For Patriots: What's On Bill, And What's Not

Bring back Pete Carroll? Yikes.

Believe it or not, such outcries have been heard in the last few days. That’s what a 19-11 loss to the Cleveland Browns will do to some fans.

There is no way that the honeymoon for Bill Belichick can possibly be over. People can easily forget the mistakes and upheavals of the last three years under the previous management, and place unrealistic expectations on Belichick’s head in his first year as Patriot head coach.

But let’s face it. Sunday’s game stunk. It was beyond bad, beyond pathetic, beyond abominable.

And it happened on Belichick’s watch. That’s unfortunate, but true. Belichick now has to deal with the same criticism that Carroll dealt with from the day he took over for Bill Parcells in 1997. There already is a growing perception that the team is no better now with Belichick than they were with Carroll.

It’s time to take a step back and figure out how much of this season really is Belichick’s fault, and how much of it is picking up the pieces from the previous regime. Despite his losing record in five years at Cleveland, it is hard to believe that Belichick is as bad a coach as this team is making him out to be.

And if you examine the evidence, he isn’t. At least for the moment.

What place did this team finish last year?

The Patriots received arguably the most difficult last place schedule in NFL history. Patriot Nation looked at the release of the 2000 schedule when it was released and screamed “0-8!!!” immediately. It’s a good bet that few of the players did somersaults and cartwheels when they saw it, too.

It’s not Bill: Obviously, Belichick did not ask for this schedule. He didn’t coach the 1999 Patriots to a last place finish in order to inherit the schedule. He didn’t specifically ask for the eight toughest games to come first, hoping all along that his team would be out of playoff contention by the bye week.

It’s Bill: Being the defensive genius he is, it doesn’t look good when the heart and soul of his team coughs up late leads to the Jets, Colts and Bills. Seeing Marvin Harrison burn Otis Smith for two long touchdown bombs in one game (where was Ty Law?) looks real bad. It took too long to adjust to Daunte Culpepper. And his unit should not have been the ones to give Cleveland their first touchdown in four games.

Bad as the schedule was, by all rights the Patriots should be at least 6-4 now. The defense alone has cost this team four wins.

But should Belichick absorb all the blame for the defensive collapses?

Let’s see what hand I’ve been dealt…

Gene Hackman regarded his new Hickory High School basketball team in the movie Hoosiers and uttered this terse query. With Belichick, it was almost the same thing, except he knew some of the players he was getting.
It’s not Bill: This column has spared no expense in denouncing the last three drafts of Bobby Grier. Quite literally, Grier ruined the future of this ball club with lousy draft picks, mostly in 1997 and 1998, many of which were compensatory picks for Parcells and Curtis Martin. Belichick has had to deal with the fallout of these lousy drafts, and the result is a team that lacks considerably in depth, particularly on the offensive line and at linebacker.

The Patriots could really use Ed Ellis and Damon Denson right now. They could really use Vernon Crawford and Chris Canty. Grier’s vision of Sedrick Shaw would work out great right now.

But the fact that each of these men were busts is killing Belichick right now. Denson and Shaw were Parcells picks. These men should have been building blocks back then and solid starters today.

But Grier absolutely threw the bull here. What Belichick is left with is zero depth at some key positions. The freak injury to Robert Edwards doesn’t count here, but it is just as damaging (though Edwards may still return in 2001). Face it, if it were Parcells coaching the Patriots and not Belichick, it’s doubtful he’d handle the dearth of depth any better than his protege is.

As for who remains on the ball club, not too many of the Grier draftees have stepped up. Tebucky Jones is at least a semi-serviceable safety, but has trouble holding on to the starting job. Tony Simmons still can’t run routes correctly. Chris Floyd is potential unfulfilled. Ditto for Andy Katzenmoyer. Greg Spires shows some brilliance now and then. The standard bearer for the Grier Era is Damien Woody, a center. Given the fact that this franchise’s all-time greatest player is a guard, this should surprise no one.

It’s Bill: Belichick laid a big egg with former Cleveland cornerback Antonio Langham. His meltdown in Week 2 against the Jets will never be forgotten by Patriot Nation. Belichick’s draft has been marred by injuries to Adrian Klemm and J.R. Redmond, plus cuts of Dave Stachelski and Jeff Marriott. Veterans like Eric Bjornson, Sale Isaia and Joe Andruzzi aren’t exactly setting the world in fire.

The only veteran Belichick brought in that can be considered a positive is Bobby Hamilton. He has helped Belichick implement his defensive system, and has bolstered the defensive line to some degree.

Patriot Player Of The Game Is…Who???

Belichick now has a quarterback controversy of the strangest kind. It’s not every day that 80% of reporter’s questions deal with your fourth string quarterback. With the recent thumb injury to Drew Bledsoe, Belichick was put in a position to choose which backup to play, and the results so far have been a series of total flops.

John Friesz played much of the Buffalo game, and did fairly well but not anywhere near solid backup level. Apparently, it didn’t cause Belichick to want to play him in the Cleveland game. He looked at Bledsoe throw a ball in the locker room, and Bledsoe got the nod, bad thumb and all.

But at the center of all this is Michael Bishop. Fans want to see this guy in the worst way. But Belichick won’t play him. Carroll didn’t want to, either. And fans simply can’t figure out why. They selected Bishop as the Player Of The Game on WBZ’s Sports Final this past Sunday. Yeow.

To once again quote Steve DeOssie from this week’s Sports Final, to paraphrase: “I played for Belichick! I know firsthand that if Belichick thinks you can win the game for him, he’ll play you! If he doesn’t think you can win, he won’t!” The discussion should end right there, but it just doesn’t

The best guess here is that fans don’t believe Belichick when he says things like “Other quarterbacks run our offense better, so they play”. Fans don’t want to hear this. Not after these great preseason games of yesterday, with visions of Bishop hitting Sean Morey with touchdown bomb after touchdown bomb.

Okay, let’s break it down.

It’s not Bill: Belichick didn’t draft him. Grier did. Carroll obviously didn’t think Bishop could play, either.

It’s Bill: Bledsoe should never have played this Sunday. Sorry, coach, but we just don’t see the logic. The choices should have been Bishop or Tom Brady. Bledsoe should be shelved for 2001 and Friesz is not in the team’s plans for 2001.

If Belichick is truly convinced that Bishop is not what everyone thinks he should be, then he should be traded. If he is, then he should go in and immediately. Let everyone see what he can do, including the coaching staff.

But we’ll go further. Even if Belichick is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bishop has no future here, play him anyway just to shut everyone up. There’s nothing wrong with that tack. Red Auerbach did such a thing in 1950 when he took over the Celtics; he arranged a scrimmage with Holy Cross and beat them by 60 or so points to shut up the people who thought Holy Cross was a better team.

In this lost season, let Bishop shoot himself in the foot. Let him show everyone what he’s made of. At the very least, don’t let Bledsoe in there at all. Let him heal up for next year.

An offensively offensive team

It’s not Bill: The offensive line resembles a sieve most of the time. This is because of what Belichick inherited. Because of this, the Patriots have zero running game, and teams overplay the pass. Andruzzi and Isaia were stopgaps at best, but what else was out there for Belichick to go after?

It’s Bill: He hired Charlie Weis. He hired Dante Scarnecchia.

Weis is still considered a good get, but he needs more material. Until that material arrives, Belichick should advise Weis to stick with what works with what he’s got. As for Scarnecchia, it’s difficult to watch the second straight Patriot head coach make this man who belongs with special teams the offensive line coach. Everyone was calling for Paul Boudreau’s head in 1998, but Boudreau is enjoying success with Miami while the Patriot offensive line still swoons under Scarnecchia.

Belichick has little to do with the offense as a whole. He must continue to build the offensive line, and find a unit that will both run block and protect Bledsoe. There is a saying that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but in this case you don’t even have a sow to work with.

It’s still too early to judge Belichick. He still has to maneuver and get the team he wants on the field. Then he needs to get that team to close out opponents instead of lose close games. Both things should happen some day.

Belichick was clearly hampered by the fallout of the Grier regime this year. Next year, Belichick may get more of the onus. Then everything about the Patriots will totally be on Bill.

2001. The year the Bill comes due.

About Bob George

Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139

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