front office and ownership that coach bill was not working and I am sure everyone else in NFL knew of the pats dressing room atmosphere . So no wonder nobody hired bill nor did anybody want to come here as OC or HC .

Mayo was the only choice we had and I am glad he decided to take the plunge with us along with wolf. CAN'T thank Alex van pelt ENOUGH for coming here . It's a big risk and gamble . Hope it pays off.

Can't imagine the precarious state in which bill left us . No wonder Kraft is a bit salty over what happened last 3 years. Bill just sabotaged pats team for over 2 years . The only good thing is we did not incur too big a cap space. Juju and parker contracts were final parting gifts from bill to Kraft. The saving grace was having the ability to draft maye without tracing assets.

 

[JohnJH]

I'm just curious as to whether or not he said anything to BB's face while he was on the team. I'm not defending Bill by any means. It's also been reported over BB's tenure that he was open to players coming to him with any concerns that they had, and that other players over the years had done so. I'm merely asking a question.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I'm just curious as to whether or not he said anything to BB's face while he was on the team. I'm not defending Bill by any means. It's also been reported over BB's tenure that he was open to players coming to him with any concerns that they had, and that other players over the years had done so. I'm merely asking a question.

I'm going to say no. A lot of these players are afraid to confront the HC so they either bottle it up or just anonymously leak it to the media. I think you'd have to be in a position of being a star player in order to have the leverage in a conversation with Bill regarding the direction of the team. In fact, I don't think even think Tom had many conversations with him (his mistake if true) aside from the rumored complaints before or after the 2006 season and 2019 season.

 

[Triumph]

Kraft traded away Corky Mac for nothing because nobody wanted him.

The entire NFL knows his lot in the pros and it is not at starting QB. If Corky was not a pretender then he would still be the Pats starting QB and the Pats could have drafted all the weapons his minions bemoan are needed for Corky Jones to win.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Using Brady's progression as an example is just dumb. Like that was something typical.

It was obvious Mac was going to fail from literally day 1. Zero confidence, no leadership, no pocket presence, floating passes, panic in the face of rush. It was red flag galore.

Wow. Sorry, I can't engage with you anymore. You have absolutely no nuance.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

I would have been perfectly fine with Patricia or Judge becoming coordinators....EVENTUALLY. After they put in some time on that side of the ball. It's one of the most basic things that are part of coach progressions. There are plenty of coaches that go from offense to defense to special teams. But they never start out as the top guy.

 

[PancakeBlockPaul]

First, Harris is extremely well spoken unlike many athletes such as Lamar Jackson who has trouble with the English language.

And I thought I was imagining things. Lj truly does…I know it’s not the same but didn’t he “earn” a communication degree? I’d like to see some of his graded school work for giggles.

 

[State]

Damien “Truth” Harris.

 

[KCSVEN]

What's amazing is in 2022 the Pats still scored 364 points, 17th in NFL and finished 8-9. They had 4 games they scored 10 or less, the other 13 they averaged 25.46 points per game which is a top 10 scoring average. They were adequate despite Patricia/Judge.

In 2023, they tied Carolina for the worst Points scored by a team in the 3 seasons with 17 games. I had to go back to the 2012 Chiefs before I found a team with a worse per game points scored and they were 2-14. Interestingly, the Chiefs made the playoffs the following season. This with an established OC.

Also interesting: 2021 Jaguars were worst offense, made playoffs in 2022, Texans AND Colts tied for 2nd worst pts scored in 2022, 1 made playoffs, 1 eliminated in last week.

If your defense is not bad, you can go from one of worst offenses in league to playoffs just by becoming an average offense. Considering the Pats had an all-time bad offense, they have more room for improvement.

 

[signbabybrady]

Bunch of trolls

 

[neuronet]

Intentional sabotage will always be in the back of my mind because of just how bad it got. Everyone saw it coming months ahead of time when Judge and Patricia were hired. Slow motion trainwreck would be putting it lightly.

Of all the explanations, this makes the least sense.

 

[sb1]

Intentional sabotage will always be in the back of my mind because of just how bad it got. Everyone saw it coming months ahead of time when Judge and Patricia were hired. Slow motion trainwreck would be putting it lightly.

You’re right about that last part but I doubt that Bill intentionally tanked his team to prove a point to Kraft or anyone else. That’s not his MO.

 

[Real fan 02]

You’re right about that last part but I doubt that Bill intentionally tanked his team to prove a point to Kraft or anyone else. That’s not his MO.

Agreed nor do I buy that some posters believe bill was doing it to spite RK.. can't see 25 million a year and signing and extension.. however he's sabotaging the team.

 

[TheRainMaker]

And I thought I was imagining things. Lj truly does…I know it’s not the same but didn’t he “earn” a communication degree? I’d like to see some of his graded school work for giggles.

There’s a reason we don’t see him talk to the media much. You can’t believe he’s an NFL player after hearing him speak.

 

[Real fan 02]

I would have been perfectly fine with Patricia or Judge becoming coordinators....EVENTUALLY. After they put in some time on that side of the ball. It's one of the most basic things that are part of coach progressions. There are plenty of coaches that go from offense to defense to special teams. But they never start out as the top guy.

Patricia and Judge were fine position coaches and I believe that Bill in his own mind honestly felt that they could handle the task. However Bill saw quickly thar they weren't, but felt it was too late to reverse course. Bill even said himself at the end of 2022 to put it on him. However at that point the damage was already Done.

 

[Wozzy]

I wouldn’t in a million years have thought BB would sabotage a team…but…the facts of what happened with the offense are pretty clear. This leaves one to believe one of two things happened:

1. He got so insular, and arrogant that he woefully misjudged the importance of offensive football, just how great TB was AND lost the ability to bring in the right players.

2. He sabotaged the team, even if subconsciously, by orphaning the offense in favor of his Defense.

Either way, he had to go.

I’m not convinced Mayo is the guy, but willing to give him a fair shot.

“Sabotage” was BB telling Kraft that Mac was not the answer and that he wasn’t good… only to have Kraft tell him to give Mac a real chance with another coordinator.

I remember Bill’s face when Mac was melting down for the 3rd or 4th time (lost count?) in Europe, a slight smirk like “this is what you wanted” as they panned to Jonathan and Bob in the owners box hanging their heads in shame.

When the expert you hired tells you something… believe him.

 

[archstanton543]

Patricia and Judge were fine position coaches and I believe that Bill in his own mind honestly felt that they could handle the task. However Bill saw quickly thar they weren't, but felt it was too late to reverse course. Bill even said himself at the end of 2022 to put it on him. However at that point the damage was already Done.

Why did he want them to come back the following year?