Key Players [Mac Jones/others] Isn't/Aren't Ready to Play

[cmasspatsfan]

They are definitely better than last year despite the record. Our fans might not notice but other teams players and coaches know it. So far they have kept up the fight and made the games competitive and interesting. If they are going to beat the Patriots they have to play hard because They are not an easy out. I was expecting a slow start and a record of 1-3 to 2-5 out the gate and it looks like it may be worse?

At least the offense has a direction and the defense is showing promise. Gonzales looks lock down and all 3 Jones will be back eventually. Oline needs to be solved if this team is going to do anything this season. Without it, this offense will never be able to play catch up with some of the teams on the schedule. 25 and 24 points allowed against elite offenses should at least keep you in todays game which again, puts all the focus on offense, same as last year.

Year 4 for Mac and he looks no better than Daniel Jones. I’d hate to see them pony up his type of contract for the type of production he’s put out. He’s got 15 more games to make things right and hopefully the coaches put him in a position to succeed. Fix the oline asap and let’s see what he can do. Promising that when he has had time to throw he has been able to throw some pretty good looking deep balls. He just needs another second or two before he starts to connect imo.

It's year 3, you're the second guy to say year 4, you guys don't know how to count?

 

[Patriot Missile]

It's year 3, you're the second guy to say year 4, you guys don't know how to count?

Sorry about that. I guess not.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

For all Mac doubters , a great article to illustrate what happened yesterday .. the offensive line is such a &#&$&$& that we can't objectively evaluate any QB. Tom Brady must be thanking his stars that he isn't playing for the pats any more. This is a QB graveyard the way the roster is constructed. Bill , that's on you.

Mac Jones blamers just aren't getting it and other leftover Patriots thoughts

Michael Hurley believes the disproportionate level of blame being put on Mac Jones is just wrong.

www.cbsnews.com

Lol we would be SB favorite and 2-0 with Brady right now. That’s what having a QB does for you.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Mac Jones lovers during camp:

BOB will save us. He is a top 3 OC in the league. Bourne is a great receiver and he is bound to have a 1000 yards season. Parker if not injured last year would have had a great season and he is a great contested catch guy. Henry is a great receiving TE. He is bound to have 600 yds 9-10 TD this year. Juju is better than Meyers. More explosive and more YAC. Will fit great with what BOB wants to do. Gesicki will be a match up nightmare for opposing defenses. Here comes the two TE sets again.

Mac lovers now:

Mac has no weapons. The receiver sucks.

 

[archstanton543]

Mac Jones lovers during camp:

BOB will save us. He is a top 3 OC in the league. Bourne is a great receiver and he is bound to have a 1000 yards season. Parker if not injured last year would have had a great season and he is a great contested catch guy. Henry is a great receiving TE. He is bound to have 600 yds 9-10 TD this year. Juju is better than Meyers. More explosive and more YAC. Will fit great with what BOB wants to do. Gesicki will be a match up nightmare for opposing defenses. Here comes the two TE sets again.

Mac lovers now:

Mac has no weapons. The receiver sucks.

Two things can be true at once. BOB will help stabilize the offense and help Mac reach his potential. Mac needs legit weapons.

We've been saying the latter longer than the former.

 

[lancerman]

Lol we would be SB favorite and 2-0 with Brady right now. That’s what having a QB does for you.

No we wouldn't lol. Brady is my favorite sportsman ever, but he pretty much sulked all year in 2019 and made it abudnantly clear how unhappy he was with the offense that surrounded him, despite having a great defense, and everyone on the planet knew we weren't SB favorites that year.

From 2003 to 2022 Brady's best pass catcher was either Branch, Welker, Moss, Gronk, Edelman or Evans in Tampa. 2006 was the only year that wasn't true. Then he routinely had guys like Troy Brown, Welker (when Moss was here), Amendola, and Godwin as number 2's.

Or did you forget when half this board was screaming that Brady was washed and the cause of all the problems in 2019 because he didn't buy in?

Mac Jones lovers during camp:

BOB will save us. He is a top 3 OC in the league. Bourne is a great receiver and he is bound to have a 1000 yards season. Parker if not injured last year would have had a great season and he is a great contested catch guy. Henry is a great receiving TE. He is bound to have 600 yds 9-10 TD this year. Juju is better than Meyers. More explosive and more YAC. Will fit great with what BOB wants to do. Gesicki will be a match up nightmare for opposing defenses. Here comes the two TE sets again.

Mac lovers now:

Mac has no weapons. The receiver sucks.

Are you under the impression that people haven't been saying the Patriots receivers suck and have sucked since 2019? Weapons have been a problem for years and Brady probably would have retired here last year if we had a half decent offensive cast back when he originally left.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Two things can be true at once. BOB will help stabilize the offense and help Mac reach his potential. Mac needs legit weapons.

We've been saying the latter longer than the former.

The weapons are fine. Mac is just not good enough

 

[Huckleberry1]

Sorry to start another thread, but I decided to start this to write something more comprehensive. And I didn't want to talk about X and Os or BOB's tactics.

There are some fundamental things happening that are leaving me bewildered.

For instance, we're not playing with enough urgency, preparedness or, heck, violence, up front. I saw Tyreek Hill take out Uche last night with a block and it was one of the most pathetic things. I was hopeful that Uche was coming around and wondered if he'd get his big contract. Well, he needs to turn things around ASAP. Then there's Rham. There's something wrong with him right now, and it's not the OL. He is not decisive. When he needs 1 yard, he dances in the backfield. Something's up. Strange wasn't ready to play either, and I get he's just back, but if you're not ready, Mafi would maybe do a better job. I was watching Onwenu--he held his own and was a man mauler out there; he looked really good. Strange not so much.

Maybe they can all come back and do a Judon (I thought Judon was bad against the run last week, but he had a great game yesterday in all facets).

It looks like several players are not coming prepared to play. And they get exploited because they are not ready.

I'm bolding this because it is the biggest problem I have seen so far: we are telegraphing our plays.

Defenses are teeing off on our OL because they get a running start and they know exactly when we're going to snap it. This was a home game for heaven's sake. Our OL has no chance to stop jailbreaks when the QB is calling for the ball predictably each and every time. I would blitz too in such a situation. No changes in cadence. No variation. This is a home game!!! And when we audible, we try a sweep on 4th and 1 when we need just ONE YARD!!!! He is not seeing the game, not taking command, not playing the head games a QB needs to play with a defense to put his offense and the OL in optimal positions. And it doesn't help him either.

He's jittery, he's skittish, he's throwing off his back foot. He's taking bad sacks. No wonder he's so inaccurate. His long throws are lollipops that bounce off the moon. There is zero confidence he can get anything done back there.

I gave Mac the benefit of the doubt until now, but you can't have a guy cowering back there and not controlling the game. He is the biggest problem. People will talk about the lack of offensive weapons, but the fact is, the QB controls the game, especially at home, and he doesn't maximize his talents or the meager talents of his WRs.

Bill O'Brien has to see this, but it's Mac's 3rd year and I'm not sure what can be done at this point.

I don't have the patience with him to see if he develops into a Geno Smith maybe 5 years down the line. I don't think he will ever even be a Geno Smith.

The O-line will get better, the continuity will improve, Mac will get more comfortable behind it, but when it's crunch time and the defense sends the house in crucial situations, when the heat turns up, especially against good teams, Mac will not answer the call. The good play we'll see from him in the coming weeks will be a mirage.

Oh, and one last thing: Make someone else play FS. We need Dugger up near the line of scrimmage causing havoc.

I think this has been true the past couple of seasons. Too many games they are coming out slow and tentative. The coaches and team leaders need to figure this out because it’s really hurting them. It seems like they are always making late runs and coming up short.

 

[archstanton543]

The weapons are fine. Mac is just not good enough

Mac isn't the type of QB who can elevate the talent around him. He needs one or two elite (or near elite) weapons. Just "fine" can cut it with a Tom Brady or even a Mahomes but with Mac, you need to surround him with talent and an O-line that's not held together with duct tape and chewing gum.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

I think this has been true the past couple of seasons. Too many games they are coming out slow and tentative. The coaches and team leaders need to figure this out because it’s really hurting them. It seems like they are always making late runs and coming up short.

The offensive staff has changed. It’s either on the players or on Bill

 

[sb1]

The weapons are fine. Mac is just not good enough

TBD if Mac is the future but he’s way better than any alternative right now. My opinion on him has not changed either way up or down. He’s a guy that you can win with, not because of, and you need a better team around him to make that happen.

The OT issues and having no running attack are causing a lot of problems and it cascades over to the passing game.

 

[RIpats88]

Lol we would be SB favorite and 2-0 with Brady right now. That’s what having a QB does for you.

2019 would like to have a word with you...

 

[archstanton543]

The offensive staff has changed. It’s either on the players or on Bill

It's not as black and white as that. Lots of things (personnel, coaching, injuries, scheme, talent level, weather, schedule, etc.) go into whether or not a team is successful on offense (and defense).

Again, yes, BOB can and has stabilized the offensive operation. BOB can't stop BB from not bringing in elite weapons for his QB to use. He can make recommendations but the buck stops with BB. He also can't predict that the O-line was going to be decimated by injuries all throughout camp leading to the projected starters not getting any time to practice together or they'd be in such dire straits that they'd have to make O-line trades on cutdown day and then start some of those guys (and rookies) to start the season. This, in turn, as effected the passing game and especially the run game.

Put simply. BOB is a net positive for the offense. A big one. Also, Mac still doesn't have elite weapons and they didn't go out and get any this off season. Gieseki and JuJu are castoffs from teams with better offensive talent and no one would consider them elite or near-elite talent.

 

[archstanton543]

2019 would like to have a word with you...

At least that year they attempted to get Brady a young, high end receiver in the draft and that failed spectacularly.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

2019 would like to have a word with you...

Lol

You mean the 12-4 season? Where the D couldn’t stop Parker to get homefield advantage?

Weapons and OL was far worse in 2019 than this year or any Mac Jones year

 

[RIpats88]

Mac isn't the type of QB who can elevate the talent around him. He needs one or two elite (or near elite) weapons. Just "fine" can cut it with a Tom Brady or even a Mahomes but with Mac, you need to surround him with talent and an O-line that's not held together with duct tape and chewing gum.

and even brady/mahomes have their limits. 2019 brady people thought was in decline. his last play was a pick six losing to the lowly titans. then he goes to tampa with evans/godwin and puts up 20 more td's and wins a superbowl. lest people forget 2006, 2013 and 2015. talent matters.

mahomes struggling this year. no one with a straight face can say having parker/bourne/juju as your top guys is "just fine" compared to the rest of the league. are we also going to say stevenson suck because he looks average?

i get it people who hate mac last year want to keep the narrative up. but if you swapped him with any other QB doubt all of a sudden parker/bourne/juju are lighting up the league and we are scoring 30, the ol solidifies and stevenson is putting up 100yards

hes not the main problem here. its lack of talent at receiver and OL. theres only so much you can do with average receivers who cant get open, no run game(and no play action because of that) and an OL that gives you 2 seconds

 

[RIpats88]

Lol

You mean the 12-4 season? Where the D couldn’t stop Parker to get homefield advantage?

Weapons and OL was far worse in 2019 than this year or any Mac Jones year

some major revisionist history here. brady left because of how bad that season was offensively. no receivers, no tight ends, poor OL. yeah he made it work somewhat. because hes the goat. asking a 3rd year qb to make it work with subpar talent is just bad management.

he put up 25tds and looked pretty bad. then goes to tampa and puts up 45tds with a better cast.

 

[sb1]

Lol

You mean the 12-4 season?

Weapons and OL was far worse in 2019 than this year or any Mac Jones year

Edelman is much better than anyone we have right now. Juju should have been a great YAC weapon but it seems his knee might not let him. The OL this year is worse than it was in 2019.

 

[RIpats88]

this is not a defense of mac.

but how anyone can watch the games and ignore the elephant in the room and say receivers/OL is fine this is all on mac i don't understand. mac may not be the guy. but we are not losing because our offense/talent is amazing and he just cant run it....and all we need to do is plug someone else in and all of a sudden its amazing

no one will tell me what qb is going to excel with this cast. they wont because it blows up their narrative and they know the team is average. and god forbid anyone criticize the guy picking the groceries. bill wouldnt even pay hopkins 12million. but we have juju on one leg beaten out by a rookie

 

[catent]

I would argue the Eagles got to the Super Bowl with a middle of the road QB. Granted, they were loaded with talent.

Foles was also playing at an extremely high level during that postseason, particularly in the Super Bowl itself.

His play during that stretch was better than anything we’ve seen from Jones thus far.