The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 18 at Miami

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

BB has made a career out of constructing teams that don't beat themselves and let the other team make the critical mistake, but I feel like this team is just insistent on shooting itself in the foot over and over again. It's strange (and frustrating) to watch. This team doesn't have the GOAT at QB or enough talent on offense to continue to fall behind by

In the three late season losses they've lost the turnover battle 7-1 in aggregate while also committing 19 penalties to the opponent's 12. And that doesn't even cover all the other mental mistakes - missed blocking assignments, wrong routes being run, etc - that have occurred at key moments. Its like this team got a football lobotomy during the bye week.

 

[8slim]

I don’t understand what a year or two does to fix any of this except Mac. These other, mostly unforced errors, are not Patriot / BB football and they have been happening far too frequently this year.

We brought in a ton of FAs, and while we’d hope that they’d have gelled by the end of year one, it might be more likely that it’ll take another full off-season for that to happen. The route screw up with Bourne and Agholor may be evidence of that.

The franchise demands a lot mentally from its players, and as we know it takes some guys time to adjust. Some never do, of course.

I think we’ll be better next year on the discipline/execution front.

 

[tims4wins]

We brought in a ton of FAs, and while we’d hope that they’d have gelled by the end of year one, it might be more likely that it’ll take another full off-season for that to happen. The route screw up with Bourne and Agholor may be evidence of that.

The franchise demands a lot mentally from its players, and as we know it takes some guys time to adjust. Some never do, of course.

I think we’ll be better next year on the discipline/execution front.

On the flip side, they won 7 in a row and now have lost 3 of 4. They had seemingly fixed the errors. By the end of the season it shouldn’t be an issue like it is. Special teams have no excuse from a newcomer perspective.

I’m not all chicken little or throwing the coaching staff under the bus or even all that mad or whatever today, so please don’t take my post the wrong way. It’s just a season long trend of not playing Patriot football that needs to change if they want to become true contenders.

 

[jmanny24]

On the flip side, they won 7 in a row and now have lost 3 of 4. They had seemingly fixed the errors. By the end of the season it shouldn’t be an issue like it is. Special teams have no excuse from a newcomer perspective.

I’m not all chicken little or throwing the coaching staff under the bus or even all that mad or whatever today, so please don’t take my post the wrong way. It’s just a season long trend of not playing Patriot football that needs to change if they want to become true contenders.

This is where I am at also. All season long we've heard "uncharacteristic of a Belichick coached team". Well if he gets the credit when it goes right, he gets the blame when it doesn't. So goats go to Mac, can't have the turnovers, McCourty for not catching the ball and coaching for the lack of discipline/mistakes that popped up again today.

 

[mwonow]

The weird thing about the ST stuff is that the Pats pay a bunch of folks (more than other teams, I believe) because they excel in those situations. If STs are going to suck, or even just be mediocre, might we spend those roster slots on real receivers, or LBs, or something?

 

[Mystic Merlin]

The weird thing about the ST stuff is that the Pats pay a bunch of folks (more than other teams, I believe) because they excel in those situations. If STs are going to suck, or even just be mediocre, might we spend those roster slots on real receivers, or LBs, or something?

The mistakes today were by cheap guys (Gunner) or regulars (Guy).

Slater, Bethel, Davis, King, are the guys I presume you are referring to.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

If it’s a goat, it’s Mac.

We’ve seen gameplans like this before, where the Pats are fine giving up rushing yards and knowing the QB isn’t beating you, and trying to win a 24-17 kind of game.

And they would have, if not for a brutal pick-6 and a fumbled snap.

 

[IdiotKicker]

The weird thing about the ST stuff is that the Pats pay a bunch of folks (more than other teams, I believe) because they excel in those situations. If STs are going to suck, or even just be mediocre, might we spend those roster slots on real receivers, or LBs, or something?

I dunno, is it those guys specifically who have been sucking? Because Lawrence Guy doesn’t really fit as someone who is taking up a roster spot for special teams.

 

[mwonow]

The mistakes today were by cheap guys (Gunner) or regulars (Guy).

Slater, Bethel, Davis, King, are the guys I presume you are referring to.

I dunno, is it those guys specifically who have been sucking? Because Lawrence Guy doesn’t really fit as someone who is taking up a roster spot for special teams.

Fair enough, I'm just frustrated by an area that used to be a strength now being a week-over-week recurring weakness.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Fair enough, I'm just frustrated by an area that used to be a strength now being a week-over-week recurring weakness.

If Joe Judge gets fired by the Giants I’d bring him back for his old job here in a heartbeat.

 

[mwonow]

If Joe Judge gets fired by the Giants I’d bring him back for his old job here in a heartbeat.

Ditto.

 

[j-man]

They basically allowed one of the worse offensive lines in the league to push them around. Duke Johnson is off the scrap heap and Tua threw for 109 yards. Miami runs a high school offense. How are they not prepared for that?

yeah i agree at least vegas has a outstanding slot guy that bill should had drafted this refrow guy is julies all over again

 

[Ferm Sheller]

If Joe Judge gets fired by the Giants I’d bring him back for his old job here in a heartbeat.

If he gets fired tomorrow, can he be on the Pats's sideline this weekend? Or have they closed that loophole?

 

[Jimbodandy]

1. Mac. Good to see him hang in there and move the team late, but a couple of catastrophic mistakes overshadow the late performance.
2. Special teams coaching. With the money that this team spends on special teams and the emphasis placed by the HC, this level of play is mind-blowingly bad.
3. Judon. Had a couple of nice tackles for loss, but his inability to set an edge and overpursuit in the backfield caused some huge gains that were very poorly timed. Shocking how he went from one of the best players on defense in the first ten weeks to a fucking question mark of late.

 

[OurF'ingCity]

The weird thing about the ST stuff is that the Pats pay a bunch of folks (more than other teams, I believe) because they excel in those situations. If STs are going to suck, or even just be mediocre, might we spend those roster slots on real receivers, or LBs, or something?

Ironically one of the ST guys they pay is Bolden, who was one of their better players on offense today (although on ST he had the dumb and highly questionable roughing call).

 

[Ed Hillel]

We’ve seen gameplans like this before, where the Pats are fine giving up rushing yards and knowing the QB isn’t beating you, and trying to win a 24-17 kind of game.

Yeah, against Peyton Manning, not Tua with a godawful running game. The run D was terrible by execution, not scheme.

 

[SMU_Sox]

This is the anti-Belichick year. Bad on special teams, making a ton of terrible penalties, not coming up with critical stops with the game on the line, wretched situational football, and turnovers.
I can’t remember a year when they threw 3 pick 6’s. 3 blocked punts.
3/4 games they’ve started in a hole: 0-17 vs the Colts, 7-20 vs Buffalo, and 0-17 again today vs the Colts.
Defensive line didn’t dominate vs a terrible Miami OL.

Goats are Judon who was a lowlight reel today giving up huge run plays and failing to do anything of note. He’s been bad since the Colts and before that he was really hit or miss as a run defender. Guy for a terrible penalty and a bad day at the office. Mac Jones for a pick-six and that awful fumbled snap. Honorable mention to Carl Davis for his poor play.

Edit: the last time the Patriots threw 3 interceptions returned for a TD in a season was 1984, the year before I was born.