This loss is mostly on the coaches

[1960Pats]

I'm avoiding it until Friday.

Every caller will be like the GDT

I avoid the GDT and "talk" radio every day. It doesn't mean that we all should be whistling past the graveyard.

We lost the HFA and a chance at a SB in 2015 because of the same ultra conservative approach in Miami. This one wasn't as bad but it was close.

 

[Jackson 2]

This will be a good week to take a vacation from this board, as the nattering nabobs of negativity will be out in full force with all their vitriol... as upset as I am over yesterdays loss, there is plenty of blame to go around from the coaching, playcalling, to execution and the individual players who did not do their job..

Note will not listen to sportstalk radio either..

Great post. My impression of individual reactions to events like this is that pet peeves are revealed. Those not always enamored with BB blame him. Gostkowski doubters blame him. McD bashers blame him. And on and on...Flores, even Brady, etc. etc.

 

[Kontradiction]

What a disgusting loss. Belichick's coaching has been f*cking abysmal for 2 years straight and it was on full display with this historically embarrassing loss. Right up there with last February.

It wasn't Patricia's fault last year and it isn't Flores' this year. Belichick is the problem with this putrid, wildly shaky defense. Whether it's game-planning or off-season building (draft, free agency).

2 TDs including a 54 yarder to Brandon Bolden? Embarrassing. And a 38 year old Gore gashing the "greatest defensive coach of all time"'s defense? With a hobbled QB? Utterly pathetic.

Hard to say with a unit that is as bereft of game-changing talent as we are on the defensive side of the ball. I would think that if you're playing a QB that just got his ankle rolled up on by a 300 pounder, you'd want to force him right to make him throw off of his right foot. The Patriots either couldn't or wouldn't do that. Either situation falls at the feet of BB. The re-watch thread should tell us more on that. In all, I think it's probably a mixture of both. The Patriots get WAYYYYYYYY too conservative on defense if a QB even has a snowball's chance in Hell of converting first downs with his legs every once in a while. Meanwhile, the DT position is a dumpster fire. When Lawrence Guy is your most effective DT, it tells you all you really need to know about the position. The Patriots also don't have a DE that can even remotely be considered a consistent pass rusher outside of Flowers, who is getting doubled frequently. You'd think that would open things up for others up front, but they haven't been able to take advantage of it.

The secondary seems to be somewhat solid, shaky play at CB2 aside. The front is just rotating between complete disaster and mediocre, with a few notable exceptions of top notch play (usually when they play a pocket passer ala Cousins last week). The game could be passing Belichick by. It happens to all of the great ones at some point. But it's impossible to know for sure because the defensive side of the ball is in need of an overhaul up front. The early misses in the draft recently haven't helped, either.

• Easley - whiff.
• Brown - mediocre.
• Richards - whiff.
• Cyrus the Virus - whiff.
• Rivers - whiff.

When you get docked draft picks over a witch hunt, you damn well had better hit on the early round picks you do have. This team hasn't done that. They have found some solid players later on, but the early misses are definitely hurting them on that side of the ball. How anyone could try to argue otherwise is mind boggling.

 

[Tony2046]

I must have missed people calling for McDaniels to be fired or that the Pats were guaranteed a TD if they went for it.

What we do know is if the Pats went for it and got the TD the game was over. Correct?

I find this to a bit hindsight-ish. At that point in the game it was the right call to run down the clock and kick a field goal so that Miami needed to score a TD to win. The decisions and plays that happened before and definitely after those series of downs is what needs to be looked at.

 

[BelizePats]

To me, this was an equal opportunity loss. Did some poor coaching contribute to losing this game? Absolutely. Our defensive game plan was terrible. Tanny had all day to throw except on third downs when the D blitzed on occasion. Tannyhill actually had a better game than Brady did. His line was 3 TD's and 265 yards on half as many throws as Brady had. Why no disguising at the line which was so effective the game before against Cousins? Saving it for the Jets?
Brady missed a wide open (and I do mean wide open) Hogan in the end zone the play before his brain fart at the end of the first half. And losing track of how many time outs the team had is so Mark Sanchez. This is inexcusable.
Ghost picking today to crap the bed.
The non existent run D, particularly during the first half.
The terrible run blocking all game from the Oline.
The dreadful effort on the last play of the game by so many players who all thought "the other guy would get him".
Taking your 10 million dollar a year safety off the field and replacing him a player who is physically clearly banged up because he is tall?

This is a loss on the entire team, not just one facet of the team.

 

[1960Pats]

I find this to a bit hindsight-ish. At that point in the game it was the right call to run down the clock and kick a field goal so that Miami needed to score a TD to win. The decisions and plays that happened before and definitely after those series of downs is what needs to be looked at.

I was actually telling my wife (and the TV) that they should have gone for the TD to ice it on 3rd down. I'll have to get her to sign an affidavit.

 

[Kontradiction]

I was actually telling my wife (and the TV) that they should have gone for the TD to ice it on 3rd down. I'll have to get her to sign an affidavit.

I actually had the post typed up that they needed to actively try to score in the game thread and deleted it thinking there was no chance. Instead, I just posted "Game." Dumb. Should have listened to what Belichick said back in 2007: "Don't tell me about a lead in this league."

 

[Tunescribe]

What can the coaches do but put players in position to win? It's then up to the players to execute. Despite his bad right ankle, Tannehill was fully capable of throwing a hail Mary with the Patriots defense aligned to defend it and not rush him. That was the higher-percentage play for the offense, hence Gronk's presence at safety. Miami won on a prayer/fluke that fails 99 times out of 100. That's football. The Patriots didn't lose this game on the last play, they lost it on a combination of poor defense and uncharacteristically bad kicking. Had Gostkowski not blown that early extra point the game would've gone to overtime with another chance to win. The Pats scored enough points to win and I put this loss mostly on the defense. If you want to blame coaching for that (and BB's personnel decisions by extension), fine. Miami gained 412 yards including gashing New England for 189 yards rushing.

Once again, defense is failing the Pats. I felt encouraged by its performance vs. Minnesota and figured the Miami and Pittsburgh games would tell the tale of whether this team could put it together for the playoffs. I'm now back to doubting them.

The Patriots have no choice but to develop amnesia over this game and focus all their energies on Pittsburgh.

 

[PatriotSpy]

Look BB is a great coach but for me over the past several years Brady has significantly propelled ahead of BB as the reason for the Patriots success. Before it was 50/50 but I honestly never am concerned about Brady before a game. I'm more concerned with BB and the defense and whether he's going to not bench certain players and whether he's going to put players in a position to win. I'm never concerned about Brady.

BB as excellent of a coach as he is was very fortunate to have the greatest defensive player of all time in Lawrence Taylor when he was with the Giants and was very fortunate to have the greatest offensive player of all time in Tom Brady with the Patriots. He was fired in cleveland and was 5-11 his first season without Brady and 0-2 before Brady took over in 2001. Those are facts.

Brady's legacy has gotten better over the past several years. BB's has not...imo.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

What can the coaches do but put players in position to win? It's then up to the players to execute. Despite his bad right ankle, Tannehill was fully capable of throwing a hail Mary

According to NE players they and the coaches in fact did not believe Tannehill was capable of throwing a Hail Mary.

 

[Tunescribe]

According to NE players they and the coaches in fact did not believe Tannehill was capable of throwing a Hail Mary.

Then why was Gronk at safety? It's hard for me to believe Tannehill couldn't thow a long ball on a last-ditch desperation play despite the ankle.

 

[Froob]

Kicking it was absolutely the right call. It's easier for the Dolphins to kick a field goal there than get the touchdown going 70-80 yards.

 

[Froob]

Then why was Gronk at safety?

....We're onto Pittsburgh.

 

[BelichickFan]

Should have run play action and told Brady to take the sack if there wasn't an easy, wide open WR. A sack wouldn't have affected the FG that close but would have given the upside of an easy TD. And remind our QB - who claimed he had all the answers two years ago - that in this instance it is OK to take a sack unlike a half earlier when he forgot the easiest answer.

(And, yes, I said this at the time).

 

[sean10mm]

I hate this defense so, so much. They were garbage all day. They are slow, soft, and as a unit are consistently just stupid as all hell.

Losing on a fluke double lateral is honestly the least of their problems. The Dolphins could have probably scored on a screen pass for 75 yards just as easily against these stiffs.

 

[bormio]

Kicking it was absolutely the right call. It's easier for the Dolphins to kick a field goal there than get the touchdown going 70-80 yards.

Not from their own 4 with 16 seconds left and no TOs.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I will probably take some heat for this but the one time Gronk is tasked with making a tackle, he stumbled and fell. As often as he gets hit in the back or down low, one would think that he would have relished a LEGAL opportunity to get some revenge??? (Remember when he practiced his WWE moves on one of the BILLS db's)

The reason Gronk slipped is he has very little agility at all right now, gimpy ankle and bad back....it’s like putting Buckner on first with the World Series on the line with two blown out knees....ASININE!!!!....Luckily, this wasn’t a SB or playoff game....but will still have implications and was one of the most embarrassing plays in history of game....

So you clicked "Disagree" for rhetorical reasons???

 

[IllegalContact]

wrong........the screw ups by brady and ghostkowski make the ending possible

 

[chasa]

bigger misstep:

Gronk in for this final play on defense
Butler getting zero defensive snaps in the superbowl.

 

[bobbutts]

I was going to redo the title to say that the coaches were mostly at fault instead of all at fault. I just didn't feel like changing it and still don't.

The Brady blunder at the end of the 1st half was definitely a factor. Had they come up with even 3 points there it would have meant a lot, both mentally and score-wise.

Speaking of the Brady blunder, I heard that he said he thought they had a timeout left there. If so why didn't he signal for one?

The Chris Weber Michigan timeout take two.