What happened in the bye week?

[ashley]

Thinking about it this morning. Not just the regression on defense and key players like Judon but you also had Mac Jones a rookie QB after the Colts loss call out the team over a “bad week of practice”. I thought that was strange. Then you had Slater hint before the Jax game that something wasnt right in the locker room. Then you had last night. That was what teams look like when they quit.

I wonder if we’ll find out more or maybe I’m reading too much into this stuff.

Interesting SB, I wonder if we just peaked too early.....we were playing really well during that 7 game win streak...sometimes it's how you're playing come playoff time.

 

[State]

My first thought was “cocaine.”

But that’s so 1980s. Like Steven Belichick’s mullet.

 

[Nikolai]

My first thought was “cocaine.”

Like...we needed more?

 

[reflexblue]

If the Pats had a couple bad weeks of practice, it's on the HC...

I can't think of a single person on the team that would be a lockerroom cancer type...

Starting with the indy loss i expected that BB would be on the team and that it would bounce back, it never did. Its like the whole team read the headlines about them being a superbowl team after the first buffalo game and believed the hype. From that point on seemed to play like all they had to do was throw their hats on the field to win. To me thats on Belichick, its part of his job to get the teams collective heads straight. This is the first year i haven't seen this team respond after a defeat, it played with the same unprepared approach as it did the first three or four games of the season. So when BB says he needs to evaluate what happened, he needs to do some evaluating of himself too.

 

[reflexblue]

Buffalo has a better roster and was playing at home, they should have won, all else being equal. The simple fact of losing doesn't concern me. We have a rookie QB who has been good but is definitely a work in progress. Starting tackle is out. The usual stuff that can reasonably contribute to losing.

What concerns me is that all this stuff that supposedly sets Belichick apart from everybody else was TOTALLY ABSENT. The defense was not smart or physical, in fact it seemed to just check out of the game after one quarter and let the Bills walk all over them with no resistance. There were no clever schematic twists that slowed down the opposing QB, even for just a drive or two. You've got a dumb facemask penalty, blown special teams coverage. All the supposed hallmarks of a "Belichick coached team" were a mirage. They didn't know what to do and they didn't fight. For this team to go anywhere they had to play mistake free football with strong defense, instead they played dumb football with no defense.

In short, the game was a coaching failure more than anything. This isn't some knee jerk BELICHICK FRAUD FIRE HIM post, but it is what it is. You don't lose by 40 as a 10-7 team because your roster is THAT BAD, you lose because you were soft, sloppy, unprepared - all the things Belichick is supposed to prevent. They go out, I dunno, 31-20 and I'm totally on board with "they just need to bolster the roster, Mac needs a year under his belt, etc." but not after this.

Belichick needs to read this as part of his post season evaluation

 

[archstanton543]

Starting with the indy loss i expected that BB would be on the team and that it would bounce back, it never did. Its like the whole team read the headlines about them being a superbowl team after the first buffalo game and believed the hype. From that point on seemed to play like all they had to do was throw their hats on the field to win. To me thats on Belichick, its part of his job to get the teams collective heads straight. This is the first year i haven't seen this team respond after a defeat, it played with the same unprepared approach as it did the first three or four games of the season. So when BB says he needs to evaluate what happened, he needs to do some evaluating of himself too.

You weren't watching in 2009. BB even said "I can't get these guys to play the way they need to".

 

[reflexblue]

You weren't watching in 2009. BB even said "I can't get these guys to play the way they need to".

Then he needs to get rid of the players that tune him out. Ive heard that many successful head coaches have a short shlf life because the players start to tune them out. IMO has been so good for so long because hes is always turned the teams roster over so his message doesn't get old and stale, he needs to keep doing that.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Then he needs to get rid of the players that tune him out.

That's what he did after 09, he'll probably do it again this offseason.

 

[RobertWeathers]

They believed the hype, read their own press clippings... clearly. And the coaches did little to dissuade this, they were more intent on making sure the players had "fun."

At the end of the year the Patriots were the worst disciplined and worst coached team in the playoffs. On their opening drive they had a false start, three dropped passes, missed blocks and a pass that should have led the receiver to the back of the end zone instead of the front... it wasn't "talent." It was horrid execution, just really bad, mistake filled football.

Before BB goes looking at the players for next year, he'd better take a hard look at himself and the coaching staff, it has to start there.

I agree with this. Not sure it's all on the coaches. Great teams have a strong vet core with a voice which permeates down to the rest of the roster.

Not sure those voices were there this year or being listened to. Had a lot of big money guys in that locker room who might not have fully bought into how things need to be done here.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I said this in late October - before the Pats wen't on their win streak but think it is valid:

"The lack of talent on this team reminds me a lot of the early 90's teams. Anybody remember Hart Lee Dykes?The fact that Brady won with this group is almost crazy unbelievable and really and truly highlights his greatness.

BB is a great coach. But coaches don't play and talent is talent. If this team wins half its games over the next 3-5 years I will be impressed."

The D is old and the depth is not there. The receivers are JAGS and nobody on offense scares anyone.

The Pats draft class this year could be considered "good" if Mac and Barmore and Stevenson continuing being productive. 2020 draft? Dugger. 2019 draft Harris? Just go back and look how many busts there have been. The Pats drafting has been terrible.

Not saying that BB is not a great coach - I think he is and the fact that he won 7 games last year with Newton is an example of that - but the poor drafting has really impacted this team.

Dude the talent on this roster blows away those early 90s teams.

 

[FCB02062]

My first thought was “cocaine.”

But that’s so 1980s. Like Steven Belichick’s mullet.

Cocaine was a helluva drug for Lawrence Taylor

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I don’t think anything major happened. Sure, maybe they got a little big headed. But even if this team had a perfect attitude this is what they were overall. A 10ish win team that didn’t have much shot in the postseason due to some talent deficiencies. Winning 7 straight was kinda over our heads then it regressed to the mean. We are still a good offseason or 2 from being a solid contender

 

[RIpats88]

Judon basically said they got distracted by the press clippings.

 

[Wozzy]

I agree with this. Not sure it's all on the coaches. Great teams have a strong vet core with a voice which permeates down to the rest of the roster.

Not sure those voices were there this year or being listened to. Had a lot of big money guys in that locker room who might not have fully bought into how things need to be done here.

What I witnessed from the bye week on was a complete breakdown in fundamentals. An extension of the poor play from the first 6 weeks that peppered every game they played this year.

Poor blocking, tackling, knowledge of assignments, fumbles, dropped passes, jumping offsides, false starts, weak scheme and play calling… this team was poorly coached and actually got worse at the end of the season rather than better… which has been a hallmark of BB teams assuming health.

Unfortunately the persons responsible for fixing fundamentals starts with the coaches and ends with the players. We saw them all, great and average player alike, play good for stretches and totally screw up for stretches. Inconsistency in doing something one has clearly shown the proficiency to do is repetition and practice.

Nobody wants to blame the coaches, the only person to point the finger at is the coaches… because they’re most responsible for correcting it.

They lost Scar and then Popovich’s son because he refused to take the jab, now they can’t communicate or know who to block all season. They lost Joe Judge and can’t line up correctly on punt returns. They lost Flores and the defense forgot how to tackle. All of Bills young assistants don’t inherit his wealth of knowledge through osmosis, they often have to learn through mistakes. Much like Flores did in 2018 when he put Gronk back in nickel defense and had to apologize to the entire team after the loss for screwing up. You literally saw Flores grow and improve as that season went on. With Patricia it took years for him to improve, but he did. This was an undisciplined team that started to improve before totally tanking. It was a poorly coached team.

 

[PatsDeb]

Who knows? But I agree that was the turning point, for the worst. Somehow we lost our momentum and our mojo during the bye. Disappointing game last night.

 

[RobertWeathers]

What I witnessed from the bye week on was a complete breakdown in fundamentals. An extension of the poor play from the first 6 weeks that peppered every game they played this year.

Poor blocking, tackling, knowledge of assignments, fumbles, dropped passes, jumping offsides, false starts, weak scheme and play calling… this team was poorly coached and actually got worse at the end of the season rather than better… which has been a hallmark of BB teams assuming health.

Unfortunately the persons responsible for fixing fundamentals starts with the coaches and ends with the players. We saw them all, great and average player alike, play good for stretches and totally screw up for stretches. Inconsistency in doing something one has clearly shown the proficiency to do is repetition and practice.

Nobody wants to blame the coaches, the only person to point the finger at is the coaches… because they’re most responsible for correcting it.

They lost Scar and then Popovich’s son because he refused to take the jab, now they can’t communicate or know who to block all season. They lost Joe Judge and can’t line up correctly on punt returns. They lost Flores and the defense forgot how to tackle. All of Bills young assistants don’t inherit his wealth of knowledge through osmosis, they often have to learn through mistakes. Much like Flores did in 2018 when he put Gronk back in nickel defense and had to apologize to the entire team after the loss for screwing up. You literally saw Flores grow and improve as that season went on. With Patricia it took years for him to improve, but he did. This was an undisciplined team that started to improve before totally tanking. It was a poorly coached team.

You are using examples of teams with a strong veteran presence.

You are also bringing up teams with Super Bowl rosters

We heard about the team only meeting after the 2018 Steelers loss. It all changed after that.

Players make mistakes because of poor concentration and falling back to earth because they are inferior to their opponent.

When teams don't have the talent to overcome them the mistakes and penalties become magnified.

You'll notice the # of penalties committed by the team this year was in-line with past of BB coached teams with the exception of 2020 and 2013. 2014 had 120 penalties by far the most of any BB coached team in the 2000s...but since they were loaded with talent and battle-tested they overcame them.

https://www.footballdb.com/stats/penalties.html?yr=2014

I agree some execution -related mistakes should have been corrected but that is not why they lost to better teams all year and got throttled last night.

Good talent. Rookie QB who did well but lost consistently to more talented teams.

That was the 2021 Patriots

 

[bormio]

When you get waxed like last night, any rumblings about effort and practice habits become a bit more credible. I’ve noticed Jones allude to being a rookie a fair amount, almost as if he knew he had a certain place as a rookie and was trying not to step on toes. But he also seems to be saying “I won’t be a rookie next year”.

 

[Bonzo]

Doubt it's anything crazy. Some were pissed that their "bye," already as late as possible in a 17-game season, got contracted by a day on either end: MNF before the bye (that grueling game in Buffalo) and then a game that got flexed to Saturday afterwards. Both on the road.

Pretty sure this is what Mac had in mind when he said "nobody's going to feel sorry for us" after the Indy game. Nonetheless, team never seemed to recover, mentally or physically.

 

[bormio]

Doubt it's anything crazy. Some were pissed that their "bye," already as late as possible in a 17-game season, got contracted by a day on either end: MNF before the bye (that grueling game in Buffalo) and then a game that got flexed to Saturday afterwards. Both on the road.

Pretty sure this is what Mac had in mind when he said "nobody's going to feel sorry for us" after the Indy game. Nonetheless, team never seemed to recover, mentally or physically.

It’s the Patriots and Belichick, so the assumption is that effort is always there and practice habits must be good. But the meltdown on defense that happened does not typically occur to teams without problems in those areas. And Jones keeps coming back to it. He said he has to be better going forward holding people (himself included) to a standard. He talked about not doing the little things. We constantly had presnap penalties this year. Tons of big plays wiped out by holding. Little things add up quickly.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

1-4 since the bye. Terrible.

My initial guess is their analytics people after Ernie Adams left suck. Very bad adjustments on both offense and defense. I was never impressed with that kid who came from Detroit with Patricia whose claim to fame was one of the worst Lions losses ever.

The above plus they need a new OC. One who isn't ultra predictable and a new one who actually knows how to use 2 tight ends.