MORSE: 15 Observations from Season Finale Loss to New York Jets
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The season is mercifully over. Bill Belichick and most of this Patriots squad have played their last game for the Patriots. They went out with a whimper rather than a roar. Belichick tied the all-time loss record with this loss and the second worst record for the Patriots since Dick McPherson’s 2-14 record in 1992.
In the middle of a snowstorm, the conditions were flat out awful. The Patriots knew it would be a day that the Offensive Lines and running game would need to establish themselves. Special teams would also play a huge part in the game as well.
1) The first thing I noticed was the play of Jets Breece Hall. No runner had run on the Patriots the way he did this week. He ran for 178 yards on 37 carries for a 4.8 average. It’s not like the Patriots didn’t know he was going to run. Hall dominated the game like no runner had done all season. I believe he was the 1st running back to run for 100 yards in a game and he broke it open with a 50-yard run for a TD late in the game.
2) Consequently, the Patriots really couldn’t run, being held to 88 yards as a team. The Patriots trotted out their 10th different starting line combination with Jake Andrews at Left Guard. Later in the game Vederian Lowe went down while recovering a fumble. The Patriots moved Sidy Sow to Left Tackle, where he proceeded to give up the sack. James Ferentz was inserted in Sow’s position. The O-line gave up 7 sacks in total. This may have been the worst game I have seen David Andrews play. There was some talk pre-game about whether David Andrews will be back next year, and he answered it at the post-game press conference by stating that he thinks he has gas left in the tank. To his credit, Andrews had rookies on both sides of him (Jake Andrews and Sidy Sow) but he never missed a play all season. A story circulated this week that it is James Ferentz that is working with the rookies teaching them their blocking assignments. Adrian Klemm’s “illness” is a nice way of saying that he is disgusted with the players he was given to put an offensive line together. He reportedly complained to Matt Groh about it. That leaves second year assistant line coach Billy Yates and Ferentz. This is the 2nd year in a row that Yates has been thrust into the lead role coaching the O line.
3) In bad weather games it’s veteran Special Teams play that makes the difference. Thomas Morehead had 7 punts for a 46-yard average and no Touchbacks. Three of his kicks were inside the 20. Bryce Baringer had 9 punts for a 46.9-yard average. He only had 2 inside the 20 and 1 Touchback. Baringer had a 63-yard punt but that meant that he had other punts that were short. Greg Zurlein was able to kick three Field Goals while missing a 49-yard kick. I can’t believe the Jets even tried that kick that ball in this weather.
4) Zappe was an awful 12 of 30 for just 88 yards for a disgusting 20.1 rating. He was constantly underthrowing his wide receivers. Granted he was running for his life and was sacked 7 times. No excuse he was bad. He is not a starting caliber QB in this league. The Patriots should acquire through Free Agency a starting QB to bridge the gap until a rookie QB can be groomed to start. Starting a rookie like the way they did with Mac Jones is a recipe for disaster. Give the rookie two years to develop before you turn the wolves on him. Zappe had never played in snow, and he looked like it.
5) It was a nice tribute to Matthew Slater where all the players came out in Slater Sweatshirts. On the front it read Patriot, and, on the back, it said Captain. On the sleeve it listed his accomplishments such as 10x Pro Bowl, 5x All-Pro, 3x Super Bowl winner, etc. This was a nice touch to honor the 16-year veteran and future Hall of Famer.
6) I was very impressed with the number of fans that made the trek to Foxboro in the snow, knowing they would end up sitting through a snowstorm. They were loud and accountable.
7) The broadcast and Pe-Game show on Fox constantly reminded the audience that this could be Bill Belichick’s last game. We were all aware that Kraft’s and Belichick are scheduled to meet on Monday. If this was his last game, it was not the way he would like to end his career with the Patriots on. A 4 and 13 record was a far cry from what I had predicted in May and before the season started. I didn’t think they were going to be good, but I never thought they would be this bad. I will have a season’s analysis later in the week.
8) Jalon Reagor had a nice 17-yard reverse run and another 33-yard catch on an underthrown ball. However, he was just 1 catch for 5 targets.
9) Ezekiel Elliot had 5 catches on 7 targets, but his “alligator arms”, pull back, before he might get popped, stalled the 1st drive.
10) DeVante Parker had 1 catch in 4 targets. His route running was terrible. Looked like he was tiptoeing toward the catch. I wonder if there were players that may have been thinking about their upcoming Free Agency rather than making a play in the game?
11) Conditions were brutal with 30 MPH winds and heavy wet snow blowing all over the place. The temps dropped as the game went on, as the weather men had predicted.
12) Mike Gesiski and Pharoah Brown were invisible in this game. Gesicki dropped a TD catch and Brown was involved in the 4th down underthrow by Bailey Zappe. Brown was also involved in several dust ups with Jets players. I thought the Jets took a lot of late hits on the Patriots and they were not called. I noticed a Jets offensive lineman plowing through a pile of players well after the whistle and no call.
13) The Patriots defense opened in nickel coverage with Jonathan Jones, Shaun Wade and Myles Bryant at corners, with Dugger and Peppers at Safety. Jalen Mills, Alex Austin and late pickup Marco Wilson played significant minutes. Why? You are just inviting the Jets to run … and they did.
14) Pop Douglas set rookie records in receptions (49) and yards (561) in the Bill Belichick era.
15) Nathan Rourke in a surprising move, was listed as the backup QB for the Patriots. Mac Jones was on the inactive list and served as the emergency QB. When asked about this at Bill Belichicks post-game press conference, he stated that Rourke had a great week of practice. Look for Jones to get added to some type of trade and that’s the reason he was kept out of the lineup.
Bill Belichick will meet with the Kraft’s on Monday. I suspect there will be a parting of the ways. How they come to that decision has many possibilities? My hope is that Bill Belichick will be dealt like Sean Payton going from New Orleans to Denver. New Orleans received 890 draft points (Trade Value Chart) when they traded a late 1st round selection. I would expect the same from whomever they deal Bill Belichick too. An example would be Belichick going to Atlanta for their 2nd round pick in this year’s draft and a 2nd round pick in the 2025 draft.
The Patriots added TE La’Michael Pettaway by signing him to a 3-year contract. He played for Iowa State with Brock Purdy and prior to that Arkansas. He played for the USFL Michigan Panther and Birmingham Stallion. He is not big, just 6’2” 221 lbs., but ran an estimated 4.64 40-yard dash. As of right now, he is the only TE signed for next year. They had him on the inactive list for Sunday’s game.
Important Dates:
Feb 1st East/ West Shrine Game NFL Network
Feb 3rd Senior Bowl NFL Network
Feb 20th Franchise Tags can start to be applied
Mar 11th Legal Tampering
Mar 13th Start of Free Agency
April 25-27th NFL Draft from Detroit
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