What has bothered me most about the 2022 season

[maust]

What bothers me the most is I kind of don’t even care. Like, whatever dude, that was kind of funny I guess?

How can I be upset about MY indifference, I ask myself.

I edited this for clarity.

Now that is indicative of some well managed expectations.

 

[Brotherblues]

I dont mind 2. and even 3. to some extent, the 2. i sort of expected/predicted.

The 1. is/was not only extremely disappointing but kind of depressing bc knowing BB he might very well continue with the three stooges show that made himself one of them.

What i couldn't understand from the start and am ranting about it for 9 months is complete OL fiasco.
ZERO coaching, acquiring depth, developing players - and when nothing worked - leaving it to 3 extremely injury/illness prone vets and a rookie.
Setting up Mac with two failed HCs who never run the offence and equally dysfunctional OL was the worst thing he could do.

To me Bill had one job this year: stabilizing the offence after the loss of McD (and Dante before). Giving Mac peace to grow.
He chose different or bad. Now he has a hysterical sophomore QB who looked like a real deal just a year ago.


It is just uncanny that a team that hits on two consecutive drafts and has ton of cap takes such a giant step back.

Bolded part bothers me the most. There are at least 20 horrible decisions that directly led to that. I disagreed but sipped the koolaid at the time. Now our qb got broken and may not be fixable. Especially because fixing him would require bringing in some OC prodigy that's definitely not currently in-house. Maybe Caley would have been the guy, but I'm guessing there's a fat chance of that happening now.

 

[Kasmir]

On reflection, what really bothers me about BB right now is his double standard for players vs coaches. He's admirably ruthless with managing player personnel, but with coaches it looks like he believes he's earned the right to enjoy coaching with his buddies and his kids. It's like a lifestyle job for him now. That's not acceptable.

 

[mgteich]

What's odd is that the anti-BB folks have always said BB never had anything to do with the team's success, anyway. It was always Brady. Players win games; coaches don't.

Now that the team isn't top-notch ELITE every season, it's entirely BB's fault because he's apparently a subpar coach.

So ... the coach actually does matter? Or they don't? Can someone clarify this for me?

I don't think BB has been exposed - past or present - as anything other than a very good coach. This doesn't appear to be one of his better coaching jobs - in no small part due to lackluster staff he put around himself - but that does not make him a bad or average coach, now or before.

Yes, coaching matters.

And yes, Belichick is responsible overall, and for his coaching choices. Finally, he is responsible for not stepping in when the changes on the Offense just weren't working out. Belichick just wasn't involved enough. Of course, if we believe that Belichick was heavily involved in the decisions on Offense, from the beginning of the season until now, then we indeed have a different problem. If THAT is the case, Belichick should retire.

 

[SVN]

All in all, I think the biggest thing is the sense that Belichick's response to the entire season has just been a big "whatever"—as if he wrote this season off sometime between McDaniels leaving and the start of the league year.

There are three things that make me wonder about this:

1. The response to McDaniels' departure. Bringing back Patricia and Judge was economical, but obviously has proven unhelpful at best, if not downright harmful. They've hindered Mac's development at best, and the entire offense seems completely disjointed. They should not be this bad, even if they're not world-beaters. I am praying that Kraft insists on offseason change on the offensive side.

2. The lack of any sense of urgency in FA. Instead of building on the momentum from making the playoffs, the team seemed incredibly passive—as if they're hoarding all their cash for 2023. As but one example, they could've easily restructured Matt Judon's contract to create an extra $8M or so in salary cap space. But they waited until just before the season to restructure . . . Jonnu Smith? I admit that trading for Parker doesn't quite fit there, but even then, it wasn't a gigantic splash move, compared to, say, Miami acquiring Hill.

3. On a similar point, has anyone else noted the near complete absence of roster churn? Maybe I missed something, but I can't remember a single in-season move that wasn't injury-related.

I don't have a grand conclusion here, just a ton of confusion.

beyond the whole OC nonsense, what has bothered me is that there is zero leadership and attitude for this offense. this team is poorly built player mentality wise.agoholor, jonnu smith are not patriot type players and not sure we have any

 

[archstanton543]

Yes, coaching matters.

And yes, Belichick is responsible overall, and for his coaching choices. Finally, he is responsible for not stepping in when the changes on the Offense just weren't working out. Belichick just wasn't involved enough. Of course, if we believe that Belichick was heavily involved in the decisions on Offense, from the beginning of the season until now, then we indeed have a different problem. If THAT is the case, Belichick should retire.

He said if things don't work out, blame him.

Done and done.

 

[ahmed]

I'd at least revise that statement to "in todays NFL". People quickly forget he built the initial dynasty around elite D, a fully disciplined squad and what was back then - a game manager at QB.

This game manager trope is tiring. Brady was a game manager year 1. That's it. Look up his stats and watch some of his games instead of blindly regurgitating what you read or hear

 

[ahmed]

Undisciplined football. I am not surprised at our record given the coaching and players we have. I cannot, however, get over the lack of discipline.

No Pat player would have attempted those lateral in the last 20 years. None would have even thought about it.

Now somehow players feel like they can do whatever they want. To me it is either on the coaching that relaxed the standards or players who fear no consequences or simply don't care.

 

[DarrylS]

I have not been this embarrassed as a Pats fan since the early 90's, I have been a BB apologist since forever, however it seems as though it is time for him to move on and completely change the coaching/management structure.

 

[archstanton543]

I have not been this embarrassed as a Pats fan since the early 90's, I have been a BB apologist since forever, however it seems as though it is time for him to move on and completely change the coaching/management structure.

You have to dance with the girl who brought you...but the girl ain't dancing.

 

[Nunchucks]

I've never seen a belichick coached patriots team make so many mistakes. Belichick teams were smart and mistake free teams. This did not just start this year, it's been happening for 3 years....its just gotten worse.

I do t know whether it is just the coaches Belichick put in place or if it is something that changed about Belichick's coaching....but, these teams look totally different.

 

[archstanton543]

I've never seen a belichick coached patriots team make so many mistakes. Belichick teams were smart and mistake free teams. This did not just start this year, it's been happening for 3 years....its just gotten worse.

I do t know whether it is just the coaches Belichick put in place or if it is something that changed about Belichick's coaching....but, these teams look totally different.

The 2009 team was very much like this one.

"I just can't get these guys to play the way they need to".

 

[Rob0729]

I didn't expect much in free agency. I knew the Pats went crazy the previous offseason and based on trends, the Pats are conservative in free agency the year after the year they make big spends. It was probably a bad idea since last year was the last year of the last TV deal and salaries could jump exponentially this offseason. Last year's overpays in free agency might be huge bargains. And it was easy to backload those contracts.

But I gave Belichick the benefit of the doubt for Patricia and Judge. I figured that Patricia could have figured it out after coach for nearly two decades. I was wrong. The Pats needed a really good offensive coordinator who would have helped to develop Jones and gear the offense to play to the strengths and weaknesses of the talent of the team. Patricia came in trying to force fit the talent into the offense he wanted to run and has been struggling to revamp the offense to suit the talent. It took him until yesterday to remember that the Pats' are a better run first team than pass first.

But still one of the most underplayed stories of Belichick's failures is making Patricia both OC and o-line coach. I think if Scar was hear or at least a good o-line coach, I think Patricia's deficiencies at OC would be minimized a bit. Patricia is probably a much bigger failure as an o-line coach than OC. The fact that the o-line has an unmitigated disaster has magnified the problems with Patricia's play calling.

 

[farn]

I think BB sees that some players aren’t even close to as good as he’d hoped and that he’s just as he’s always been : he never criticizes the players in public. I’m guessing evaluation of the team is intense and that the 2023 Patriots will look differently.

Owners of the team should be asking questions. We, the fans, aren’t privy to the convos. I’d be really interested in the coaching staff convos. But we’ll never be told unless one of the staff members writes a tell all in the future.

 

[farn]

The 2009 team was very much like this one.

"I just can't get these guys to play the way they need to".

I pray for a 2010 draft (minus the kill friend stuff).

 

[archstanton543]

I think BB sees that some players aren’t even close to as good as he’d hoped and that he’s just as he’s always been : he never criticizes the players in public. I’m guessing evaluation of the team is intense and that the 2023 Patriots will look differently.

Owners of the team should be asking questions. We, the fans, aren’t privy to the convos. I’d be really interested in the coaching staff convos. But we’ll never be told unless one of the staff members writes a tell all in the future.

The last place I would have want to have been is on that long plane ride back to TF Green.

 

[Tom Tupa]

What bothers me the most is that after the disappointing down year of 2020, it looked like we were headed in the right direction in 2021. We bolstered the offense, got our potential franchise QB who had a great rookie season, won 10 games, and made the playoffs. But in 2022, everything has regressed. We've gone from looking like a team on the rise to a team in decline with major questions at important spots, including QB and coach. It's just really a bummer.

 

[Scotty]

What bothers me the most is that after the disappointing down year of 2020, it looked like we were headed in the right direction in 2021. We bolstered the offense, got our potential franchise QB who had a great rookie season, won 10 games, and made the playoffs. But in 2022, everything has regressed. We've gone from looking like a team on the rise to a team in decline with major questions at important spots, including QB and coach. It's just really a bummer.

Just what I was going to say. I remember posts from two years ago that ownership and BB needed to get a plan in place and build to the future. If there was a plan agreed then it is clearly not working.

 

[RobertWeathers]

What bothers me the most is that after the disappointing down year of 2020, it looked like we were headed in the right direction in 2021. We bolstered the offense, got our potential franchise QB who had a great rookie season, won 10 games, and made the playoffs. But in 2022, everything has regressed. We've gone from looking like a team on the rise to a team in decline with major questions at important spots, including QB and coach. It's just really a bummer.

Winner.

I remember saying in 2001 I would have been happy with a 9-7 or even an 8-8 record. 2000 was 5-11.

Going backwards is unacceptable - especially during a rebuild.

1995 was a major letdown but they were still a very young team with young, high-end talent.

This team....hmmm

 

[State]

I believe BB is burned out and that he really misses Ernie Adams.

His right hand man.

No Ernie no Dante. That hurts big time.