PostGame Thread Official Post Game Thread- Cowboys beat the Pats

Deus Irae said:

This team is developing a quarterback, and it's chosen to do so by keeping the QB from becoming the problem. And it sure looks a lot better than 3 of the 4 alternative methods being used on the other 2021 first round QB draftees.


People crying about the Patriots offensive playcalling should first be taking a good long look at how the Jets (Wilson), Bears (Fields), and 49ers (Lance) are doing offensively with their shiny new toys.

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I also think Mac might have been shaken up, as we were pretty aggressive prior to that play, and after that went run first for like 4 drives.

TheRainMaker said:

Nah there’s plenty of Team Bill posters. The only criticism comes from the pro Brady posters like myself.

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There's been plenty of criticism of Bill from Team Bill posters...

PP2 said:

The one thing I can't get out of my mind is the clashing between Mac Jones and McDumb on the last several drives. You could see Mac just throw up his hands and his body language was shouting "just let me take over the game!"

No idea why McDumb continues to insist on micromanaging the offense for Mac when Mac clearly shows that he has a superb command of it, even to the point of ripping Harry for not lining up properly, for forgetting to motion, and then getting the ball snapped before the play clock expired.

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I have absolute belief that Mac is a super smart QB and has already realized his oc is a dumba-s.

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ScottishPatriots said:

McDaniels has a clear track record of now 5+ seasons as either a HC or OC without Brady as the quarterback and it's 5 seasons of awful offensive playcalling and production.

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Are you DKF commenting and then calling your own post a winner

BelizePats said:

The talent gap between Dallas and the Pats is considerable. This is a rebuilding team with a rookie QB. Playoffs would be shocking.
The 2022 draft and I'm grabbing a tackle and then going D in round 2,3,4,5.
I thought the DC, whoever that is, had a terrible game. The OC wasn't great, either. When you coach not to lose, you rarely win.

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If Kyle Hamilton is available, then I go with him at Safety. He's a generational (Ed Reed) type talent.

Excuses are for losers, and I'm hearing a ton of them.
We gave up over 550 yards of total offense, had a punt blocked, a TD called back because of a penalty, couldn't stop them on a key 3rd and 15, couldn't even get the play in on offense on multiple occasions, lost another fumble, coached the game way too conservatively, we weren't good enough on 3rd down on offense, didn't get near enough pressure on Prescott, had a key drop by Agholor, and lost (another) winnable game.

Why is N'Kheal Harry still on this team? He is the absolute worst wide receiver that I've ever seen play for the Patriots. But at least we didn't waste a key 1st round pick on him and we didn't end up losing the best player to ever play the game as a partial result of drafting him... oh wait- we did.

How is it that we spent all this money and have so little team speed?

Why does this defense look like Patricia is coaching them? For that matter why did we bring him back in the first place?

Why did TEs only get 4 targets in this game?

We are getting close to the point that Bill should no longer be getting the benefit of the doubt, because his teams have not been producing for too long.

Rob0729 said:

The Patriots seemed to sleepwalk through the first half last week. The second they got their fire back in the second half, the game was lopsided. And if they didn't fumble away a TD on the goalline, the game might not have been even close.

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Yeah, actually I think a "fundamentals matter" take is way more to the point than "OMG what terrible play calls." They're a not-good team lol... One that could win virtually any game we've played this year... but didn't.

You can ALWAYS scream "Wahhhh the playcalling the playcalling." Whichever road they didn't take, you would have taken, and it would have worked.

I mean, that's an easier religion to spread than "You'll be tortured forever if you don't share my beliefs."

We're still looking at a team that coughs up the ball when it matters, and that's big. It's a team that's not being convincingly beaten, and its identity isn't doormat but "what if" loser. A loss is a loss, mind you, but these could be the losses you get right before you come screaming out of the desert on sandworm cavalry. Or whatever. Too many Dune trailers.

We've had several other "if only" games, generally marked by THE turnover. If anything, this team's not showing the terrible downside of being "conservative," they're showing a lack of discipline... or possibly, just a lack of being in the magical groove. After all, what's the easiest way to make the next error? Overthink the last one. (Coming back from that pick six notwithstanding.)

We're looking at a team that just doesn't win those hotly contested games, not one that "can't compete."

On D, we're also seeing what they do in NE's system, which does emphasize reducing and controlling huge downside events ("the big play") on D. There's a downside: You're liable to play a lot of soft zone, giving short and intermediary stuff in chunks, then contesting the 3 vs 7 distinction. In doing this, you can get wins and hang tough despite being on the wrong end of 2:1 possession, but you end up with a gassed defense. We've seen this in many a Patriots team before.

I am just laughing my butt off wondering which mediot led the charge to say "oh noes! Conservative playcalling!" because every GDT doomer in Wickershamdom was parroting it this week. (See @DaBruinz above for a contrary take.) I mean, I love Mac, and the ball was deflected, but that pick six was a pick six. "This is all on the coaching staff?" What's out-coachy about losing that tip drill - with the ball basically the defender's to lose, once the ball was tipped? Then Jones came right back TF at Diggs - oh and by the way, that sorta had BB written all over it. But who knows. I think we like to say that a lot, but was Bourne the first read in that progression? His eyes definitely didn't go there first, but that might just mean he's doing it right

Another aside: He had time to stand in there and wait for Bourne to be a good 25 yards downfield; the O-line gave it time to develop. Whatever maligned O-line coach is in charge seems to have done at least enough for that to happen, right? Or no, when they do something right, that's their raw talent, when they F up, it's something bad that you could fix if only the coach could hear you cry through the TV.

BobDigital said:

Thoughts.

1 - I'm starting to wonder if the game is passing Bill by in a sense. He seems to be against the current when it comes to agression. Everyone is playing with an edge now and pushing the boundaries. Pretty much everyone except Bill. It feels like it puts them at a disadvantage every game.

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SMH.. It's funny that when

BobDigital said:

2 - The Play calling is an issue. Again. Too many safe plays. It stalled the offense for the middle 30 minutes. of the game.

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It wasn't the play-calling. It was the execution. Go back and look. The drives died when the players failed to execute on the "aggressive" plays. The strip sack was because someone (TE or OT) failed to pick up Gregory. Gregory's 2nd sack came when the Pats attempted an "aggressive" play.

BobDigital said:

3 - Harris again can't carry 20 times. As good as he is, this is an issue. They need to have options behind him, and they don't have enough. They want to be a running team, but the second he goes out the run game stalls usually.

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Why can't Harris carry it 20 times? Not to mention that him carrying it 20 times is the definition of playing conservative. And you're wrong. Stevenson averaged over 4.6 YPC. That's hardly stalling. The issue was going to BOLDEN for a run up the gut. That has NEVER been his forte. Had they pulled the guard and used Johnson as a lead blocker, it would be a different story.

BobDigital said:

4 - Again, not enough from the TEs. They had some plays, but not enough.

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Agree to disagree. Henry saw a lot of action. He was out there helping with blocking and buying time for Mac. Smith is the one that needs to step up. He wasn't good today.

BobDigital said:

5 - Not enough pressure. This was a good OL, but their front 4 rarely got there without help.

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They got plenty of pressure. The problem was that they couldn't seal the deal. Prescott was able to escape too much.

BobDigital said:

On the good side....

6 Mac made some nice baby steps this game.
7 The Run D came alive, and is looking better recently.
8 I liked the coaching on the D side, it was aggressive and creative. They just need to continue that.

Can't think of a 9 and 10 so i'll end it here haha.

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The run offense was actually very good. They put 124 yards on 23 carries between Harris and Stevenson. Bolden wasn't good. 1 carry for -1 yard on the 3rd and 3 play. That's the one play call I definitely disagreed with. If they wanted to RUN it, they should have used Harris or Stevenson with Johnson on the lead.. Or set up some play-action or an ACTUAL screen play.

The Run Defense was good until they weren't at the end of the game. Elliot had a 21 yarder in the 4th quarter on the drive that ended with the Zeurlein missed FG.

Deus Irae said:

Punting was the right move there. I'm stunned that anyone even questions that.

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I disagree with punting on 4th and 3 at midfield, in OT, vs maybe the best offense in the league. Have to believe your offense can get 3 yards there. Can't just give up the ball. Not the first time that's happened this year either.

Mac and the OL's baptism by fire will finally end after next week.

Dolphins, Jets, Saints, Bucs, Dallas all have good front-7s and are well-coached defensively. The only pushover they've played defensively is Houston.

Once they get past next week, they have the Chargers, Panthers, Browns, Falcons, and Titans, before finally playing Buffalo. I haven't seen any of the Titans this season so I can't get a read on their defense, but the LAC > ATL games should be easier going for the offense, particularly the OL and Mac. I'm hoping the offense will produce in those games like they did today against Dallas -- hopefully these first 7 weeks will be the equivalent to swinging the bat with the donut on.

The Bills' defense is legit, though. That'll be another real challenge for them later in the season.

Can you imagine if we lost to Houston last week (a game we probably should have lost)?

Marko said:

I also think Mac might have been shaken up, as we were pretty aggressive prior to that play, and after that went run first for like 4 drives.

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He looked dazed after that hit, he's a tough kid and got right up but I think it affected him.

40yrpatsfan said:

I disagree with punting on 4th and 3 at midfield, in OT, vs maybe the best offense in the league. Have to believe your offense can get 3 yards there. Can't just give up the ball. Not the first time that's happened this year either.

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Not to mention that the Pats have proven that they can't stop anyone.

Rob0729 said:

I know people have written off the season, but I still think the Pats have a chance to make the playoffs. It is a long shot, but I could see 9-8 making that third wild card spot. Right now there are only five teams ahead of them in the wild card race and only one of them are ahead of them by more than one game.

The Pats are not that far away from losing close games like this to winning them. And the Bills are the only team left on their schedule that are as good or better than the Cowboys and Bucs. The Browns and Panthers aren't nearly are scary as they looked a few weeks ago. They have both come down to earth a bit.

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Mathematically it's not a problem. We are literally one game out of the last playoff spot and IMO that spot is wide open. It's more the fact that the team has been the anti clutch thus far and we also seem to lack fundamentals. 2 moments late in the game where someone was not set, one led to a wasted play, one led to a delay of game. The fumbles, the penalties, the managment end of halves and late in games. The team does not have the traits of a winner. Can it change? Absolutely, but it's not encouraging on that end at all at the moment. They have been competitive and had a chance to win most of the games, but so did the 2000 patriots.

Brady6 said:

1. Mac Jones continues to impress.
2. I like the rotation of Harris and Stephenson.
3. Judon, Barmore, Jackson, Dugger, and Uche make up a promising core on defense.
4. Mac Jones needs more weapons around him. The lack of a 3rd down RB is especially noticeable.
5. We should have given Agholor and Smith’s money to Thuney and Gilmore.

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Agreed on all but 4. I actually think the weapons are fine. He just needs a line and a bit more opportunities. 21 throws in a 35-29 OT loss is way too few

PATSYLICIOUS said:

They have been competitive and had a chance to win most of the games, but so did the 2000 patriots.

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Yeah people see their 5-11 record but not everyone knows 9 of those 11 losses were by a score or less.

Good teams can get over the hump and win the close ones a lot more often than not.

Ras-IR Dowling said:

They need to figure it out because he cost way too much $$ to be frozen out 5 games in. I haven’t looked at the contract details but I can’t imagine he’s cutable at a reason cap hit until 2023.

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Pretty much.

It's time to give JJ Taylor another look. We need someone that has the ability to hit a home run and for the most part we haven't seen it on this team so far.

40yrpatsfan said:

I disagree with punting on 4th and 3 at midfield, in OT, vs maybe the best offense in the league. Have to believe your offense can get 3 yards there. Can't just give up the ball. Not the first time that's happened this year either.

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You couldn't get 10 yards in 3 plays, but you have to believe that you can get 3 yards in one play, and you have to risk giving "maybe the best offense in the league" a short field, when you could try pinning them deep and making them work harder for the points?

The pats are 32nd in the NFL in going for it on 4th down