Steve Belichick Is The Best Playcaller Available

[‘Mondre]

go watch Succession

Go watch secession?

 

[DropKickFlutie]

This doesn't specifically apply to mg's opening post, but is more in reference to the coaching staffs of all three phases of the game.


It appeared at times this season that the Patriots were very predictable, making it easier for opponents to put their players in position to succeed against the Pats. Much of the pre-game preparation had historically been handled by Ernie Adams; that is now done by Matt Patricia.

Following a legend in his field is never easy, so it would be unrealistic to expect Matt to immediately be just as effective as Ernie. That would show up downstream, where the Pats may be predictable, or seem ill prepared to react to what an opponent was doing (such as the NE defense vs Buffalo offense in the postseason).

With that in mind, how about adding more staff to break down film and look for these tendencies - not just in regards to what an upcoming opponent is doing, but just as importantly, self-scouting in order to preemptively fix a habit or weakness that an opponent could see and exploit?


These 'Quality Control' positions are in the grand scheme of the business relatively low paying jobs, and they don't count towards the salary cap. If they result in more wins then that adds to the value of the franchise, making them a worthwhile investment. The information they uncover could be vital for an OC, DC, Special Teams Coach or any of their assistants while preparing for a game.

Agree. Starting 2-4 and finishing 1-4 after the bye, a sign that the post-Ernie analytics is terrible.

Back to the defense. Link below the Pats had the 2nd best in points given up and also 2nd best in fewest passing yards. And a bottom half run defense. I'd say this was a good coaching job given having to use smoke and mirrors around Miles Bryant as a slot corner, no Jon Jones, losing Mills, and then having to play total crap in SloJuan, Bentley, and Godchaux. During the 7game winning streak the defense was giving up 11 points a game. Defensive personnel needs a big upgrade at CB, NT, ILB. And the mediots can't just claim the good defensive games were BB.

https://www.footballdb.com/stats/teamstat.html?group=D&cat=T&sort=ptsgm

 

[BTTA]

I've said it here multiple times: if Steve B wants to have a legitimate football coaching career, and fill in the "doesn't know what he doesn't know" gap, he is overdue moving to another organization and proving he can do it under normal circumstances.

Smart business owners do this with their kids, even if they want them to be their successors. "Go work somewhere else for a decade or so, then we'll talk about you coming back. Learn what your Dad can't teach you, and legitimize the resume for everyone here who will need to believe in you and the validity of your leadership."

Regarding the Krafts, that's a false flag argument. There isn't a large enough network of NFL management jobs available to the kids of owners for this principle to apply. Unless two owner decide to "trade kids" for a few years, which would be very smart, but difficult because of the numbers.

 

[‘Mondre]

Steve has worked his way up the org the "right" way. The only thing his name did for him is get him in the door in the first place.

Networking is the most important part of securing a job.

 

[BTTA]

Steve has worked his way up the org the "right" way. The only thing his name did for him is get him in the door in the first place.

None of us know this to be true.

 

[Sciz]

So...who's the proposed DC that will be a better playcaller? That's kind of an important piece of the puzzle here.

 

[203Pat]

I am not as worried about the play calls as I am the players we have on defense. The front seven needs an overhaul. We need speed and not size. Rangy linebackers who can run sideline so sideline. See if some combination of Uche, Winovich, and Perkins will work on the edge opposite Judon. Stop trying to make those guys three down linebackers and utilize the physical skills they already have. If big slow linebackers are getting pushed around against the run and can't cover anyone what do we have to lose at this point?

 

[DropKickFlutie]

I dunno, Phillips and Dugger both had good seasons, and while McCourty may have lost a step, he wasn't BAD. I think their secondary problems had more to do with depth at CB.

Agree. DMac is getting old but the Pats were 2nd best in the league in giving up the fewest plays over 20+ yards. CBs were the issue, they couldn't play their bread and butter man cover1 as much when Jon Jones went down.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

So...who's the proposed DC that will be a better playcaller? That's kind of an important piece of the puzzle here.

Agree. Just like several other things that are a-s backwards on the franchise (wasting Onwenu, misusing Agholor, Jonnu), the offense and defense are being framed incorrectly. The defense has a personnel problem at CB, NT, ILB. Not a DC problem. Conveesely the offense has plenty of good players but a stale OC problem and misused good players.

 

[masterbouncer]

I dunno, Phillips and Dugger both had good seasons, and while McCourty may have lost a step, he wasn't BAD. I think their secondary problems had more to do with depth at CB.

agree here, with JJ and Mills it looks different you can be a great coach as well with poor talent you can't do much (not saying young Belichick is a great coach yet), Safeties were good, DMac just lost a step, Dugger and Philips were good to great, same for Jackson and Mills did quite well after a tough start to the season

 

[Ivan]

The nepotism angle seemed to work out OK for Kyle Shanahan and Brian Schottenheimer. Just because he is Bill’s son does not necessarily mean he can n be a great coach.

its one if the perks of being head coach for one team for over 20 years

Coach Bill Belichick, son of Coach Steve Belichick. Belichick started out picking Ted Marchibroda up from the airport and getting him coffee. It’s not whether there is a familial relationship, it’s about whether or not they have done the work and learned the lessons, and if that translates to the ability to do the job. Silver spooners are always a disaster.

 

[Sicilian]

So...who's the proposed DC that will be a better playcaller? That's kind of an important piece of the puzzle here.

The only two I can think of that would be options would be if Flores comes back or Mayo stays, but both seem to have too good a HC market to be back here. And in the case of Mayo, the same principle would have to apply: He'd have to be definitively The Man, and Steve would either have to take a clear side role or go get experience in another organization. Otherwise we're in the same nebulous situation again in 2022.

 

[Ivan]

I thought this thread was about defense?

 

[Triumph]

No they didn't.

Yup they did.

Lack of adjustments is a problem.

The biggest issue for the Patriots was the lack of adjustments, something safety Devin McCourty noted after the game.

“We didn’t adjust and I felt like I could’ve made some adjustments on the field that would’ve helped us,” he said about defending McKenzie. “We just didn’t get it done.”

Stopping the run was a problem.

Vs the Colts when Johanthn Taylor got past the front 7, there was nobody home to stop him. The Patriots routinely had problems with the run when RBs broke free, Duke Johnson is a Cleveland cast off who had a career day vs the Pats.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yup they did.

Lack of adjustments is a problem.

The biggest issue for the Patriots was the lack of adjustments, something safety Devin McCourty noted after the game.

“We didn’t adjust and I felt like I could’ve made some adjustments on the field that would’ve helped us,” he said about defending McKenzie. “We just didn’t get it done.”

Stopping the run was a problem.

Vs the Colts when Johanthn Taylor got past the front 7, there was nobody home to stop him. The Patriots routinely had problems with the run when RBs broke free, Duke Johnson is a Cleveland cast off who had a career day vs the Pats.

Phillips, McCourty and Dugger had very good years.

The personnel at safety was not the problem.

You are reading into DMCs comments that there was a coaching issue. He may be saying that. Then again he may not.

If you want to complain about other things then fine.

Run defense is a team problem. Not a specific safety problem.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

The only two I can think of that would be options would be if Flores comes back or Mayo stays, but both seem to have too good a HC market to be back here. And in the case of Mayo, the same principle would have to apply: He'd have to be definitively The Man, and Steve would either have to take a clear side role or go get experience in another organization. Otherwise we're in the same nebulous situation again in 2022.

Flores back here as DC is a pipe dream and not happening. He likely gets 1 of the 9 HC openings. Flores and Mayo are flying around everywhere as it's become apparent there unfortunately aren't many other candidates who can satisfy team interview requirements.

 

[*ChungFu*]

Does anyone have any hard evidence that Steve or Brian have not done the dirty work required at lower positions? I could see Bill making a point at each station in life discussing the gravity of each situation; down to how to twirl your friggin whistle.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Does anyone have any hard evidence that Steve or Brian have not done the dirty work required at lower positions? I could see Bill making a point at each station in life discussing the gravity of each situation; down to how to twirl your friggin whistle.

What I've seen is every single position group Steve has coached in the past has been elite or become elite. I'm no fan of nepotism but Steve Belichick has done a good job every year and every unit he's coached, for many many years so far. Issue on defense is too many crappy players, need to upgrade CB, ILB, NT. Issue isn't the DC

 

[*ChungFu*]

What I've seen is every single position group Steve has coached in the past has been elite or become elite. I'm no fan of nepotism but Steve Belichick has done a good job every year and every unit he's coached, for many many years so far. Issue on defense is too many crappy players, need to upgrade CB, ILB, NT. Issue isn't the DC

I agree. Envy is the drug of this decade.

 

[borg]

Any NFL stat sites out there that have 'average yards gained on 1st down vs NE's D'?

Seems to me opponents faced 2nd and short vs NE's D more often than not.