Mac on Monday Night

[jimnance]

I get that and I think this game plan doesn’t look as genius if the Bills get another TD or if they started to stop the run game sooner than the 4th quarter.

Some play action would have been good and I think we get 6 on at least one of them.

I disagree. If the game had unfolded differently BB would have adjusted. If that meant passing he would've passed. What you call" game plan" is only partially correct. Some of what Bill did was likely decided after walking on field pregame and assessing conditions. And the run game was always going to be a major component regardless of weather. Plays to Pats strength and Jills weakness.
So THAT was "game plan". But only passing it 3x was not game plan- that was in-game adjustment. Harris' td was the catalyst.
Pats big advantage over everyone is our HC not only game plans better than anyone- he also is better at in-game adjustments than the rest of the nfl.

 

[jimnance]

We'll see if they still are after they play the champs this weekend - without Tre White.

No way in hell Bills win that game.
Theyll be 7-7 in a couple weeks and may not even make the playoffs

 

[maust]

Last week it was nitpicking a 23 point win. This week it's taking issue with the number of passes not thrown as the Pats emasculated the Bills in their own building. It's tough being a Pats fan, we suffer through the types of First World problems other fan bases just can't even comprehend.

 

[amfootball]

My biggest concern with Mac throwing 3 times is it indicates that the coaches do not think he can throw in bad conditions. We know he does not have a strong arm but that game plan emphatically told us that they don't believe he can handle wind at all. This a concern because we are the top seed and the weather in Foxboro will likely be much worse in January than it was on Monday.

 

[Chevy]

My biggest concern with Mac throwing 3 times is it indicates that the coaches do not think he can throw in bad conditions. We know he does not have a strong arm but that game plan emphatically told us that they don't believe he can handle wind at all. This a concern because we are the top seed and the weather in Foxboro will likely be much worse in January than it was on Monday.

Or it indicated that BB felt they didn't need to. Why risk it in that weather when the D is stopping scores and the O is killing clock?

 

[maust]

Or it indicated that BB felt they didn't need to. Why risk it in that weather when the D is stopping scores and the O is killing clock?

Yep, that and the soul crushing inflicted on the Bills D to be handed their testicles in their own building by an opponent who played wiith one hand tied behind their back. There's much to be said for beating up the psyche of a team New England will face again in less than 3 weeks.

 

[sb1]

Seriously - imagine being a team that loses to another team in their own house who threw only three passes. Oy vey.

 

[PaulThePat]

Last week it was nitpicking a 23 point win. This week it's taking issue with the number of passes not thrown as the Pats emasculated the Bills in their own building. It's tough being a Pats fan, we suffer through the types of First World problems other fan bases just can't even comprehend.

Indeed. Mac could throw 29/30 for 400 yards, 5 TDs and 1 int and the main topic would be the int. Mahomes could throw 10/30 for 200 yards, 1 TD and 4 ints and his one amazing TD would be the only topic of discussion (also all 4 ints would be on the receiver). Our fans drive me nuts at times.

 

[maust]

Seriously - imagine being a team that loses to another team in their own house who threw only three passes. Oy vey.

BB does love him some Sun Tzu, battles are won before they are fought
Look at how the Bills handled this loss, it isn't good

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

Last week it was nitpicking a 23 point win. This week it's taking issue with the number of passes not thrown as the Pats emasculated the Bills in their own building. It's tough being a Pats fan, we suffer through the types of First World problems other fan bases just can't even comprehend.

Once again I was saying we should have passed it more because I thought that would have made the win easier. There wasn't a single second of that game where the Patriots were up by two scores, which means one mistake and the Bills could have tied or taken the lead. I was advocating we pass the ball a little to open up the run game, stop us from being one-dimensional and get some more points so we could maybe get up by two scores and have a buffer against one mistake beating us.

What you're saying is akin to being up by 6 and saying "Nah, let's not bother with the field goal to put us up two scores, we got this. Let's just punt."

I'm am not nitpicking.

Yes, we won. But we very easily could have lost. I think some of you watched a different game than the one I did where we were in danger of losing until there was like a minute fifty left in the 4th.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Or it indicated that BB felt they didn't need to. Why risk it in that weather when the D is stopping scores and the O is killing clock?

And as he joked about in the press conference, they have little to no film on Jones' passing ( against them) ..... so the next game will essentially be a blank slate in how to defend him...( again from Buf perspective)

 

[The Trickster]

Once again I was saying we should have passed it more because I thought that would have made the win easier. There wasn't a single second of that game where the Patriots were up by two scores, which means one mistake and the Bills could have tied or taken the lead. I was advocating we pass the ball a little to open up the run game, stop us from being one-dimensional and get some more points so we could maybe get up by two scores and have a buffer against one mistake beating us.

What you're saying is akin to being up by 6 and saying "Nah, let's not bother with the field goal to put us up two scores, we got this. Let's just punt."

I'm am not nitpicking.

Yes, we won. But we very easily could have lost. I think some of you watched a different game than the one I did where we were in danger of losing until there was like a minute fifty left in the 4th.

Actually there is a flip side to this.
The old saw that when you pass three things can happen and two are bad.
We were ahead. We had the wind in the 4th.
We were running the ball well.
Perhaps if we were having no luck running we would need to soften them up with an occasional pass and hope conditions did not cause a turnover. But we were smashing them in the face and it was working.
We ate clock and moved the ball
No change in philosophy was necessary in my opinion

 

[maust]

I'm am not nitpicking.

Back the bold print bus up and look at what I posted rather than looking to defend what you said. I wasn't quoting you and I did not say you personally were nitpicking. You may have started the thread but you aren't the only one in it. Some of the same posters were in the @patfanken thread regarding the Titans game, which devolved into the aforementioned nitpicking. Neither you or your opening post were being attacked. If for some reason you thought you were, you have my sincere apology as it certainly was not my intent.
Please relax a bit

,
What you're saying is akin to being up by 6 and saying "Nah, let's not bother with the field goal to put us up two scores, we got this. Let's just punt."

What I said was not in the same universe as that, never mind akin to it. If you're going to try putting words in my mouth, I'd appreciate them being intelligible. In any case If we could avoid the Andy like strawman arguments and/or going the Full Stevenson I know I'd appreciate it and I doubt I am the only one. Life is too short for that kind of BS.

Maybe if you came at it from the standpoint of letting me illustrate a bit of incompetence before you assumed it that would help.

 

[NormZauchin]

My biggest concern with Mac throwing 3 times is it indicates that the coaches do not think he can throw in bad conditions. We know he does not have a strong arm but that game plan emphatically told us that they don't believe he can handle wind at all. This a concern because we are the top seed and the weather in Foxboro will likely be much worse in January than it was on Monday.

As Tom Curran said in his podcast, anticipating just that sort of take by critics of Mac, Belichick would never have allowed Mac to throw 40 times in the pouring rain against the GOAT qb in the Bucs game, if he did not have confidence in the rookie's ability to play in bad conditions.

 

[holyredeemer]

Amazing how Mac went from being a media darling, ROY candidate, a guy who plays within the system and limits mistakes to a dead beat that can’t throw in inclement weather and has to be limited by the coaching staff to protect the team. I get how people could come to a similar conclusion in the heat of the moment. I did as well. I also got over it and saw the light the more it unfolded.

 

[Ivan]

I don’t think this had anything to do with Iones, it was the ability of their defense to contain Buffalo and their ability to run the ball. Any hard gust of wind could turn a screen into a pick six, and anything outside or over the middle into a turnover. They controlled that game from beginning to end, and only the dumb @ssed move of putting Harry deep made it even close. I loved this game, I wish they never threw it all.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I wondered at first about why no play-action passes and then I realized those in a regular game tend to all be mid-range and long passes because the backs are drawn to the line of scrimmage. Also does Mac run play-action mostly out of shotgun? I've never focused on that vs under center.

Screen passes too are not likely to be effective here as they aren't rushing the passer. And from such a tight formation with all the LBs crowding the line of scrimmage all short completions are likely to be contested.

So maybe the "easy" passes would all be longer, and then the wind becomes a big factor.

In fact, the completion percentage for passes under seven yards off of play-action is actually lower than that of passes over seven yards on play-action.

The play-action pass is the best play in football - Weekly Spiral

The play-action pass is, flat out, the best play in football on a per-attempt basis and there's data to prove it.

weeklyspiral.com

 

[Ivan]

This was my consideration as well during the game. I knew Mac wouldn't throw much, but against the 9-man boxes during the entire 2nd half, I can't believe they wouldn't try a few more short/outside/screen passes. I mean, you lulled them into the 32-straight runs, every 10 or so runs a short pass could have produced a lot. Not just on 3rd and long to Bolden! Like, on 2nd and 5 - catch them off guard. That wind was not like a tornado. Mac can throw 10 yards in that. It was a little too safe. And didn't allow Mac to get even a taste of the conditions, which will serve him well going into the final 2 games in Foxboro and the playoffs - if they end up going to KC or BAL.

So they should have thrown the ball to give Mac practice for the playoffs? Seriously? Mac can get all the practice he needs over the next two months, first nor’Easter and he will throw it 80 times in practice.

Getting the win is what mattered, they went into Buffalo in sh.t conditions and got the win. Congratulations Patriots, well done.

 

[Ivan]

Amazing how Mac went from being a media darling, ROY candidate, a guy who plays within the system and limits mistakes to a dead beat that can’t throw in inclement weather and has to be limited by the coaching staff to protect the team. I get how people could come to a similar conclusion in the heat of the moment. I did as well. I also got over it and saw the light the more it unfolded.

It never ceases to amaze me. Nothing is ever good enough. Rick Pitino was right.

 

[Ivan]

The Patriots went into a blizzard in Buffalo when Brady was QB and halfway through the game Belichick told them to throw out the game plan and go to one they had used a few years before. They threw the ball the entire second half, and they didn’t use any down lineman defensively, and they ripped them apart. The receivers had the advantage and they used speed and spacing defensively to negate the advantage the OL had in a poor traction situation. Getting the win is the only objective, the rest is window dressing,