The thoughts of a man who has to be at work in less than six hours…
1. Mac Jones played a GOOD game. Not great - but good. His biggest problem is that his TEs are thus far his best weapons. JuJu and Parker are AT BEST #2 WRs on a Super Bowl caliber team. There is nobody on the Patriots that opposing coaches are saying “if we don’t shut this guy down, we’re f*cked” about. Nobody.
2. Give the Dolphins some credit. They are absolutely a contender to win the AFC Championship. They are talented and well coached. Honestly, I’m surprised the Pats only lost by 7.
3. Definitely some bad play-calling on both sides of the ball. Not a lot, but enough. Easy for me to say now, but the Patriots should have gone to the no-huddle sooner, and tried to run just a little less. I know you have to keep the Defense honest, but the Dolphins weren’t giving up ANYTHING on the ground. They cleaned up their issues from last week.
4. There is no way the Krafts aren’t thinking about moving on from Bill Belichick at the end of this season. Yes, the rest of the division (to varying degrees) has finally gotten their collective shit together, but the Patriots are 9-15 since December 18, 2021. Bill picks the players and the coaches. All of this is 100% on him. There isn’t a hall of fame QB to cover for his drafting failures anymore. If Tom Brady, Joe Montana, or John Elway were quarterbacking this team, MAYBE they’d be 2-0. Or 1-1. Or maybe they’d still be 0-2. I guarantee Bill’s job is very much in danger. Next week is NOT a layup.
5. At least Special Teams is clicking on all cylinders.
6. I need to be at work at 6am and it’s almost 12:30. See you all sometime later today.