Is Bill Belichick the reason for the Patriots' 2-4 start?
The Bill Belichick era without Tom Brady has been less than impressive. Bill Belichick led the New England Patriots to a 7-9 record last year and has his team sitting at 2-4 this year. Their expectations for this season were to make the playoffs again after spending $159.6 million guaranteed in free agency.
But it was rookie Mac Jones who won the starting quarterback job. Every rookie quarterback needs time to develop and learn from the mistakes he makes. Jones has committed some errors, but he's done his best to keep the Patriots in almost every game.
Three of the four losses the Patriots suffered were by one possession. Two of those three one-possession losses were by three points or less. In close games, it's up to the head coach to make the right decisions to give his team the win. Bill Belichick has apparently failed to do that, and that's where part of the blame for the Patriots' 2-4 start lies.
To what extent is Bill Belichick responsible for the Patriots' record this season?
Against the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bill Belichick blatantly cost his team. On fourth-downs this year, Belichick has only gone for it three times. The NFL has shifted towards an aggressive mindset of going for it on fourth down. Especially if you're near or at midfield.
“New England has been in 41 fourth downs this season and has gone for it just three times…” 👀 twitter.com/ezlazar/status…
Against the Cowboys in overtime, Belichick had a fourth and three from midfield. Jones played a good game and just made one of his best throws of the year on that drive. Instead of taking a risk, Belichick pulled his offense and punted the ball to the Cowboys.
Belichick trusted his defense to stop the Cowboys offense that leads the NFL in scoring. The Cowboys put up an easy 567 yards in that game and marched down the field to win the game.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Bill Belichick has coached 619 games as a head coach and defensive coordinator and the 567 yards gained by the Cowboys Sunday were the most one of his defenses has ever allowed. The previous high was 557 by San Fran in 1998 when he was the Jets DC.
Against Brady's Buccaneers, Jones played commendably and held his own against the GOAT. But the Patriots should've won the game. They had a fourth-and-three at the Buccaneers' 37-yard line. There were 59 seconds left on the clock, and they still had a timeout.
Jones was white-hot against an injury-depleted Bucs secondary. Rather than allowing the rookie to go for it, Belichick elected to kick a 56-yard field goal with Nick Folk, who was playing hurt.
Bill Belichick must learn to adapt and trust his rookie quarterback
The bottom line for Bill Belichick is that he must learn to start trusting his quarterback. Jones isn't perfect, but he's the best rookie quarterback from his class thus far.
He's been placed inside a bubble and has been extremely limited. Josh McDaniels deserves blame as offensive coordinator as well for not trying to give Jones more opportunities.
In 2001, you could coach conservatively and protect your young quarterback. But in 2021, if you're conservative with your quarterback, you're going to lose. Belichick is the greatest coach of all time, but he must adapt to the times.
Otherwise, he risks hurting his legacy with a sad ending to his career that he could've prevented had he trusted his first-round pick.