(Image Credit: Brian Fluharty/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Twitter: @NicholasMullick
Well it has finally occurred the New England Patriots have now been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Yes that sentence is still weird to say especially when Bill Belichick is still the head coach/general manager of the Patriots. However this season has been a very bizarre one where the Patriots had high moments and of course low moments. There are many reasons why they did not make it, but I will give the three main reasons why they did not.
1. Is Mac Jones really the guy?
There are many questions that I have had through the season speaking with the Patriots. The obvious one focuses on the QB position, because I really don’t know if Mac Jones is the long term franchise QB for this team. There were moments this season where he made some brutal throws. He has the arm strength, but is not the most consistent player either. He looks lost at times, does not have the best awareness, and is a super dirty player.
Some of the stunts he has pulled this season are absolutely ridiculous. Its not only this year, but a continuing issue from last season. Just look at the video below.
These plays are absolutely ridiculous and Belichick has to pull him aside and explain to him why he can’t do this. Then again while Belichick is a genius he has a Dark Arts of coaching in the NFL.
Now the only thing that is making me 100% say with the fact that he sucks is that the coaching on offense is a disaster. Speaking of which….
2. Poor Coaching from Matt Patricia and Joe Judge
So, New England are you going to fire Matt Patricia and Joe Judge now? Like seriously, you should have never hired either of them to begin with knowing how poor their offenses were when they were in their last coaching roles. It is almost as if a defensive minded coach and special teams coach decided to get hired to run the offense and have no idea what they were doing. Oh wait, that's what this team did. The offense has been so poorly coached with the horrendous schemes and especially with the play calling.
If I am the Patriots it is a must to get a real offensive coordinator. I don’t care if it is Bill O’Brien that becomes the new offensive coordinator. Patricia and Judge need to go now.
3. Losing to the Las Vegas Raiders in the most bizarre way ever.
Yeah I think this game against the Raiders was the true day the Patriots season was over. Why do you ask? Well just look at the play below.
I still can’t forget this moment at all as it is just freaking crazy. I can’t believe that A) Stevenson and Meyers would even lateral this ball, along with B) Why would Matt Patricia not just call a QB Kneel and send the game to overtime? I just can't believe this game cost the Patriots a playoff game and that is apparent now at the end of the season as the Raiders are severely poorly coached.
On The Bright Side - Josh Uche has finally emerged as a great defender
There are a lot of bright spots on this defense for the season. To me the one that finally stood out and contributed to this defense is Josh Uche. I will be honest I was not a fan of Josh Uche when he came out of the 2020 NFL Draft. He struggled the first two years of the season, but he finally has contributed to this defense and is arguably the second best pass rusher on this defense. Matthew Judon is the number 1 no question, but Uche is definitely number 2. I hope he keeps this up and plays well again next season.