Another loss exposes Mac, Belichick | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast - video Dailymotion

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Tune in to the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast with Nick Cattles, where Greg delves into the reasons he believes Mac Jones ought to be benched. The conversation then shifts to Bill Belichick's future, pondering the possibility of a midseason dismissal. Additionally, the episode breaks down how the defense was torn apart by Eric Bieniemy's play-calling and Sam Howell's execution.  00:00 Bedard: Mac Jones should be headed to the bench 19:21 Belichick’s future - Could he be fired midseason? 30:12 Any chance Bill resigns after Colts? 35:45 Offense vs. Washington: They’re awful, starting with Mac 40:22 Defense gets shredded by Bienemy and Sam Howell 43:40 3 UP/3 DOWN  Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.  This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles Podcast is brought to you by:  Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.  ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. Go get it at https://oddsr.com/BEDARD

Transcript

00:00 If they had a better option, then I think that Mack Jones,

00:05 if he wouldn't already be on the bench,

00:08 he would be playing for his job this weekend

00:10 against the Colts, because normally teams,

00:15 prudent teams like the Patriots who don't rush into anything,

00:18 they normally take a beat during the bye week,

00:20 reassess, self-scout, where are we?

00:23 Do we think we can do better with somebody else?

00:25 Can we get somebody else coached up now at this point

00:28 with a bye week, with extra time?

00:31 You know, I think that if Mack doesn't play better this week

00:34 then I think that he is in danger of losing his job.

00:37 I'm just telling you what the film shows

00:39 and that's what the film shows.

00:41 I'm a Mack guy, I'm a believer in him.

00:42 I think he's a good quarterback.

00:44 I think he's been let down by times,

00:46 at times by what's around him.

00:48 But the evidence is just becoming too overwhelming

00:51 that he's leaving too much on the field,

00:54 too many plays on the field that could make this team,

00:57 you know, come out ahead in some of these games,

01:00 especially against a team like the Commanders.

01:02 - The Greg Bedard Patriots podcast

01:03 is brought to you by FanDuel,

01:05 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

01:09 - Ah, yes, another week, another loss to talk about.

01:12 We'll get into that Washington game in a minute.

01:14 First, this episode brought to you by FanDuel,

01:16 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

01:19 Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets

01:23 with any winning $5 Moneyline bet.

01:26 And of course, our friends at Odds are an app

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01:34 He's Greg, I'm Nick.

01:36 The quarterback is Mack Jones.

01:37 Your thoughts, Greg, on Mack and what you saw?

01:41 And I just see a note from you today,

01:43 and it reads, "Mack should be headed to the bench."

01:46 - Yeah, and I've kind of been there for a couple weeks.

01:52 I think, you know, if you look at his overall play

01:56 outside of the Bills' fourth quarter,

02:01 he has not played good football

02:03 for, I think it's five games now.

02:06 I mean, just Sunday wasn't any better.

02:08 And Sunday was probably more frustrating to me

02:13 from watching him,

02:15 because I thought he had a lot of opportunities.

02:18 I thought the protection was pretty good overall.

02:22 And he just, he doesn't settle down.

02:26 He doesn't take the extra beat.

02:27 He doesn't step up in the pocket.

02:30 You know, whereas, and you look at who they play,

02:33 the commanders and Sam Howells, you know,

02:36 in the other huddle,

02:38 and Sam Howells doing all the things that I talked about.

02:41 I mean, he's not on a very good team.

02:42 I mean, he has really good weapons.

02:44 I'm sure Mack had a lot of weapon envy in this game.

02:47 And look, there are certainly big things wrong

02:50 with the Patriots in terms of the personnel

02:52 they're putting out there.

02:53 I mean, trying to come back in the fourth quarter

02:56 with Hunter, two tight ends,

02:58 you know, Juju Smith-Schuster,

03:03 Ra'mondre Stevenson, and DeMario Douglas.

03:06 Like really, only probably Henry and Douglas

03:10 out of that group should be on the field,

03:12 on a real NFL team.

03:13 But this is where the Patriots are.

03:14 And look, there were certainly issues in this game

03:18 with drops, with routes, the Juju drop on the interception.

03:23 You know, when I go through and I grade,

03:24 like I give Mack credit for all of those.

03:27 Like the throw to Juju that ended up being an interception,

03:30 it's a plus play for me.

03:31 It's not a minus play.

03:33 But there were just,

03:35 I gave him 13 minus plays in this game.

03:38 Eight were poor decisions in my mind.

03:41 I mean, he's leaving plays on the field.

03:43 He's leaving potential touchdowns off the field.

03:46 And it's not, where I'm frustrated

03:50 is that it's not getting better.

03:51 Like I understand and I give him some leeway

03:54 because of all the issues that they had

03:56 with the offensive line early in the season.

03:58 And I do believe that pressure accumulates

04:00 and leaves a lasting effect on a quarterback,

04:03 especially a pocket quarterback,

04:04 who's not used to playing, you know,

04:07 in a harried sort of frenzy.

04:09 That's not their game.

04:10 So I've given him some leeway,

04:13 but you know, with each passing week,

04:16 the pressure is getting better and he's not slowing down.

04:20 He's still sped up.

04:22 He's just playing jittery.

04:24 He's not going through his reads.

04:26 He's making improper reads at times, in my opinion.

04:30 And it's just to the point now where he's not,

04:34 he's just not playing well enough.

04:36 And if all, in my opinion, if all things were equal

04:40 in terms of, you know, who wants to see him play?

04:43 Is ownership weighing in and saying like,

04:45 we screwed Mac who don't so up with so much,

04:47 so much last year.

04:51 We're giving him a whole lot of rope this year.

04:52 He gets the whole year.

04:54 You know, you're under orders,

04:55 Max your starter this whole year.

04:56 You did it for Cam Newton, do it for Mac Jones.

04:59 He is our first round pick.

05:01 I could see that happening.

05:02 I don't know whether that's happening.

05:04 If they had a better backup situation

05:07 in terms of Bailey Zappi, who they've cut,

05:09 or Will Greer, who they don't,

05:11 who they don't think is in the right place yet.

05:16 Or Malik Cunningham's not even a quarterback.

05:18 If they had a better option,

05:20 then, you know, I think that Mac Jones would,

05:24 if he wouldn't already be on the bench,

05:27 he would be playing for his job this weekend

05:29 against the Colts because normally teams,

05:33 prudent teams like the Patriots who don't rush in anything,

05:37 you know, they normally take a beat during the bye week,

05:39 reassess, self-scout, where are we?

05:41 Do we think we can do better with somebody else?

05:43 Can we get somebody else coached up now at this point,

05:46 you know, with a bye week, with extra time?

05:49 You know, I think that if Mac doesn't play better this week,

05:53 then I think that he is in danger of losing his job.

05:56 I'm just telling you what the film shows,

05:57 and that's what the film shows.

05:59 I'm a Mac guy, I'm a believer in him.

06:01 I think he's a good quarterback.

06:02 I think he's been let down by times,

06:04 at times by what's around him.

06:07 But the evidence is just becoming too overwhelming

06:10 that he's leaving too much on the field,

06:12 too many plays on the field that could make this team,

06:16 you know, come out ahead in some of these games,

06:18 especially against a team like the Commanders.

06:20 This is a game they had to win, they should have won,

06:23 and it's just not good enough.

06:25 - I don't think there's any denying

06:28 that he hasn't been good.

06:29 Yeah, I mean, I think all of us universally watch him

06:32 and say, that's not good quarterback play.

06:35 He's not good, he's too inconsistent.

06:37 He makes some throws, he misses other throws.

06:40 I think that's obvious.

06:42 Like I'm beyond the what at this point.

06:45 I think what the most important part of this is, is the why.

06:49 We know what we're seeing.

06:50 Question is the why.

06:52 And what we're seeing is, you know,

06:56 a quarterback that doesn't even look

06:58 like an average quarterback.

06:59 And whether you hate Mac, love Mac, none of that matters.

07:04 You know, Greg and I have been, I think,

07:05 pretty much on the same page with Mac.

07:07 And this Mac conversation is so weird

07:10 because people just move the goalposts.

07:13 They add premises that never existed.

07:15 Like, oh, well, CJ Stroud's doing this in Houston.

07:17 Yeah, Mac isn't CJ Stroud.

07:19 He was never supposed to be--

07:20 - Look what Josh Dobbs did this week.

07:23 - Yeah, it's like, even if you didn't like Mac,

07:27 you hated Mac, coming out of college,

07:30 this guy should have at least been

07:32 an average NFL quarterback.

07:33 Should have at least been able to do the job,

07:35 stand in the pocket, make throws.

07:37 So why is that not happening?

07:38 That's the question.

07:39 And I just think he's a quarterback, Greg,

07:41 with zero confidence at this point.

07:43 It's been shattered for several different reasons,

07:45 whether it was being embarrassed on national television

07:48 against Chicago by his head coach,

07:50 whether it was, you know, his own shortcomings

07:54 playing the position at times,

07:55 and now he's rattled because he's questioning himself.

07:58 He's got zero confidence.

07:59 He has zero trust.

08:01 He has zero chemistry with a lot of these guys.

08:04 You play Jalen Rager, who signed on August 31st.

08:07 You play Tyquan Thornton, who came off of IR on October 10th.

08:11 You play Juju Smith-Schuster, who didn't do much at all

08:14 in preseason and camp.

08:16 These are guys he doesn't even like, no.

08:18 He didn't touch.

08:19 And again, this isn't making Mac blameless.

08:23 I'm telling you why we see the quarterback we see right now,

08:25 at least in my estimation.

08:27 So zero chemistry with the guys out there.

08:29 His mechanics and footwork suck,

08:31 and I think that's because the offensive line

08:33 crumbled in front of him, and he shook.

08:36 And the question was, would he be able to respond

08:38 and consistently return to the mechanics and footwork?

08:42 No, it looks like he was shook,

08:44 and he's been incapable of consistently giving you

08:48 good mechanics and footwork,

08:49 because in the back of his mind, I believe,

08:52 as soon as he sees someone possibly getting rush,

08:55 it's just shot.

08:56 He's a guy who got hit a million times

08:59 and got a lot of pressure in the beginning of the season

09:00 and hasn't been able to get back from it.

09:02 And I just think the ultimate question

09:04 that has to be asked, Greg, and you asked it is,

09:07 is it too far now down the road

09:09 where he'd ever be able to return to at least an average guy?

09:12 I think this year, that question gets tougher to answer

09:17 in a positive manner.

09:18 And I think it's gonna be a lot to try to bring him back,

09:22 because I think he is far down the road of somebody

09:24 who's just not sure of himself and not playing well.

09:28 - Yeah, I mean, Nick, look, I think you bring up

09:31 a lot of valid points.

09:32 I mean, I think that to me, watching him

09:36 and seeing the lack of improvement,

09:38 and look, he does make a couple of dime throws,

09:41 and I had him for, I think,

09:43 I gave him eight plus throws in this game.

09:47 I mean, the throw to Hunter Henry for the touchdown

09:50 is a dime.

09:51 I mean, it's a beautiful pass.

09:55 The Rager pass that he dropped was a great pass.

09:59 The interception to Juju was a great pass.

10:01 I mean, he started off, two of his, on the drive,

10:05 I gave him two plus throws.

10:06 The first throw of the game to Demario Douglas

10:08 was a really nice throw.

10:09 Then he hooked up with Raimondi Stevenson

10:12 on a little arrow route.

10:14 Like, that was a really nice throw,

10:16 and you see these things, but then you see

10:19 the Raimondi Stevenson real route.

10:22 I mean, that's just absurd.

10:25 He can't miss that throw, and even the Taekwon Thornton,

10:28 I don't know if that, was that a third down or a fourth down?

10:31 - The fourth down, the fourth down and short.

10:33 - Was it, yeah, but it was the throw deeper down the field.

10:38 - Yeah, it was the first drive of the game, right?

10:40 First drive of the game, fourth down, and he missed him.

10:44 - Yeah, I think that, sorry,

10:46 I'm just looking at the play-by-play, so, oh yeah,

10:48 fourth down throw to Taekwon Thornton.

10:50 Look, do I think that Taekwon ran the right route?

10:54 Exactly how they wanted to?

10:56 Probably not, I mean, he never does.

10:57 Neither does DeMario Douglas.

10:59 I mean, every game, there's two or three times in the game

11:03 where Hunter Henry or Mike Gusicki or Juju

11:07 or Devontae Parker look at DeMario Douglas and be like,

11:09 "Dude, you're in the wrong place."

11:11 You know, so he's dealing with that.

11:13 But that fourth down throw, there's no pressure around him.

11:17 The pocket opens up, and Mack throws it

11:20 before Taekwon Thornton gets out of his break,

11:23 where if he just takes another hop

11:25 and Taekwon gets that separation,

11:27 you put it right on him, and it's a big play.

11:30 That's a throw that's gotta be made.

11:32 There was another throw to Jalen Ragour

11:34 that was similar on the right side of the field,

11:37 where there's no pressure.

11:39 Take the extra, oh no, it was a one-on-one throw

11:41 where it ended up 10 yards beyond Jalen Ragour.

11:45 But it's one-on-one coverage.

11:48 Just put it on him.

11:49 Like, give him a chance to make a play,

11:51 and he doesn't do it, and that stuff is just,

11:54 it's frustrating because I know he can make those plays.

11:58 But like you said, the cause and effect.

12:00 Like, what caused this, can he get out of it?

12:03 In my opinion, outside of a complete change in the off,

12:08 I just think he needs a complete change of scenery.

12:12 I think it's too far gone at this point.

12:13 He needs a reset year.

12:15 He probably needs to go someplace like San Francisco

12:18 and be a backup and get in position to where

12:22 if somebody gets hurt, if it's Brock Purdy or whoever,

12:25 somebody that you can somewhat compete with,

12:28 but just settle down, get used to a new system,

12:31 that sort of thing.

12:34 But I just think at this point, it's too far gone.

12:37 But as far as this season with the Patriots, Nick,

12:39 I don't know how you feel about this.

12:41 But when you think about making a change,

12:44 and the easy thing is people are just like,

12:45 oh, Mac Jones sucks.

12:48 He needs to sit, we need to do this.

12:49 But okay, so what's the alternative

12:52 and what's the end game?

12:54 I mean, is, so you put Bailey Zappi in, okay?

12:58 And say he does well, say he plays better than Mac Jones.

13:01 What does that mean for the future?

13:03 Does it change your plans at quarterback anymore?

13:05 It'll win you a couple of games?

13:07 What good does that do?

13:09 Same thing with Will Greer.

13:10 Is he your quarterback of the future?

13:13 No, I mean, I guess maybe if he lit the world on fire,

13:16 but it's just like, you look at these things

13:18 and you're just like, all right,

13:19 if you wanna make a decision,

13:21 and I don't disagree with playing somebody else

13:24 at this point, but it's just like,

13:26 all right, well, what's the end game?

13:27 And is it worth doing that for this franchise?

13:30 - Couple things.

13:34 I think the Mac sucks stuff is just,

13:37 to me, it's just disingenuous

13:39 because we're not talking about talent.

13:42 Like, here's the thing that is just the straw man's argument.

13:47 People try to paint those like myself and Greg

13:51 and others who have talked about the quarterback,

13:54 they try to paint us in this corner of like,

13:56 oh, well, he's just not super talented.

14:00 He's not super talented, he can't throw,

14:02 he doesn't have a strong arm.

14:03 None of us ever said that he has a strong arm.

14:06 None of us have ever said that he has elite physical traits.

14:09 I feel like I've been very consistent.

14:12 I'm not Mac, which is average to above average quarterback

14:15 and somebody who has almost no elite physical skills.

14:19 But I've said that over and over and over again.

14:21 I don't know why people want to try

14:23 to like relitigate this thing.

14:24 We're not talking about talent problems with Mac.

14:27 The shortcomings are obvious.

14:29 We're talking about fundamentals.

14:32 We're talking about the basics.

14:35 We're talking about things that Mac was good at,

14:38 if not really good at, through stretches of his NFL career.

14:43 We're talking about a guy who can't get his footwork right.

14:46 That's not a talent issue, folks.

14:48 That is, there's a reason why all of a sudden

14:51 you just break down.

14:52 We didn't see this really at all in 2021.

14:55 We didn't even see it much last year

14:57 with the like, there's just a jitteriness constantly.

15:00 So it's not about his talent level.

15:03 I think all of us know who he is as a quarterback.

15:07 And as far as where it goes in the future,

15:09 I mean, look, I still stand by this.

15:14 The most important thing that could happen for the Patriots,

15:17 whether you want Mac here or not,

15:19 and I'm looking at this and saying,

15:22 like there's no reason to hold onto him.

15:26 He hasn't played well enough for you to say,

15:28 oh, he's the quarterback of the future.

15:29 I think you'd be delirious if you said that at this point.

15:32 But still, even if you want to get rid of Mac,

15:36 the best thing that could happen

15:37 is that Mac turns this around.

15:39 So I keep playing him.

15:41 I don't have a better backup plan.

15:43 Zappi and Greer aren't the guys.

15:45 Cunningham's not a quarterback.

15:46 I keep playing him.

15:47 And if he flames out, he flames out.

15:49 We swung and missed.

15:50 He's fried.

15:51 We'll ship him off for a seventh round pick

15:52 or a sixth round pick in the off season.

15:54 But at least we know he's absolutely fried.

15:57 If you play him and he's somehow, some way,

16:00 and again, I don't think this is likely,

16:03 but this season is about 2024 now.

16:06 The best possible thing that can happen

16:08 for this football team for 2024

16:10 is that Mac figures some things out.

16:12 Because even if he's not the answer for you in 2024,

16:16 he's gonna prove to the rest of the NFL

16:17 that he could possibly be the answer for them in 2024,

16:22 which ups his value,

16:23 which means you might actually be able

16:24 to get a fourth round pick or a third round pick

16:26 for the guy in the off season.

16:28 And if you don't land in the top three, by the way,

16:30 and you don't think one of these quarterbacks

16:32 like Quinn Ewers or Penix or McCarthy

16:35 or any of these other guys are the answer,

16:36 if you don't believe that,

16:38 then you're likely gonna draft a quarterback

16:41 in the middle rounds.

16:43 Middle round quarterback isn't a guarantee, folks.

16:46 I've been saying this on my podcast, The Nick Cattle Show.

16:49 But there's no guarantee

16:51 if you pick a guy in the third round, fourth round.

16:56 So to me, Greg, and I don't wanna be too long-winded,

16:59 but to me, this is how I look at it.

17:01 You play him for the rest of the year.

17:03 You hope that he somehow builds back his value

17:06 to be at least an asset for you.

17:08 And then you look at where you're at at the end of the year.

17:10 If you have a top five pick,

17:11 you 100% go after the generational quarterback.

17:14 If you don't, then you draft a guy later on at quarterback.

17:19 I wouldn't even be against bringing in a vet

17:22 and you keep Mack if you can't get much for him.

17:24 And then you have a quarterback competition for 2024.

17:27 Until you find the guy, you don't reach for the guy.

17:31 That's how I would handle it.

17:33 - Yeah, I mean, fair.

17:37 I think you probably play this out, see what happens.

17:41 And if he doesn't play well,

17:45 then you get a better draft pick.

17:47 I mean, I think there's no question.

17:48 Unless Mack plays like an all-pro the rest of the way,

17:52 which he's not gonna do,

17:54 then he's at least in a competitive situation next year.

17:59 And that's fine.

18:03 I mean, that's what he's earned.

18:05 You earned what you get.

18:06 And he's gonna be in a competitive situation

18:08 at the very least last year.

18:10 He's got a battle his butt off.

18:11 And then if he ultimately wins the job,

18:13 then he's gonna have to keep the job.

18:15 But the Patriots, as usual, left them no other outs.

18:19 At the position, they're stuck with what they have,

18:22 especially on offense, because this is what Bill does.

18:25 He leaves the offense shorthanded,

18:27 doesn't think much of it,

18:28 thinks that you can win with defense and special teams,

18:31 or at least keep it close enough.

18:32 And then they can make plays.

18:35 The coaches can make plays for the players.

18:37 And it just doesn't work that way anymore.

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19:12 - All right, Belichick's future.

19:20 What are we thinking right now at two and seven?

19:23 - Well, you know, I know there's a lot of talk

19:27 about could he be let go after this Colts game

19:32 or on the way home or what have you.

19:34 I don't see very much chance of that happening.

19:36 I mean, the Crafts are very much about public perception.

19:41 And I think that, and you're already starting

19:44 to hear some of it.

19:45 I heard Rich Eisen this morning on his show.

19:50 You're seeing some of this on some of the national talk

19:53 shows where, you know, first of all,

19:56 they don't, they think it's almost ludicrous

19:58 that Bill's future is in doubt,

20:00 given all that what he's done.

20:01 But you get that a lot with the national people

20:03 and especially, you know, somebody like Rich Eisen,

20:06 who Bill's been really good to and with over the years.

20:10 You know, you know, Bill gets protected by his guys.

20:13 That just goes on and that's fine.

20:15 You know, let's just say, Nick, for shits and giggles,

20:22 that, and here, let's just give a little bit

20:26 of background on this.

20:27 So at this point, you know, watching this team, Nick,

20:29 and I don't know how you feel about it,

20:31 but you know, as everybody knows,

20:32 I watched a lot of the Raiders the past year and a half.

20:36 'Cause you know, I like watching the McDaniels offense.

20:39 I wanna see a team built to them rebuilding the Raiders.

20:42 We all know what happened there.

20:44 You know, what I see at this point with this team,

20:50 and I'll be very interested to see what happens

20:52 against the Colts in Germany,

20:54 long plane ride, all that stuff.

20:56 If this was the Raiders,

20:59 if this was the Matt Patricia Lyons,

21:01 if this was the Joe Judge Giants,

21:04 this would be, rock bottom would be coming up in this game.

21:09 Because this is what I've learned from, you know,

21:14 watching all of these guys from the Patriots tree.

21:17 And I respect all of them.

21:19 I think highly of a lot of them.

21:23 And you know, but what happens is,

21:26 and I think that Josh and Dave Ziegler

21:29 were doing a good job in terms of rebuilding the Raiders.

21:32 Like if you thought of them as a playoff team,

21:35 like that's who they were before they got there,

21:37 then I can't help you.

21:39 But that team wasn't a playoff team.

21:41 They had a negative point differential,

21:44 I think the year that they made the playoffs.

21:45 And they got lucky to make the playoffs.

21:47 They weren't a playoff team.

21:49 That team needed to be rebuilt.

21:51 And in a lot of ways, I think they did a good job.

21:54 Like I think, you know, and they played hard.

21:56 But the problem with the Patriot way is,

22:00 and these guys don't know any different,

22:02 you know, McDaniels, Patricia, Joe Judge,

22:06 guys who, Brian Flores when he was in Miami,

22:08 guys who were born into professional football here

22:12 and came up here.

22:14 You know, as opposed to like Bill O'Brien

22:15 who had been other places,

22:17 or Brian Dayball who has been other places.

22:20 You know, what happens is, is that this play,

22:24 they demand so much of the players.

22:26 Long meetings, long days at the facility,

22:29 and it gets worse when they're not playing well,

22:31 it gets worse.

22:32 The only thing that the Patriots people know what to do

22:35 when things aren't going well

22:36 is to coach the players even harder.

22:38 That worked here because they won.

22:42 The players could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

22:44 AFC Championship Games, Super Bowl, Super Bowl victories,

22:47 Tom Brady's there dealing with all of it,

22:50 just like all of them.

22:51 He's one of the all-time greats that made that work.

22:54 The problem is, is that, you know,

22:56 when the wins don't come, when the players,

23:00 you know, Josh, I think was given, you know, first year,

23:03 okay, Carr didn't make the plays,

23:05 the players saw it on film,

23:07 the quarterback's gotta be gone,

23:09 the quarterback was the issue,

23:11 we were right there, how many one score losses?

23:13 So, you know, you get the first year,

23:15 but the second year, you bring in another quarterback,

23:17 you bring in a couple quarterbacks,

23:20 it's year two, and now nothing's changing.

23:24 It's the same stuff, the quarterback's not making the plays,

23:27 we're not winning games.

23:29 All of a sudden, the players start, like,

23:31 looking around at each other and being like,

23:34 why are we working so hard at this?

23:36 Like, so now we're losing, and now it's our fault even more,

23:40 we're getting yelled at even more, longer meetings,

23:43 that's when the players start to tune out.

23:46 And right now, Bill is in that situation.

23:48 You know, forget about his resume,

23:50 like a lot of these guys don't care about his resume,

23:52 I mean, some do, but, you know,

23:54 you think Jack Jones and JC Jackson

23:56 really care about his resume?

23:58 You know, so Bill's in the situation with,

24:00 okay, last year didn't go well, that's fine,

24:03 sort of like McDaniel's first year in Vegas.

24:05 Then you have this year, they come out,

24:08 they're two and seven, now the players, I think,

24:10 are looking around being like,

24:11 so what are we working so hard for?

24:14 And I think they're on the precipice of, you know,

24:18 they could, you could see a lot of letting go of the rope

24:21 this week against the Colts.

24:23 And if that happens, Nick,

24:24 I don't think Bill's gonna get fired.

24:26 I don't think he deserves that.

24:27 I think that there would be such a negative outcry

24:31 from a lot of people being like,

24:33 I can't believe you did Bill that way,

24:34 that the Crafts aren't gonna do that.

24:36 I have a very hard time seeing it.

24:39 I mean, I guess you never say never,

24:42 but here's my thing, Nick,

24:44 and I wonder what you think about it.

24:46 You know, watching this game,

24:48 watching how inept they were,

24:49 watching how, you know,

24:50 the third downs they're giving up on defense,

24:52 all the special teams penalties, you know,

24:54 stuff that is a core to what Belichick believes in.

24:58 If they bottom out against the Colts,

25:01 and we're talking about a blowout loss against the Colts,

25:04 they're not competitive.

25:07 Do you think Belichick gives any thought

25:10 to resigning during the bye week?

25:12 That's-

25:13 I hate you.

25:14 Watching-

25:15 I hate you.

25:16 You hate me?

25:16 I hate you.

25:17 Were you having this thought too?

25:18 I wanted to, yeah, I was gonna try to like,

25:23 finish your sentence, but I was gonna ask you,

25:25 would Belichick fall on the sword?

25:27 Would Belichick look around and be like,

25:29 all right, I'm done with this shit.

25:31 Like, they're not listening, I'm tired of it.

25:34 I'm 70 plus years old.

25:36 I wanna continue to coach,

25:38 but obviously it ain't working here.

25:40 I know where this is gonna go.

25:43 Like, I'm two and eight.

25:45 I see my professional death happening in New England.

25:50 I'm gonna take the rest of the year off.

25:52 I'm gonna give Gerrard a shot.

25:55 Promote Gerrard, see if Matt can get some life back.

25:58 I'm done with this.

25:59 This ain't good.

26:00 I wouldn't be shocked.

26:03 I wouldn't be shocked.

26:04 I wouldn't be shocked.

26:06 Here's what I would say about Belichick.

26:10 My concern about what's going on,

26:13 and this happened at the trade deadline, I think,

26:17 more concern about 2023 than 2024.

26:19 Everybody else outside of this bubble

26:23 and everybody that's in the front office,

26:25 and you saw Jonathan Kraft and Robert Kraft's conversation

26:28 in the owner's box during the game,

26:30 that's got a lot of attention.

26:33 Everybody knows this is now about 2024,

26:36 but Bill is not gonna let that happen

26:39 because Bill, as the head coach, shouldn't let that happen.

26:42 But if he hangs on, you see playing Marte Mapu,

26:46 10 snaps on Sunday, and I know he's done wrong, okay?

26:51 Yep.

26:52 But again, are you in it now to develop these young guys

26:56 and let them learn from their mistakes

26:57 during the bullets flying?

26:59 Or are you more, I've gotta win every game I can

27:02 to catch Shula, I gotta win every game I can

27:04 because I wanna show people that this team

27:07 isn't as bad as they think,

27:08 that I'm not as bad as people think.

27:11 You're gonna be focused on that if you're Belichick.

27:14 And that means not activating Keyshawn Booty,

27:17 even if he's having off and on practices or whatever.

27:22 You play a guy in Taekwondo who lasted three series

27:24 'cause he's a mess.

27:26 Like, so you don't activate Booty to give him a shot.

27:29 You bench Pop earlier in the year because he fumbles

27:32 on a nice hustle play by Chubb.

27:34 You play Mapu, 10 snaps, and you're playing him

27:37 at deep safety instead of where he should be playing

27:39 in the box to see if he could be a linebacker for 2024,

27:42 that athletic linebacker that we've talked about.

27:44 You're playing him on the deep end

27:46 because you failed to replace Devin McCourty adequately.

27:49 That's my concern, is that this is gonna be a team

27:52 that's gonna be run like a team

27:53 that's still trying to win every game

27:55 when we know they're going nowhere right now.

27:59 And instead of 2024 being the focus,

28:01 2023 is the focus, and that's going to hamper

28:05 and stagnate talent.

28:07 It's gonna stop Mapu from getting snaps

28:09 where he should be getting snaps, et cetera, et cetera.

28:12 That, to me, Greg, is a bigger problem,

28:14 and that's why they should've shipped Uche out.

28:17 He's got no future with the team.

28:18 Jacksonville reportedly offered a fifth.

28:20 Take a fifth.

28:21 Oh, a fifth's better than zero.

28:24 Uche played 20% of the snaps this past week.

28:28 He's gonna play 35 when he's healthy.

28:30 Like, put Keon White out there.

28:32 Anthony Jennings is gonna be a free agent.

28:34 Give him the snaps.

28:37 Give other guys opportunities,

28:39 and that's my concern with Belichick hanging around.

28:42 - Yeah, it's a good point.

28:44 This is a good discussion.

28:45 Let's continue it after a break.

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30:09 - So Nick, to further the discussion on Belichick,

30:17 and could he resign?

30:19 I mean, do I, again, the premise is that it bottoms out

30:24 against the Colts, like it's bad.

30:26 It's like Saints-Dallas bad.

30:28 You know, we all know Belichick is extremely smart.

30:35 And most of the time he thinks down the road

30:37 and he's gonna, that's a long plane ride there.

30:40 It's a long plane ride back.

30:42 And he has to be thinking of,

30:45 all right, let's play this out, you know, war game style.

30:50 Let's play out all the moves, okay?

30:52 If this continues on, we just bottomed out.

30:54 We're two and eight.

30:55 Like the guys, they're starting to tune me out, okay?

30:58 I'm gonna be let go after the season,

31:01 or we're gonna mutually part ways.

31:03 You know, to me, the big thing,

31:07 when I think about the possibility of Belichick resigning

31:12 is that, you know, what's his mantra always been

31:14 about the decisions that he makes

31:16 and about how he leads the team?

31:18 I do what's in the best interest of the team.

31:21 Now, what's in the best interest of the team?

31:25 What's in the best interest of the people

31:27 that have worked for him for a very long time,

31:30 the people that he brought in, who are on the coaching staff,

31:32 who are on the, you know, the support staff,

31:35 like all that stuff?

31:36 You know, to me, the best thing is,

31:42 let me step aside and let's let Gerrard

31:46 have a chance at this.

31:47 Let Gerrard and Billy take over their sides of the ball.

31:52 Gerrard is head coach, you know, whatever with Steve.

31:54 Maybe it looks really good,

31:55 and maybe they keep everything intact, all my people,

31:58 and I'm the only one stepping back.

32:01 You know, that's a positive.

32:04 You know, what if Bill thinks that the Crafts

32:06 are getting in an inkling to make a complete reset

32:11 with a whole different direction?

32:12 Is that the best thing for Gerrard and Steve

32:15 and Brian and Billy and, you know, all these guys?

32:18 You know, but Bill's gonna look at it and say like,

32:22 "All right, look, I'm not gonna be the coach here next year.

32:25 "I know that at this point,

32:27 "these guys aren't playing for any more.

32:29 "There's no difference between us and the Raiders

32:32 "and the Lions and the Giants.

32:34 "They're, you know, they're letting go of the rope."

32:36 And, you know, I think that Bill,

32:39 if Bill gets up there after the bye and says, you know,

32:44 he gets up in front of the media on whatever,

32:47 Zoom or whatever, and says,

32:48 "Look, I've thought long and hard about this.

32:53 "I've always done what's in the best interest of the team.

32:55 "It's obvious at this point,

32:57 "me leading the team is not in the best interest.

32:59 "It's time for somebody else,

33:01 "and I'm gonna give them that opportunity,

33:03 "and I'm gonna step away.

33:04 "I don't know whether I'm gonna coach in the future.

33:06 "I don't know what my future is,

33:08 "but for right now, for the Patriots, for my players,

33:11 "for my coaches, the best thing is

33:14 "for me to step away and to invite in a new voice,

33:17 "and that's what I'm gonna do."

33:19 I think that would be,

33:20 if it ended up being Belichick's last move as Patriot coach,

33:24 I think it would be something that people really respected

33:28 and, you know, would go on his resume.

33:30 And, you know, instead of, you know, what's the alternative?

33:33 You're gonna be, you know,

33:35 you know, Earl Bruce with Ohio State.

33:37 You're gonna go down as a bitter man,

33:39 you know, fighting and fighting against it.

33:43 You're gonna drag the crafts in the court

33:45 to uphold your contract.

33:46 Like, you know, what are you gonna do here?

33:47 This is your final act.

33:49 And I just think, look,

33:50 when you think about the totality of it all,

33:54 you know, if they get blown out on Sunday

33:56 by a Colt seam going nowhere,

33:57 with Gardner Minshew at quarterback in Germany,

34:01 I think that Bill has to think long and hard about,

34:03 like, all right, what's the end game for me?

34:04 And do I just step aside right here

34:06 and let Gerrard take over and let him show what he can do?

34:09 - I did find it interesting,

34:12 he was asked about his job multiple times this week

34:15 and his job security.

34:16 I didn't hear anything from Bill about,

34:19 there hasn't been a lot of thin in the last 20 years.

34:21 And I didn't see that confidence from Bill this week.

34:25 I don't think anybody saw it.

34:26 Seemed like a guy who was resigned to the idea

34:29 that he was gonna be asked these questions,

34:31 knew what was gonna happen.

34:33 And at two and seven, and after the last two years,

34:36 he doesn't have much ammo.

34:37 And I thought you saw an almost disarmed Belichick

34:41 at the podium when asked about that.

34:43 When, yeah, he went to the usual muttering of,

34:45 you know, the Colts or whatever.

34:47 But again, I didn't think,

34:50 and I don't know, Greg, if you agree with this or not,

34:52 just like watching his reaction.

34:54 And I didn't think that Belichick necessarily

34:57 was as dismissive as he's been in the past

35:01 when asked about his future.

35:02 I think he understands.

35:04 Look, Bill's a smart guy.

35:07 He might not be the smartest guy with offensive personnel.

35:09 He might not be the smartest guy with fourth down decisions,

35:12 but he's a really smart guy.

35:14 And he sees what's going on.

35:17 He knows he's two and seven.

35:19 And I thought you saw a Belichick up there

35:20 that was ready for those questions.

35:23 And they lose again against the Colts.

35:27 He knows he's gonna get more of those questions.

35:29 The media is not going to go away.

35:31 And will Belichick want to continue to put himself

35:35 into that situation at the podium week after week after week?

35:40 Or will he say, "Enough's enough."

35:42 All right, look, I don't know how much

35:44 you want to cover the Washington game.

35:45 It was bad.

35:46 They stink on both sides of the ball.

35:48 They stunk on special teams.

35:50 Any special highlights you want to give the people

35:52 after watching film?

35:53 We already talked a lot about Mac.

35:55 Did you enjoy the wide receiver play on Sunday?

35:58 (laughing)

36:00 - What's funny, Nick, is that this was probably

36:03 Juju's best game, right, until the last pass.

36:07 He were like, "Oh."

36:09 Not that, "Oh, look, there's something there."

36:11 Just like, "All right, he's functional.

36:14 You can do something."

36:15 He had a 20-yard pickup, made a couple of nice

36:18 diving catches.

36:20 It was refreshing.

36:22 But I think just a couple of notes.

36:27 A couple of drops out of the running backs.

36:32 Stevenson gives up a hurry in pass protection.

36:34 I mean, they do a lot of good stuff.

36:36 The long touchdown was, and I thought that,

36:39 who was it on the call for the game?

36:42 It was, who did the color this week?

36:45 - Oh, God.

36:46 Oh, Jonathan Vilma, who was blaming Mac

36:48 for the interception at the end of the game

36:49 for some reason.

36:50 - Yeah, he was all over Mac.

36:52 But I thought Vilma, he was a great linebacker

36:54 in the league.

36:55 I thought he did a good job talking about

36:57 Jermaine Davis, the linebacker.

36:59 And you can even see it on film

37:02 that before the snap, the other linebacker

37:07 who goes first on, they were running a cross dog,

37:09 he's back here and Davis is shallow.

37:13 He's way too shallow.

37:15 If Davis was even with him and let him go,

37:19 there's no way Strange can get him

37:20 and he's in the hole and that might even be a loss.

37:23 You would be asking Stevenson to break a tackle

37:25 and keep going.

37:26 But the touchdown was a complete bust

37:30 by the commanders.

37:31 Those guys do, Stevenson looked more like himself,

37:35 but there's some frustrating drops

37:38 from both him and Elliott.

37:41 Connor McDermott was serviceable at left tackle

37:44 but gave up seven total quarterback pressures

37:47 in the game.

37:49 I thought that Cole Strange had one of his better games.

37:53 I thought that Michael Wenu was outstanding

37:56 at right tackle, only gave up one knockdown.

37:59 The receivers, I mean, Nick, I wrote down

38:02 one, two, three, four, five, six, six questionable routes.

38:07 And that's just when they could get the ball.

38:10 I'm not even watching when they're on the other side

38:12 of the field.

38:13 But led by Demario Douglas with four.

38:16 I mean, there was one third down

38:19 where I still think that Max should have went to him.

38:21 He ended up throwing quickly over the middle.

38:24 I think it was to Hunter Henry, it was sort of covered.

38:26 But Demario Douglas is in the position

38:28 where over the years we've seen Julian Edelman

38:31 or West Walker's third down, third sort of short yardage.

38:34 He's gonna run one of those little returns,

38:36 like come inside, bust outside.

38:39 And you can just imagine Tom Brady just waiting for him

38:42 to make his out route.

38:43 He puts it on him, conversion, here we go.

38:46 With Demario Douglas, he comes off like Devontae Parker,

38:52 one of these like, oh, I'm going to go slowly.

38:55 I'm gonna stop for a second,

38:57 then I'm gonna fake inside,

38:58 then I'm gonna go outside.

38:59 Like, when has that ever worked in this offense?

39:02 Like what the hell is Troy Brown doing

39:06 as wide receivers coach that you see all this stuff

39:09 that you're just like, this never used to go around here.

39:13 Why is this stuff week after week being allowed around here?

39:16 You know, it's all sorts of stuff like that.

39:19 You see it sometimes with Gisicki as well,

39:22 Thornton, of course.

39:25 But yeah, just like the attention to detail

39:28 is just not good enough.

39:30 And it's just, it's puzzling to me.

39:31 I know Bill O'Brien is always on top of this stuff.

39:36 You know, I don't know.

39:38 That's one of the big mysteries to this season

39:40 is just the lack of attention to detail on the offense.

39:44 You see it all over the place from every position.

39:47 Quarterback, running back, offensive line, wide receivers.

39:50 It's just, it's pervasive throughout the film.

39:52 And it's, we're in week nine.

39:54 And this stuff's gotta be over by now.

39:57 - Yeah, could have had DeAndre Hopkins

39:59 and Jacoby Myers on this team.

40:01 So there's that.

40:02 All right.

40:03 - Don't do that to me.

40:04 - But could you imagine people were actually pushing back

40:08 on the idea of Hopkins joining this team?

40:10 Like he couldn't help this.

40:11 They were desperately clinging onto this idea

40:14 that they had enough and you didn't need Hopkins.

40:17 And Bill knew that Juju was pretty much one-legged Juju.

40:21 - Defensively, not very good either there, Greg.

40:26 - No, I mean, way too many third downs.

40:28 I mean, people will be like, oh, the defense played well

40:31 and I'm sure their success rate or expected points added

40:36 and all that stuff looks good.

40:40 Because you play good for two downs,

40:43 two or three out of four downs,

40:45 but on the fourth down, you look like complete crap.

40:47 I mean, you talked about Marte Mapu earlier.

40:51 Do you remember the play where Sam Howell

40:53 threw late deep to the left?

40:56 Jabril Peppers ended up coming and helping break up the play

40:59 but it was actually, Howell threw behind,

41:02 he didn't leave the, it should have been a touchdown.

41:05 That was Marte Mapu.

41:06 He completely busted that coverage.

41:08 Jabril Peppers was not happy.

41:09 It was supposed to be covered too and he got sucked in.

41:12 And so this happens every week with him,

41:14 which is surprising because I know he's,

41:16 that kid's smart as hell.

41:18 I'm surprised he's not making these corrections.

41:20 I thought they were really good up front.

41:22 Now look, I know the pressure wasn't great overall,

41:26 but I thought like Christian Barmore,

41:29 it was a beast again.

41:30 He's played great for the last like four or five weeks.

41:33 Dietrich Weiss was really good in this game.

41:36 Some gap issues here and there.

41:38 The secondary, a lot of missed tackles,

41:41 more blown assignments.

41:43 Again, it's just, when we talk about Belichick's future

41:48 and about the things that he's gonna look at

41:51 and could his frustration level get to the point

41:54 where he's just like, man, I'm obviously not getting through

41:58 to these guys anymore.

41:59 It's the stuff that went on, it went on defense on Sunday,

42:04 on special teams with their penalties.

42:06 I mean, a punt touch back from like the 50

42:10 when there's no reason for it.

42:12 Douglas fielding a ball deep.

42:14 I mean, if you're Bill Belichick and you pride yourself on,

42:19 especially my defense and special teams will be good.

42:22 They'll keep us in the game.

42:24 And look, we're talking about a game

42:25 that was relatively close.

42:27 I mean, but I had Washington for like nine or 10

42:32 unforced errors in this game where the game should,

42:35 including of course the interception.

42:37 But you watch this game, the Washington offense

42:40 was in complete control this entire game.

42:42 They had, and Sam Howell was part of it.

42:44 He looked so calm, cool and collected.

42:46 They had no issue.

42:48 It was obviously tough sledding for the Patriots offense.

42:50 I mean, but when you're Bill Belichick

42:52 and you look at this and you watch the film come Monday,

42:55 like I just have, you have to come away

42:57 and just be like, oh my God, I'm not getting through

43:00 to any of these guys.

43:01 That my defense is looking like this,

43:03 that guys like Jack Jones and JC Jackson

43:05 look like they're going off that reservation

43:07 not only in their social media and in the locker room,

43:09 but also with their play on the field.

43:11 And that my special teams are causing blunders

43:14 all over the place.

43:14 Like, you know, he has to be saying like,

43:19 am I effective at all anymore as the coach of the Patriots?

43:22 And I think it's a valid question.

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43:38 All right, Greg, just you today.

43:39 We're short on time.

43:40 Three up.

43:41 - So I'm gonna go Christian Barmore, Dietrich Wise,

43:48 and Michael Wenu.

43:51 I thought they were, all those guys were outstanding

43:54 in the game.

43:55 It's good to see Barmore doing what he's doing.

43:58 I mean, Dietrich Wise and Wenu, we expect that of them.

44:03 But they were really good.

44:05 - We might be at the point where Wenu

44:06 should just play right tackle for this team.

44:08 And they might think about extending him

44:10 and playing him at tackle next year.

44:11 I know that there was pushback on that,

44:13 but you got Trent Brown and nobody else right now

44:17 to play that spot.

44:19 Three down.

44:20 - Matt Jones, who we talked about.

44:23 Connor McDermott.

44:25 Seven Pressures.

44:27 And then on defense, I'm just gonna give you a few names

44:30 that you can put into this.

44:31 You know, let's see.

44:35 Jalen Mills.

44:39 Jack Jones.

44:42 JC Jackson.

44:44 Miles Bryant.

44:45 - The defensive backs.

44:49 Good job, guys.

44:50 Good job, good effort, fellas.

44:52 Shout out to Jalen Rager.

44:53 He's on my down list for looking like a drunk penguin

44:56 trying to catch the football.

44:57 - Good call.

44:58 - His feet slipping, sliding underneath him.

45:03 Clean field.

45:05 The guy's stumbling and bumbling at the...

45:08 He couldn't keep his feet.

45:10 And then he tried to catch the football

45:12 like he has two stones for hands.

45:15 It hurts.

45:18 He's Greg, I'm Nick.

45:19 Hope you enjoyed it.

45:20 Back later in the week to preview another disaster.

45:22 Till then, enjoy yourself.

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Another loss exposes Mac, Belichick | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast

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