Poll: Who takes the blame for New England’s failures?
Things have rarely been this bad in New England during Bill Belichick's tenure as the Patriots' head coach.
In fact, technically things have never been worse than they were yesterday based on final scores, as the Pats suffered their most lopsided defeat under Belichick in Dallas, 38-3 at the hands of the Cowboys.
It's becoming clear that Patriots fans are getting fed up. When asked this morning during his weekly WEEI appearance why Pats fans should be optimistic about the direction of the team, Belichick replied as one would expect him to, "Well look I’m just really concerned about doing the best job for our team…that’s what I can control, that’s what I’m going to do. That’s what I’m going to focus on.”
He can say over and over again all he's concerned about is doing the best job for the team, but when it comes down to it, he hasn't. Several years of draft day whiffs have put the Pats at a severe talent disadvantage, specifically on the offensive side of the football, where Bill has felt it unnecessary to address in the draft. And if he does, it's usually an offensive lineman taken too high and in place of needed help at the skill positions. At the least, Bill the GM deserves to lose that title.
Entering yesterday's game, I was seeing a lot of "Mac Jones statement game" posts across Twitter from diehards expecting a big performance. Well, that statement was heard loud and clear. Jones was pulled with the Pats trailing 31-3 in the 3rd quarter, with his only productive efforts being to spot Dallas a pair of touchdowns via a pick-6 and a fumble scoop and score.
Enough with the "Mac isn't part of the problem" crowd. He is. The Pats are 3-8 in their last 11 games and the three wins all came against backup QB's. Why? Because most weeks, your QB is also giving you backup QB vibes.
Then there's Robert Kraft. The man who said he was quite optimistic entering the season this year and liked that many expected the Pats to struggle for wins. He says playoff glory is still the ultimate goal. Well, the team is moving more and more in the other direction. At what point will he be forced to make a move? Or if he doesn't, does that make him culpable in the team's failures as well?
To be fair, I expected the Pats to be 1-3 through the first four games, I just didn't expect them to look this bad. After seeing the first month of the season, where do you place the blame for the team's failures?