To say this game was on Belichick is an understatement. The burning of a timeout in the fourth quarter just for a 3rd and 6 when the Eagles weren't even on midfield was questionable. That's nonsense we would laugh at other coaches for doing if it they were to wish they had it back. Even if they get the first down, it's not the end of the world. Those timeouts are valuable.
The gameplan was atrocious. The bend but don't break nonsense is getting old. It only works by relying on your opponents to commit mistakes such as penalties, errant throws, and turnovers. Aside from Zach Ertz's false start in the opening drive, Philly didn't make a major mistake afterwards. The Pats took nothing away defensively. Bill didn't get his guys ready and prepared to make tackles to force 3rd down stops. He hasn't had a great defensive gameplan in almost 15 years. By the way, that was when he had Ty Law, Teddy, Vrabel, Harrison, McGuiness, and more that he inherited from Parcells.
Hoodie is the best of all time. Don't get me wrong. However, part of that is attributed to how he consistently relies on his opposing coaches being dumber than him. He teaches his players to not lunge for the endzone to avoid what happened with Jessie James in the Steelers game (Tomlin isn't a good enough coach to emphasize such as a thing). So many coaches mismanage timeouts (Andy Reid), get a delay of game after timeouts (Marone in the Bortles play), leave Gronk covered one on one with someone that can't do it (Tomlin), and hurriedly calls for a slant passes in the congested endzone with the game on the line (Pete Carol). The issue becomes what happens when he faces a coach that isn't going to make those type of mistakes with a talented roster? (Coughlin, the Hardbaughs, and now Pederson).
I know Butler had an illness but if he was okay enough to play special teams, he surely could have gotten some snaps on defense. Furthermore, it surely doesn't explain why Rowe was placed on Jeffrey instead of Gilmore in the first quarter. The inexplicable decision cost the pats points early in the game. Once Gilmore went on Jeffrey, he shut the receiver down. Why wasn't he on Jeffrey from the start? Also, did Bill not watch the Vikings' game to see that stopping the slants on these RPOs would lead to deep balls? It killed the Vikings. It didn't kill the Falcons only giving up slants as the Eagles only scored 15 points. No real gameplan was installed. Don't only scapegoat Patricia. Bill is a defensive minded coach so he's there with him making these decisions and he hired him anyway. Good luck Stafford and the Lions.
Once again, Brady played well enough to win. Bill has been relying on opponents screwing up and Brady bailing him out time after time after time (Seahawks and Falcons game). He and the front office have gotten complacent again with this roster. It is devoid of talent in the front seven compared to the teams they've face. The quality drop in the league as it pertains to smart play and the success they pulled out have made them believe everyone else is stupid. However, tonight the Eagles proved otherwise.
You could argue Bill the general manager and the head coach has cost Brady more rings. I am not saying Brady has always been perfect. No one is. But he has played well, especially today, to win. I'm waiting for Bill to have great gameplans. He's been installing simple plans like having a tight end chip on a pass rusher like JJ Watt or double teaming a receiver like Hopkins. Some thing most teams are too stupid to replicate but instead whine about the Patriots winning.
People talk about the system. Brady has had different offensive coordinators that he makes look good because of his ability to read defenses, make accurate throws, sense pass rush, look off linebackers and safeties, not throw to receivers he doesn't trust, lead receivers, and exploit mismatches on the field. I used to get frustrated watching Patriot teams such as the 2011 Patriots put out guys like Russ Ventrone at the secondary but relying on Brady bailing them out. These two Superbowls were won because Brady has gotten even better the last 4 years and due to teams choking. In this game, our opponents surprisingly didn't choke and that's why we lost. I know other guys stepped up and did their job like Bill preaches but they're still getting outplayed and out schemed for stretches.
History repeated itself. This game felt awfully similar to the late fourth quarter of the 2011 Giants Superbowl game. Belichick is a great coach with his attention to detail, mastery of the rule book, his ability to find hard working guys and put them in position to succeed, his teams being discipline, and his in game management. However, we've seen that only works if his roster is very talented and can make plays and or Brady being Brady. Once a coach actually has a clue and faces Bill, the Hoodie isn't always besting them with his simple gameplans. Hopefully, the Pats will learn from this and load up like how they did in 2014 following those previous seasons of the same playoff failures from the same aforementioned reasons.
