Is it time to move on from Bill this offseason?

[203Pat]

I know some will be clutching their pearls at the mere mention of this but is it time to part ways with Bill? I have always said he is the greatest coach to ever do it but at this point I am wondering if the game has passed him by. The refusal to get a real offensive coordinator with a once promising second year quarterback has severely hindered Mac's development and has likely cost us a couple games this year. In addition to that the team just looks poorly coached all the way around and very poorly constructed on offense.

The offensive line is a mess and swapping the tackles never seemed to make much sense. The situation at receiver is also a mess. A bad contract from the start for Agholor. The trade for Parker, who is oft injured and can't get open, and Bourne, who has spent most of the season in the doghouse. The tight end situation might be the worst on the team. Jonnu Smith, who currently averages 1.8 catches a game for a whopping 17.2 yards and 0 touchdowns, is set to count $17.5 million against the cap next season (and $19 million if he is cut). Hunter Henry isn't looking much better averaging 2.1 catches a game for 29.6 yards with 2 touchdowns but at least he can be cut next year with "only" a $5 million cap hit this offseason. These two are taking up $23 million in cap space to average about 4 catches and 47 yards a game.

The special teams unit, which Bill always seems to have prided himself in, is also a complete mess outside of Nick Folk and Marcus Jones. Jake Bailey was flat out terrible and seems to have declined each year since his all pro season yet for some reason Bill decided to re-sign him and he would cost about $4.5 million in dead cap next year if he were to be cut. When we aren't punting poorly we are getting punts blocked. Yesterday the ball was snapped and the half punt protection unit seemed unaware and it led to a touchdown before the half for the Raiders. Sprinkle in a running into the kicker penalty to keep a drive alive and a 90 some odd yard touchdown return given up against the Vikings this unit keeps finding new ways to screw up.

I have been one of the many calling out Bill's drafting over the last few years but I actually think he has picked some good players recently but are they going to stay here? It seems like we let a lot of good players walk but at this point can you blame some of them if they don't want to re-sign here even if we want them to stay? Is Jakobi going to want to come back here with the situation at OC? There have been rumors since the summer Mac isn't in love with this Patricia experiment so is he going to force his way out if Matt is still the offensive coordinator? Going into free agency or the trade market won't be an easy sell to come play in the cold for a grumpy coach and and a defensive guy moonlighting as an offensive play caller. This team has been middling in the post Brady era and the flaws are starting to snowball and I hate to say it but I think Bill Belichick is a major part of the problem.

 

[PowerRunRevival]

Wouldn’t it make more sense for Kraft to force out the coordinators or take away Bill’s GM responsibilities before forcing Bill out?

The idea that they would force Bill out if he kept Patricia in his current role seems like nonsense to me. Kraft would force out Patricia before it came to that.

Bill obviously did a poor job in putting together his coaching staff this year. So the obvious solution is bringing in better assistants next year not forcing Bill out.

If you own an extremely expensive car, would you junk it if one of the tires blew out? No you would replace the tire. Firing Bill is an argument for junking the car rather than replacing the broken tire (Patricia).

 

[NashuaPats]

We’re going through a rebuild and don’t have a franchise QB (I’m pessimistic about Mac, maybe he’ll improve). In Brady’s last years, the team deliberately borrowed against future salary cap space to maximize winning at the time. It worked as we won a lot, but now we’re paying for it. All teams do this and usually face long rebuilds. There are so many teams that lose a ton of games, yet in our rebuilding situation we’re still 7-7 now and were 10-7 last year. People need to be patient. How many teams at their worst play around .500 ball? I do think we need to find a new OC though.