One big topic of discussion this year as people ponder Bill Belichick’s future has been an apparent amount of chaos and discourse on the field, indicating this New England Patriots group is a less disciplined bunch than in past seasons.
Quite a few people highlight that repeatedly as they continue trying to shuffle the future Hall of Fame head coach out the door, trying to essentially say that the complete mess of a roster he assembled for this season on the offensive side of the ball is a smaller percentage of the problem than it truly is.
The big discussion as of late that people fall back to when it comes to Belichick’s future is the issue with penalties, which points to the need to move on from him. The club obviously had a couple of key ones on Sunday that nullified scoring opportunities, which were certainly costly against a team like Kansas City.
However, all you need to do is go back to the previous week to realize this is a strange issue that is happening league-wide, which is a bigger talking point that has nothing to do with Belichick.
There have been countless ones throughout the NFL all season, with officials making questionable calls in key moments, leaving many scratching their heads while being frustrated with some of those decisions.
Two of the biggest names in the sport complained about it last week in Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, and each ended up lighter in the wallet for it. Reid was hit with $100,000 for speaking out, while Mahomes was fined $50,000.
The league knows there’s an issue. Fox Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino spoke about it this week with the New York Post, saying that the scrutiny is at an all time high, especially now that sports gambling has been embraced and permitted by the NFL.
“The scrutiny is greater than it’s ever been,” Blandino said via the newspaper, “and it’s gonna continue to ramp up, with everything that’s going on, with everything that’s riding on these games, as sports betting continues to become a bigger part. It was a big part, but now with it being legalized in so many different states and the NFL really leaning in, the scrutiny is as intense as it’s every been, and I think the officiating is under a microscope right now.”
“There always was pressure, but now with social media, and the access that we have and the technology, I think there’s a disconnect between an on-field official that has to make a call and then we get to evaluate and critique them based on five or six different angles and slow motion and all these bells and whistles that we have, and that’s always been a challenge, but as technology continues to get better and the ability for people to get on social media and complain and show different things, it’s as intense as it’s ever been.”
They’re also apparently exploring additional technology, including adding a “sky judge,” which is something the XFL used and the NFL is apparently open to.
“I think the league is moving in that direction,” Blandino said. “I did the XFL last year in the spring, and we let the coaches challenge anything one time and you could challenge whatever you wanted, and it worked. It helped eliminate some mistakes that were gonna have a big impact on the outcome of the game. I always hear [former Giants GM] George Young in my head when I worked at the league office and we were talking about bringing replay, George was tremendous, just kind of making sure, ‘Let’s not let replay take over the game, and I would never want to see a game where we’re just waiting like a green light after every play’: ‘OK, I checked everything, we’re good.’
“I just think we need to find a balance. Limit it, correct whether it’s the last few minutes or the last five minutes where those plays, a team has less time to overcome an officiating mistake with a minute to go. We gotta live with some mistakes, it’s a human game played by human beings, but I just think that a sky judge concept could work.”
Whether or not they embrace it or take any steps to truly solve some of the problems remains to be seen. However, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s been a problem that extends far outside of what’s transpired here in New England at various points this season.
Patriots Actually On Pace for a “Normal” Season:
For the Patriots, they head into this week with 80 penalties for 596 yards, which is approximately 5.7 penalties per week. Based on that number, it would theoretically see New England finish with 97 on the season, which isn’t all that different than it was during Tom Brady’s final four seasons with the team.
Over Brady’s final four years, they finished with 94 (2016), 93 (2017), 95 (2018), and 93 (2019) respectively, with two of those seasons ending in Super Bowl wins along with one Super Bowl appearance.
One thing to note here is the fact that those totals were back when the season was just 16 games. So if this year was 16 games, based on that 5.7 average – and where they are right now – the Patriots would have come in at 92, right in line – and slightly lower – than their previous numbers.
An additional note is that Brendon Schooler and JC Jackson are both tied with the team lead with five penalties apiece, with Schooler adding another on Sunday with a holding penalty on special teams. Those two account for 10 of those flagged plays, with Schooler’s name coming up on Tuesday when Cam Achord met with reporters.
“He’s developed, he’s working to get better,” said Achord of Schooler. “The things that we’ve got to improve on is the finishing parts of it. Obviously, you have missed tackles, you’re at least half right because you’re in the position to make them. So you’ve done enough to that point in the play, now we’ve got to finish the play. So we’ve got to continue to work with him on the finishing product as far as, like you’re saying, getting down the field, be in a position, coming under control, and making those open field tackles to prevent returns in the coverage game.”
“Obviously just in the return game, playing with better techniques and fundamentals with them. He’s an aggressive player, he plays with a lot of energy out there. So you don’t want to slow players down that are being so aggressive, but you also don’t want to be over-aggressive that lead to some penalties there.”
Schooler is tied for the team lead in penalties in 2023. (PHOTO: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)
Achord went on to say that they’ve taken steps to try and get him to improve there, crediting Matthew Slater for being involved in that process as well.
“He’s taken steps, obviously, in his production and those types of things, but we’ve also got to make sure that we’re doing it legally as well. So we’ve just got to keep working on that in practice, whether it’s working hand placement, full-speed drills, off on individual, as much as we can with him when we get him in practice.”
“So those are the steps that we’ve got to make. He’s made tremendous strides off the field. He comes in ready to go every week, knows how he’s going up against, knows how he wants to play the game. Can’t talk enough … obviously he’s got a guy he’s learning from in those roles [Matthew Slater] that’s kind of tutored him along the way. So just have to continue to make those plays when they do present themselves.”
With all of that in mind, the penalty issue, while frustrating, certainly isn’t a sudden anomaly to attribute as a reason to move on from Belichick as a coach. In the end, it’s less about the coaching and more about the horrendous talent gap that is the reason why the Patriots sit at 3-11 with three games left to play.
Belichick certainly shoulders the blame for that. But this roster remains the top reason why this club is heading for a top pick in the draft. There have been enough small glimpses in recent weeks where we can look back and say with a straight face that with competent quarterback play and some offensive weapons, they could certainly be in a better position.
For a team that has lost seven of its 14 games by seven points or less, including three straight games where they gave up 10, 10 and 6 points respectively and lost (a historic feat), it’s hard to make a case the effort hasn’t been there on defense. It’s simply been the lack of execution on the offensive side of the football.
And if you went into Sunday’s game with an inkling that the team might have been able to make it a game, especially after they went into the locker room down just 14-10, that tells you all you need to know about whether or not Belichick still knows how to execute on Sundays.
For now, the speculation will continue to swirl as everyone waits for the final conclusion when the club exits the stadium on what may likely come on January 7th (Week 18 games are still TBD). But calling this team a significantly more undisciplined group than previous seasons feels like a bit of a stretch.
Untalented? That certainly seems more realistic, at least based on the numbers.
And that will be what needs to improve the most this offseason, regardless of who is on the sidelines in 2024.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
