The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 18 @ Buffalo

SeoulSoxFan

I Want to Hit the World with Rocket Punch
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2006
22,102
A Scud Away from Hell
Valiant effort but ultimately it was a microcosm of the whole season. Terrible ST play, too many turnovers, and some unlucky bounces.

It's time to see how the roster can be rebuilt with plenty of cap space to do so.

P. S. A big game ball goes to Slater and McCourty if they do decide to retire.
 

RG33

Certain Class of Poster
SoSH Member
Nov 28, 2005
7,224
CA
Anyone involved with Special Teams except Matthew Slater

Myles Bryant

Matt Patricia
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,555
Cam Accord
Miles Bryant

Honestly... no one else. Everyone else left it on the field and did their best. We saw the talent disparity and gave it a shot - maybe a building block for next year.

Minor complaint to the refs - to go from no flags in the first three quarters to calling everything in the 4th - and like 75% of these calls & no calls were wrong - that's no fun.
 

JOBU

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 22, 2021
8,599
Special teams. Giving up 2 returns for tds. You just can’t get away with that and expect to win in the NFL, especially against a team of the bills caliber.

Offense was fine. D was good except for Myles Bryant who is a distant second in the goat list.

3rd on the list is the refs. Criminal call on the HH opi after the pats got down to the 5. It wasn’t a penalty and you can’t call that in that situation after what you let slide for the first three quarters. Inexcusable.
 

JMDurron

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
5,128
Whoever set up the ST and offensive coaching staffs this season. This wasn’t a massively talented team, but they underperformed relative to what the defense did out there today. Again.
 

MiracleOfO2704

not AWOL
SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2005
9,548
The Island
For today, ST just absolutely killed them. The focus will be the two return TDs, but don’t forget that the Diggs TD happens in part because Folk can’t execute a squib kick, putting the Bills on their own 40.

For the season, the decision to go with Judge and Patricia on offense would get lesser coaches fired. It can’t happen again next year.
 

Mystic Merlin

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 21, 2007
46,896
Hartford, CT
There’s a cavernous gap between the special teams and anyone else, so not worth mentioning anyone else.

Gotta think Achord can’t return - this was a the cherry on top of the shit sundae that was months of awful coverage on punts and kickoffs.

Folk kicking a squib OOB, which I suspect I’ve seen happen before but I cannot recall having seen it, was one of the worst physical mistakes you’ll see on a football field.
 

88 MVP

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 25, 2007
537
WNY
Cam Achord

This team had less talent than Buffalo, but they put up a real fight today. For all his flaws, Mac battled and threw 3 TDs. The defense forced 3 punts and got turnovers. The kicking game ruined what was otherwise a worthy effort against a superior opponent.
 

BigJimEd

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 4, 2002
4,441
P. S. A big game ball goes to Slater and McCourty if they do decide to retire.
Second this. Both had big plays today as well. Pleasure to watch all these years.


Goat to special teams. Folk included.

I've said it a couple thousand times over the last 10 years but NFL officiating is disgraceful. Patriots aren't close to good enough to overcome bad calls.
 

ngruz25

Bibby
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,049
Pittsburgh, PA
Obviously the kick return unit is the goat.

But a special shout out to the offense. That's about as dynamic as the offense has looked all season, and they won the TOP battle, and yet they still only managed 23 points. Why? Red zone incompetence again. Two INTs and a FG after being gifted a fumble deep in Bills territory. That won't do it.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,978
Here
Special Teams
Bryant
Aghlor
Refs didn’t help

Mac is borderline for me, he was pretty rough in the second half.
 
Last edited:

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,555
To be fair re: red zone woes, they had two brutal ref non-calls / calls go against them in there. It was a screwy game.
 

Dr. Gonzo

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 8, 2010
5,221
BB on the final TD didn’t even have the confidence to even kickoff. Achord has to go
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
14,610
Gallows Hill
Matt Patricia
Myles Bryant
Bill Belichick for putting them in those roles. Hopefully Patricia is nowhere near the players, and Myles Bryant is starting a successful career in something that has nothing to do with playing in the NFL in 2023.
 

koufax32

He'll cry if he wants to...
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2006
9,106
Duval
I’m angry that the ST coach hasn’t been fired since the end of the game.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
24,903
Unreal America
Special teams. Players and coaches.

Everyone else played hard, most played well, and just lost to a better team.
 

rodderick

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 24, 2009
12,817
Belo Horizonte - Brazil
Cam Achord

This team had less talent than Buffalo, but they put up a real fight today. For all his flaws, Mac battled and threw 3 TDs. The defense forced 3 punts and got turnovers. The kicking game ruined what was otherwise a worthy effort against a superior opponent.
Yeah, this sums it up in my book.
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,215
306, row 14
Matt Patricia
Myles Bryant
Bill Belichick for putting them in those roles. Hopefully Patricia is nowhere near the players, and Myles Bryant is starting a successful career in something that has nothing to do with playing in the NFL in 2023.
What did Patricia do wrong today?
 

NDame616

will bailey
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
2,342
So we are saying the offense played well, Mac played well, but Patricia being called out for the goat today ?
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,671
Kickoff return unit.

Myles Bryant in coverage.

Other than that, I was pretty happy with how the team played.

But here's what's kind of crazy. The Pats used to be an elite scoring team. Now we look at a 23 point performance and think, hey, the offense was actually pretty good today.

Building blocks for next year, but it's clear they have a LOT of work to do to get back to being a good NFL team.
 

j44thor

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2006
11,015
I'm not one to typically blame refs but the non-offsides call was one of the worst calls I've seen this year and ended up in a sack deep in NE territory. They also somehow let everything go for 3 Q then start calling every ticky tack call under the sun. That crew should be done after today.
 

Jinhocho

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2001
10,284
Durham, NC
Yeah that’s silly.

Cam Achord
The ST unit as a whole
Mac was great for a half and then simply not good enough afterwards. It’s harsh to give him a game goat, but he really answered no questions about his future all year.
Yep you could see one throw to Henry (on the run) he had a big gain but couldnt get it to him - thankfully miracle catch by Henry. He made the wrong read on one to Henry and threw into triple coverage (throw too high) and picked. He had the terrible decision to Agholor (some blame to ag or ref for not throwing flag i couldnt decide) but its not a good decision. I thought future was Chad Pennington or higher, but he doesnt have the instincts or reads to be as good as Pennington I fear.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,576
No goats for me. They were in the game until the fourth which is all you can ask.

If you watch enough NFL, they clearly aren't talented enough, especially versus the Bills, Chiefs, Bengals, 9ers, Eagles etc etc. I don't care to debate with the lost-his-fastball crowd but I think this is a byproduct of the transition from the Brady era so let's see how the Pats spend money and what changes they implement in the off-season. They need a lot - OL help, more skill players at WR etc but there are some tweaks that make this team a bit more competitive.

Or maybe we are simply witnessing the decline of the franchise and it will be nothing other than dark days ahead. I am choosing to hope for my scenario.
 

Mystic Merlin

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 21, 2007
46,896
Hartford, CT
I'm not one to typically blame refs but the non-offsides call was one of the worst calls I've seen this year and ended up in a sack deep in NE territory. They also somehow let everything go for 3 Q then start calling every ticky tack call under the sun. That crew should be done after today.
There were definitely some awful calls - the OPI, the missed offsides - that had big impacts on specific drives in the game. But for the KR debacle I’d be a lot more upset about that.
 

Jinhocho

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2001
10,284
Durham, NC
Kickoff return unit.

Myles Bryant in coverage.

Other than that, I was pretty happy with how the team played.

But here's what's kind of crazy. The Pats used to be an elite scoring team. Now we look at a 23 point performance and think, hey, the offense was actually pretty good today.

Building blocks for next year, but it's clear they have a LOT of work to do to get back to being a good NFL team.
See this is really all depending on Jones more than anyone else. Its not too late for him to figure it out, but he has to become a GOOD to ABOVE AVERAGE QB for that too happen. I am not certain he can anymore.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,502
If that was the last game for Agholor in Bryant in a Patriots uniform, then what a send-off it was.

Edit: On the flip side, kudos to whoever sent Patricia this link before the game.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,978
Here
Yep you could see one throw to Henry (on the run) he had a big gain but couldnt get it to him - thankfully miracle catch by Henry. He made the wrong read on one to Henry and threw into triple coverage (throw too high) and picked. He had the terrible decision to Agholor (some blame to ag or ref for not throwing flag i couldnt decide) but its not a good decision. I thought future was Chad Pennington or higher, but he doesnt have the instincts or reads to be as good as Pennington I fear.
Aghlor was terrible on that, but first down definitely a bad decision. He had time and Marcus Jones was streaking wide open for a TD had he let the play develop and scanned the field. Aghlor isn’t the guy to force it to on your first read.
 
Last edited:

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2008
42,848
AZ
Three turnovers should have put them in good position but this team just has not been able to get competent play out of all three phases once against decent competition all year. They have had two of three here or there but you need to be better than replacement level in all three if you are going to win against a good team on the road. Offense was good but not quite good enough in the second half. Defense was good but also gave up two 50 yard TDs. Special teams was pretty bad but also had a huge play that could have been game changing if the offense could pay it off.

Long post but my season long goat is simply this: This team could not play complementary football. All year. Just could never put it all together.
 

brandonchristensen

Loves Aaron Judge
SoSH Member
Feb 4, 2012
38,516
So many games we should have won this year came back to bite us. We 100% did not deserve the playoffs.

Special Teams were the latest weekly loser.
 

PayrodsFirstClutchHit

Bob Kraft's Season Ticket Robin Hoodie
SoSH Member
Jun 29, 2006
8,320
Winterport, ME
The bar for Matty P is set very low. He is now being defended for not being as horrible for calling a few PA passes in a couple of series.

That draw play on 2nd and 20 was a fireable offense along with not going hurry up on that drive.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,978
Here
The bar for Matty P is set very low. He is now being defended for not being as horrible for calling a few PA passes in a couple of series.
He’s been pretty good the last month tbh, but likely too little too late. Kraft will force him out if need be.
 

Garshaparra

New Member
Feb 27, 2008
533
McCarver's Mushy Mouth
Good riddance to Patricia, Judge, Achord and Myles Goddamn Bryant.

Congratulations to the 2023 Pats for moving up multiple spots in the draft on the last day of the 2022 season, which they truly needed over a one-and-done playoff "run". Build from there, with a real challenger for Jones in the preseason, actual OC and line coaches, replacements at LT, RT, WR2, (it ain't Thornton), blocking TE and perhaps a return to the FB game. Parker showed up in a big way, as did Henry.
 

The Social Chair

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 17, 2010
6,106
Congratulations to the 2023 Pats for moving up multiple spots in the draft on the last day of the 2022 season, which they truly needed over a one-and-done playoff "run".
Except they'll draft a guy who would have been available in the 3rd round.
 

radsoxfan

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 9, 2009
13,714
It's not often a random slot defender like Bryant could be such a disaster but he legitimately is involved in every bad defensive/special teams play. What an absolute trainwreck he is.

He belongs on the practice squad or in Canada yet he is inexplicably heavily involved in the NFL.
 

Eck'sSneakyCheese

Member
SoSH Member
May 11, 2011
10,399
NH
Special teams have been terrible all year apart from Marcus, Schooler and Slater. The offense completely fell apart when it mattered. Mac plays scared. Patricia can't call plays in the redzone. The D did everything it could to keep us in that game. This was a microcosm of everything this year has been in one game. I'm glad they missed the playoffs.
 

Mystic Merlin

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 21, 2007
46,896
Hartford, CT
It's not often a random slot defender like Bryant could be such a disaster but he legitimately is involved in every bad defensive/special teams play. What an absolute trainwreck he is.

He belongs on the practice squad or in Canada yet he is inexplicably heavily involved in the NFL.
I think Bryant - who contributes on specials, doesn’t bust coverages all, and tackles well - is fine if he’s not playing as your 2nd or 3rd corner, but we have Jack Jones and Jalen Mills’ injuries to thank for that happening.
 

ZMart100

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2008
3,213
Good idea to keep the ball out of Allen's hands, but giving up kickoff TDs to do it didn't work this time.