Nitpicks & Nitwits: In Bill Do You Still Trust?

22nd season in New England.  17 AFC East Division titles.  Nine AFC Championships.  Six Super Bowl trophies.  Sure, there was a generational quarterback leading the way on the field, and many other outstanding athletes “doing their jobs.”

But haven’t you always thought, “In Bill We Trust?”  And don’t you still?

Last year’s 7-9 hiccup can almost be washed away with a dismissive “it was a Covid season” rationale.  After a year of retooling, rebuilding, and re-creating, Belichick has the Patriots right back where fans argue they belong and many have come to expect.

Like he has in his past.  In first place within the AFC.

And the rest of the NFL now must deal with it.

In a career where there have been some incredible opportunities, great game plans in place with JAG’s, Joe’s and star athletes performing side-by-side, Bill Belichick had perhaps the most unusual happenstance of his tenure occur Monday night in Buffalo.

His quarterback threw three passes, completing two.  His running game ran the ball 46 times, the most in nearly three full seasons, and began the game with 10 straight rushing plays before ever considering a pass into the swirling Buffalo breeze.

It was also the 7th time in his Patriots career his team ran for more than 200 yards on the ground.

And his defense continues to respond to multiple challenges in soul-crushing fashion, allowing a mere field goal to the Bills Monday night in the second half – the only second half points scored against New England over the past five weeks.

It was weird.  It was hand-wringing, teeth-grinding, yell-out-at-the-TV stuff Monday night.  The Patriots threw the least number of passes in a game in franchise history and the fewest attempts in an NFL game since 1974.  Throw the damn ball!

But we weren’t there, in the elements.  He was, with Josh McDaniels making the calls, and the plan was brilliant in its simplicity.

“We kind of played the way we felt we needed to win,” Belichick told the media postgame.

And still, you doubt?  There have been missteps along the way, of course.  Opponents have figured him out (but not often), players who haven’t performed to expectation (his, or our own) and draft decisions that have left us all scratching our heads.

But make no mistake here – the Patriots are now back in the mix.  The NFL’s ultimate good guys/bad guys, depending upon your point of view.  And it’s due in large part to Belichick just being Bill, doing Bill things like he’s always done.

You remember those, right?  Monday night was just another in a long line of ’em.  Trust that there will be more to come.

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Three things happen…

The old coaching adage of “three things happen when you throw the ball and two of them are bad” played out to near perfection.  It’s an old-school, running game philosophy dating to the ’60s and beyond, long ago lost in the whirlwind of shotgun formations and five-wide receivers.

But it’s easy to second guess.  Wouldn’t a play-action pass have worked, with all those runs setting it up?  Especially on 3rd down conversion opportunities?  They were just 2-for-12 converting those chances against Buffalo’s defense.

Hindsight is 20-20, of course.  And hindsight here says the Patriots won the game playing it the way they did, so…

Flags on the field

Six penalties for 47 yards may or may not sound like a big deal to you.  And in the end, it wasn’t big for the Patriots to deal with.

But a killer holding call going against Jonnu Smith in the 3rd quarter – a questionable call at best – snuffed a potential scoring drive right out of existence.  And a horrible call made on Myles Bryant for unnecessary roughness later in the period handed the Bills three points on a silver platter.

It was windy on that platter, to be sure.  But in a tight game where scoring chances are at a minimum, mistakes get magnified.

What in the world?

N’Keal Harry‘s role has been relegated to primarily one of blocking, with few pass attempts (when there ARE pass attempts) coming his way of late.  And he has certainly been a primary reason for the improvements in the running game overall – he’s tough for smaller defensive backs to handle when it comes to clearing the way.

But his muffed punt return in the 1st quarter that directly led to the Bills’ only touchdown?  The way the ball was bouncing, it’s hard to place all of the blame on his, um, helmet.  But the decision to put him back there to receive a kick, when he had yet to do that as a pro…and with an all-pro caliber returner in Gunner Olszewski?

I mean, really, guys?  What are we thinking here?  Perhaps, on occasion, even the best can overthink a call or two.