The word fan is a derivative of fanatic.\u00a0 I am first and foremost a Patriots fanatic.\u00a0 My fandom goes back to the days when my father would take me to the Patriots Pre-season practices at Phillips Academy in Andover during the early 60\u2019s.\u00a0 It pains me to watch the team play the way they did in Frankfurt.\u00a0 Watching this game, I have never sworn at the TV as much as I did today.\u00a0 These are my observations from today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
1) I wouldn\u2019t have waited until that ill-fated interception to pull Mac Jones.\u00a0 He made a few bone-headed plays early in the game and I would have pulled him then.\u00a0 He missed a wide open Rhamondre Stevenson on a swing pass, never looking in his direction.\u00a0 On the unforgiveable interception, Jones continues to choke under the pressure of the moment and completely forgets about his mechanics.\u00a0 He threw off his back foot and underthrew a wide-open Hunter Henry.\u00a0 On that throw, his left foot was pointing towards the left sideline, instead of at the target, and all his weight was on his back foot.\u00a0 He was falling backwards when he threw the ball.\u00a0 He just doesn\u2019t have the arm strength to make those kinds of throws.<\/p>\n
2) Bill O\u2019Brien needs to take some of the blame too!\u00a0 Third and 2, and you have been running the ball down the throats of the Colts.\u00a0\u00a0 Run the ball!!! Tell your Offensive lineman to man up and go out and get that critical 1st<\/sup> down, don\u2019t pass the ball.<\/p>\n 3) The O-line pass blocking was atrocious.\u00a0 They gave up 5 sacks in the first half.\u00a0 DeForest Buckner was a beast and owned the O-line.\u00a0 They made Colts’ backup DE Dayo Odeyingbo look like an All Pro.\u00a0 He had 3 sacks and another pressure.\u00a0 Jones was pressured on 50% of his drop backs in the 1st half.\u00a0 Jones finished the half 10 of 11 passing.\u00a0 That stat was remarkable based upon the pressure.\u00a0 In second half O\u2019Brien let the O-line loose and their blocking opened up huge holes for Stevenson and Elliott.\u00a0 The Offense made 21 1st downs and held the ball for 34:25 as compared to the Colts 14 1st downs and 25:35 of Time of Possession.<\/p>\n 4) Special Teams were a disaster for the Patriots today.\u00a0 It started with an ill-advised Kick Off return by Ty Montgomery.\u00a0 Patriots start at the 20, not 25.\u00a0 They push the ball down the field 65 yards and stall out.\u00a0 What if they had those extra 5 yards?\u00a0 Pats settle for an FG.\u00a0 On the ensuing Kickoff, Ryland kicks it 65 yards and the result is a 43 KO return to put Indy in great Field Position.\u00a0 Speaking of Field Position, the Colts pinned the Patriots deep in their territory all game.\u00a0 These are the Patriots starting Field Position for the game; 20, 25, 18, 20, 13 in the 1st<\/sup> half.\u00a0 The Pats intercepted Minshew and started at the 50, their only time beyond their own 30 all game.\u00a0 The other second half starting spots were 6, 24, and 26.\u00a0 Bryce Baringer had a 62.5 average per punt, but he missed two opportunities to pin the Colts in their own zone by missing the opportunity to drop the punt inside the 20.\u00a0 What was the play with no return man back?\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you just tell the other team that you are trying to block the kick rather than set up a return and get good field position?\u00a0 Indy completely flipped field position on that play.<\/p>\n 5) The Patriots\u2019 Defense stood tall all day.\u00a0 They held the Colts Offense to 10 points.\u00a0 For the season the Colt s have averaged 26.5 points per game.\u00a0 The Colts\u2019 running game was one of the top rushing offenses in the league and they held Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss (the #2 rusher in the league) to 2.7 yards per carry.\u00a0 Godchaux, Barmore and Guy held the Line of Scrimmage forcing the Colts into many 3rd and long plays.<\/p>\n 6) The defense couldn\u2019t pressure Gardner Minshew all day and had no sacks. Several times they lost containment and allowed Minshew to escape and extend plays that resulted in broken play completions.\u00a0 On one play, White had him pinned in the pocket, but Minshew made White look like a top, spinning him around.<\/p>\n 7) Joe Judge and Cam Achord need to go.\u00a0 The Patriots Special Teams are amongst the worst in the league.\u00a0 Chad Ryland missing that kick inside the 40 is unforgiveable.\u00a0 Not only did they waste a 4th<\/sup> round pick on a kicker but they gave away Mr. Consistency Nick Folk who would have made that kick.<\/p>\n 8) I hate seeing Steve Belichick use Kyle Dugger at Free Safety.\u00a0 That\u2019s a waste of Dugger\u2019s talent.\u00a0 Because of injuries and JC Jackson’s issues, they must use Jonathan Jones at CB.\u00a0 He has the ideal skill set for the Free Safety position.<\/p>\n 9) Demario Douglas had a very good game with 6 catches on 9 targets for 84 yards.\u00a0 His big play was a 30-yard catch and run to end the 1st<\/sup> half.<\/p>\n 10) Jahlani Tavai did a good job replacing Ja\u2019Whaun Bentley in the middle.\u00a0 He finished the day with 7 tackles and a big pass deflection that resulted in Myles Bryant\u2019s Interception to start the second half.<\/p>\n 11) Bryant\u2019s play at DB was awful all day.<\/p>\n 12) Greg Bedard was asked in the Patriots Post Game show \u201cDoes Belichick step aside?\u201d\u00a0 Bedard responded that the situation was highly unlikely.\u00a0 The question was followed up with \u201cAre the players still playing for Bill?\u201d\u00a0 Bedard answered in a the affirmative.<\/p>\n 13) I didn’t like the calls against Jahlani Tavai for a 15-yard Personal Foul, Unnecessary Roughness against a defenseless receiver.\u00a0 That was a clean hit, with Tavai’s helmet on the other side of the receiver’s body.\u00a0 It was a clean shoulder hit, a good football play.\u00a0 Later, JuJu Smith-Schuster was called for not getting set before the ball was snapped.\u00a0 He was the man in motion and doesn’t have to get set.\u00a0 They called it illegal shift because he didn’t get set.\u00a0 That wiped out an 18-yard run by Elliot, but the Patriots did overcome that penalty.\u00a0 They didn’t overcome the brainfart by Mac Jones with the crucial interception.<\/p>\n Botton line is that this game was there for the taking and the Patriots found new and inventive ways to lose the game.\u00a0 When it counted, Mac Jones folded like Tony \u201dtuck\u201d Eason.\u00a0 I saw a video of Bill O\u2019Brien laying Jones out in lavender.\u00a0 I believe it was after that attempted underhanded forward pass to Rhamondre Stevenson.\u00a0 Jones completely missed the wide-open Stevenson in the flat, not looking his way until he was in the grasp of the defenders.\u00a0 Jones is cooked like a Thanksgiving turkey.\u00a0 There is no way the Patriots can bring him back now, and they shouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Bailey Zappe isn\u2019t the answer either, but he may get his shot.\u00a0 I would like to see what Will Grier has, if anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It pains me to watch the team play the way they did in Frankfurt.\u00a0 Watching this game, I have never sworn at the TV as much as I did today.\u00a0 These are my observations from today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":49555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\n