Bill Belichick Quotathon

BroodsSexton

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Last question, asked if he had ever been part of a game — “pro, college, high school, anything” — with as few passes…deadpan “We didn’t throw the ball much in high school.” Then a stifled chuckle.

He’s so entertaining.
 

Cotillion

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Is Bill going to bench himself for the first quarter of the next Bills game like he did Wes Welker for his “feet” press conference? Lol
 

Dogman

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McDermott pissed him off. I don't think we've ever seen BB troll another coach or player.
Hmmmm, I read this differently. I figure he is saying the cold, wind, late finish, late arrival back at Gillette, and the early start this morning have him run down or tired.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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Hmmmm, I read this differently. I figure he is saying the cold, wind, late finish, late arrival back at Gillette, and the early start this morning have him run down or tired.
This is the fair take. I'm probably projecting my feelings about McDermott.

Which is weird, because I had no opinion whatsoever of the guy until after the game ended and he turned into a Rex Ryan clone in front of the microphones.
 

Dogman

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This is the fair take. I'm probably projecting my feelings about McDermott.

Which is weird, because I had no opinion whatsoever of the guy until after the game ended and he turned into a Rex Ryan clone in front of the microphones.
It was seemingly uncharacteristic of him to say some of the things he said. I'm sure losing to BB and the Pats consistently are very difficult for coaches and teams but as a head coach, he has got to keep those postgame comments to himself. Be benign, talk with saying little to nothing.
 

E5 Yaz

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It was seemingly uncharacteristic of him to say some of the things he said. I'm sure losing to BB and the Pats consistently are very difficult for coaches and teams but as a head coach, he has got to keep those postgame comments to himself. Be benign, talk with saying little to nothing.
Which is odd, considering the Bills swept the Patriots just last season
 

lexrageorge

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It was seemingly uncharacteristic of him to say some of the things he said. I'm sure losing to BB and the Pats consistently are very difficult for coaches and teams but as a head coach, he has got to keep those postgame comments to himself. Be benign, talk with saying little to nothing.
McDermott seemed especially upset with the officiating all game. I know there was the quick delay of game call (interesting wording, I know) in the first half, and the coach/ref relationship seemed to go downhill from there. Josh Allen was constantly looking for calls in the final drive in the red zone; the ESPN announcers were speculating about a neutral zone infraction that went uncalled, but the replay didn't show anything. Volin was convinced that the Pats got away with contact on one of the pass plays, but the caveat is that it's Volin.

The Bills were gifted those 15 yards on the fake personal foul on the Allen push, so my Pats fanboy view is that everything probably evened out. But am wondering if the officiating had McDermott more emotional than usual and caused him to say things in a way he wish he hadn't.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Left unmentioned in all of that was the 3rd and 14 play at the end of the game that Phillips had to break up in the end zone. Phillips has position in front of Knox and Knox literally throws him out of the way. It was a hell of a play by Phillips to get his hand back in there to break it up, but if Volin is going to talk about uncalled PI on the last drive he's got to talk about all of them.
 

Cotillion

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McDermott seemed especially upset with the officiating all game. I know there was the quick delay of game call (interesting wording, I know) in the first half, and the coach/ref relationship seemed to go downhill from there. Josh Allen was constantly looking for calls in the final drive in the red zone; the ESPN announcers were speculating about a neutral zone infraction that went uncalled, but the replay didn't show anything. Volin was convinced that the Pats got away with contact on one of the pass plays, but the caveat is that it's Volin.

The Bills were gifted those 15 yards on the fake personal foul on the Allen push, so my Pats fanboy view is that everything probably evened out. But am wondering if the officiating had McDermott more emotional than usual and caused him to say things in a way he wish he hadn't.
The lack of call on Knox Phillips (i think it was him) in the endzone was a reasonable no call.... when a QB is scrambling and outside of the tackle boxes the rules slightly change as to what you are allowed to do (so long as the QB has not thrown the ball yet). As the D can't know whether the QB is going to run or pass, they are allowed to do more "blocking" as if the QB is running. However, the second the ball is in the air that contact becomes DPI. The Seattle Seahawks used to be masters of this at the height of their legion of boom days.

Not to mention Knox was also initiating a fair amount of the contact when Allen was running around.
 

bunchabums

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The lack of call on Knox Phillips (i think it was him) in the endzone was a reasonable no call.... when a QB is scrambling and outside of the tackle boxes the rules slightly change as to what you are allowed to do (so long as the QB has not thrown the ball yet). As the D can't know whether the QB is going to run or pass, they are allowed to do more "blocking" as if the QB is running. However, the second the ball is in the air that contact becomes DPI. The Seattle Seahawks used to be masters of this at the height of their legion of boom days.

Not to mention Knox was also initiating a fair amount of the contact when Allen was running around.
Best call was no call. Like it was said above, the second best call was offensive PI. Knox manhandled Adrian.
 

snowmanny

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McDermott seemed especially upset with the officiating all game. I know there was the quick delay of game call (interesting wording, I know) in the first half, and the coach/ref relationship seemed to go downhill from there.
The idea that you absolutely commit the delay of game penalty, but you’re annoyed you only got a 0.6 second grace period instead of the 1.2 seconds you had some other time is almost (almost) as laughable as being annoyed that the ref didn’t say “excuse me Mr. Ford, you seem to be lined up in the neutral zone so please step back so I don’t have to flag you on this next play.”
 

TFP

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I'm pretty sure McDermott was pissed because he tried to call timeout before the delay of game and they didn't grant it, but did grant it to the Pats. No idea if he was right or not, but that was my read on it.
 

cshea

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I'm pretty sure McDermott was pissed because he tried to call timeout before the delay of game and they didn't grant it, but did grant it to the Pats. No idea if he was right or not, but that was my read on it.
Yeah, I think he made the TO signal to one of the officials while he was screaming at them.

FWIW, live I thought it was a very quick trigger on a delay. Officials usually give them an extra second.
 

Dogman

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Yeah, I think he made the TO signal to one of the officials while he was screaming at them.

FWIW, live I thought it was a very quick trigger on a delay. Officials usually give them an extra second.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Generally, officials let the play continue with that brief grace period. I can't disagree with TFP though, he could have been yelling because it looked like the Pats got away with exactly that.

As far as McDermott being overly emotional after the loss, I understand that too but tossing a player or two under the bus almost always backfires in the locker room. I still can't believe he admitted that publicly.
 

cshea

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What a silly complaint. You know what the solution to this is? Don’t violate the clock.
Absolutely. It was definitely at zero before the snap, no doubt about it. But zero doesn't usually mean zero for delay of games. Even Parry on the broadcast said there's an extra second because after the clock hits zero the umpire then looks for where the ball is, then throws the flag. Guess the umpire had quick eyes.
 

tims4wins

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He has been salty in precisely 100% of his post game loss press conferences ever. This is the first time I can ever remember him apologizing for it. So I too share your concern!
 

Cotillion

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Well, I’m officially worried. 9-7 here we come.
View: https://twitter.com/guybostonsports/status/1472924719318028298?s=21
I watched the entire presser, he was definitely talkative today. He was asked about the fg/YD decision when it was 20-7 and said he didn’t have much confidence in converting for the TD.
Pod People are real!!!!*

*I make this joke because Bill does not seem like himself as we have seen this team be uncharacteristically sloppy in games (tons of fumbles, huge mental errors, inexplicable decisions) just like you would see if he had been replaced by a facsimile, and for the older set there is a fairly good movie called "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" where people are replaced by aliens. The aliens keep the people alive in the pods so they can keep their shape and also leech off memories/information as needed.
 

lexrageorge

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He has been salty in precisely 100% of his post game loss press conferences ever. This is the first time I can ever remember him apologizing for it. So I too share your concern!
I don't know; you could literally see the steam coming from Bill's head on that last press conference. The "look, I said it 5 times already, and I will say it 5 more times if I have to..." comment will be saved for posterity; it's up there with "there's a whole lot of pronouns in that question".

I think the team simply did not execute any of what was put in place during practice, and that really bothered Bill. The breakdowns really were in all 3 phases of the game.
 

tims4wins

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I don't know; you could literally see the steam coming from Bill's head on that last press conference. The "look, I said it 5 times already, and I will say it 5 more times if I have to..." comment will be saved for posterity; it's up there with "there's a lot of pronouns in that question".

I think the team simply did not execute any of what was put in place during practice, and that really bothered Bill. The breakdowns really were in all 3 phases of the game.
But you could say this about a lot of his other press conferences. We're on to Cincinnati. Seattle. Seattle. Seattle. Seattle. Etc.

That said, the reporters were more to "blame" for those other press conferences than Saturday night, so you may have a point.
 

simplyeric

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He has been salty in precisely 100% of his post game loss press conferences ever. This is the first time I can ever remember him apologizing for it. So I too share your concern!
I don't know; you could literally see the steam coming from Bill's head on that last press conference. The "look, I said it 5 times already, and I will say it 5 more times if I have to..." comment will be saved for posterity; it's up there with "there's a whole lot of pronouns in that question".

I think the team simply did not execute any of what was put in place during practice, and that really bothered Bill. The breakdowns really were in all 3 phases of the game.
I’ll admit that I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of ‘all the games’ in his era, but this looked and felt more like a ‘complete’ loss than a lot of others. Like, it seemed like everything from execution, reads, effort, energy, prep, play-calling, and overall game plan were all…off.

this might legitimately be the first time he really felt that that ‘he’ had failed. I exaggerate a little…I’m sure he had some thoughts about the Jets loss in 2011 (I think), or what have you. But really everything seemed off, and maybe he was humbled by it more so than in the past.
Or something.

obviously I’m armchair pych fabricating. Just thinking out loud.
 

moretsyndrome

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I was having a flashback to this game against the Lions in 2018. Weaker opponent and earlier in the season, but a prime-time game that went off the rails early and never really got back on. At least that season ended pretty darn well.

As I recall, BB didn't have a lot to add in the post-game for that one, either.
 

NortheasternPJ

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I got in the car today and had WEEI since I was listening to the NFL stuff yesterday from Fox and Greg Hill asked Bill about 4th and 2 like a dope trying to be funny and BB pretended to have no idea what he was referring to and then finally was like what whatever and blew him off
 

CreightonGubanich

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Maybe I'm biased from watching Man in the Arena, but to Belichick, this loss has to be a little like the Week 7 loss to the Steelers in 2004 that snapped the 21 game win streak. Obviously that was a better opponent and much longer streak, but that game was bad in every way - they mustered all of five rushing yards, gave up four sacks, fumbled 3 times and lost two of them, and Brady threw two picks. On other other side of the ball, they gave up 221 yards rushing, with Staley and The Bus running all over them.

That 2004 team needed the bubble to burst in order to move forward. I'm sure this team, and Belichick, would rather win than lose, but I wouldn't be surprised if Belichick views this game as a much needed reality check, rather than a sign of the team being fatally flawed.
 

tims4wins

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Maybe I'm biased from watching Man in the Arena, but to Belichick, this loss has to be a little like the Week 7 loss to the Steelers in 2004 that snapped the 21 game win streak. Obviously that was a better opponent and much longer streak, but that game was bad in every way - they mustered all of five rushing yards, gave up four sacks, fumbled 3 times and lost two of them, and Brady threw two picks. On other other side of the ball, they gave up 221 yards rushing, with Staley and The Bus running all over them.

That 2004 team needed the bubble to burst in order to move forward. I'm sure this team, and Belichick, would rather win than lose, but I wouldn't be surprised if Belichick views this game as a much needed reality check, rather than a sign of the team being fatally flawed.
Yeah I wrote this in the game goat thread, but this team wasn't very likely to win out all the way from 2-4 to 16-4 and SB champ. They're just not talented enough of a team to pull something like that off, especially with a rookie QB. In terms of the division and playoff race it was 100% better for them to lose prior to Buffalo, since that game is far more important for the playoff race.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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He seems like a guy who doesn't do anything without a purpose.

Apologizing for a press conference is so unusual that either it means he really did think he crossed a line or he is talking not to reporters here but to his team (and coaches).

(Narrator: DDB doesn't think BB thinks he crossed a line.)
 

Bergs

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He seems like a guy who doesn't do anything without a purpose.

Apologizing for a press conference is so unusual that either it means he really did think he crossed a line or he is talking not to reporters here but to his team (and coaches).

(Narrator: DDB doesn't think BB thinks he crossed a line.)
My theory (since nobody asked): BB is usually playing the part of the crusty dick, but he feels like he went beyond that (i.e., wasn't totally in control of himself), even if external appearances weren't especially different. In other words, he doesn't feel the need to apologize for intentionally being a bit of a dick, but does feel the need if he lost a bit of self-control and was actually being a dick.

Or not. WTF do I know?
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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My theory (since nobody asked): BB is usually playing the part of the crusty dick, but he feels like he went beyond that (i.e., wasn't totally in control of himself), even if external appearances weren't especially different. In other words, he doesn't feel the need to apologize for intentionally being a bit of a dick, but does feel the need if he lost a bit of self-control and was actually being a dick.

Or not. WTF do I know?
Yeah, it's hard to say one way or the other. The thing is that in the rest of the press conference today he was kind of his old pain in the ass crotchety self. Not much different actually.

He was a little more forthcoming. Like he actually answered a couple of questions grudgingly. But it really seemed there was no actual contrition and I doubt he really thought that contrition was appropriate or needed. Who knows. It was weird. I don't like when Bill is weird.
 

Eddie Jurak

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BB was far less ornery after this loss than last week's. Actually, he was not at all ornery, not even with the stupid question about New Year's resolutions.

A thought I had in considering both is that these 2 weeks have convinced BB that this team is not what he thought it was. He had some vision of taking this team on a playoff run, so the Indy loss surprised him and pissed him off and he showed it. This week, he wasn't surprised so his press conference manner was more one of dissappointment. Sort of a 5-stages thing where last week was denial and anger, this week depression and acceptance.

Or, he just knows he was a major d**k last week and didn't want to repeat the performance.
 

tims4wins

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BB was far less ornery after this loss than last week's. Actually, he was not at all ornery, not even with the stupid question about New Year's resolutions.

A thought I had in considering both is that these 2 weeks have convinced BB that this team is not what he thought it was. He had some vision of taking this team on a playoff run, so the Indy loss surprised him and pissed him off and he showed it. This week, he wasn't surprised so his press conference manner was more one of dissappointment. Sort of a 5-stages thing where last week was denial and anger, this week depression and acceptance.

Or, he just knows he was a major d**k last week and didn't want to repeat the performance.
This quote tells me he still likes this team

View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1475433665618452482
 

BaseballJones

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Assuming the Pats beat Jacksonville next week to get them to 10 wins, the game in Miami will be major, even if it doesn't affect their chances to make the playoffs. I think that if New England goes down to Miami - a traditional house of horrors even when the GOAT was playing for them - and wins in week 17, that will be HUGE for this team. Getting to 11-6 feels a lot different than 10-7. Getting to 11-6 winning your last two games, righting the ship after these last two losses, winning in Miami of all places...man that would feel so much better than going 10-7, losing AGAIN in Miami, and finishing the year 1-3.

I know Miami isn't exactly the '85 Bears but they give the Patriots problems, especially in Miami, so a really good performance there would speak volumes to me.

First things first though...gotta get through Jacksonville next week.

I think Belichick is right. It's too early to write the Pats 2021 story yet. It's not over.
 

lexrageorge

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BB was far less ornery after this loss than last week's. Actually, he was not at all ornery, not even with the stupid question about New Year's resolutions.

A thought I had in considering both is that these 2 weeks have convinced BB that this team is not what he thought it was. He had some vision of taking this team on a playoff run, so the Indy loss surprised him and pissed him off and he showed it. This week, he wasn't surprised so his press conference manner was more one of dissappointment. Sort of a 5-stages thing where last week was denial and anger, this week depression and acceptance.

Or, he just knows he was a major d**k last week and didn't want to repeat the performance.
Having had a chance to sleep on it:

The Colts game was winnable. The blocked punt/TD was 99% the fault of the kicking team. There was the play where Stevenson got tackled by Wynn. There were 2 awful false start penalties that cost valuable points. The defense missed tackles. It was a game where even marginally better execution would have made a difference. I'm sure the bad week of practice, acknowledged by multiple players, also had a role in Bill's mood that evening.

Yesterday, the Pats simply got beat. As bad as Miles Bryant was, the reality is that the Bills were simply better across the board. Josh Allen had an MVP-level performance, Diggs made some tough catches, and an unknown receiver stepped up and made plays. Meanwhile, the Bills defense disguised their coverages really well and made life miserable for Mac in the pocket. The Bills have a better roster, including a huge talent gap in the most important position on the field. Certainly better execution would have helped the Pats, but given the way the Bills played, the Pats would have needed a perfect game to win.
 
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tims4wins

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Assuming the Pats beat Jacksonville next week to get them to 10 wins, the game in Miami will be major, even if it doesn't affect their chances to make the playoffs. I think that if New England goes down to Miami - a traditional house of horrors even when the GOAT was playing for them - and wins in week 17, that will be HUGE for this team. Getting to 11-6 feels a lot different than 10-7. Getting to 11-6 winning your last two games, righting the ship after these last two losses, winning in Miami of all places...man that would feel so much better than going 10-7, losing AGAIN in Miami, and finishing the year 1-3.

I know Miami isn't exactly the '85 Bears but they give the Patriots problems, especially in Miami, so a really good performance there would speak volumes to me.

First things first though...gotta get through Jacksonville next week.

I think Belichick is right. It's too early to write the Pats 2021 story yet. It's not over.
Feel completely the same way.

Right now, we all feel like it’s 2019 all over again: the D was a mirage down the stretch and not enough skill position talent (primarily WR this year). But with two games to play, they have a chance to re-write the script. Almost regardless of what may happen in the playoffs, winning these next two would generate a lot of positive vibes for at least me personally.
 

BaseballJones

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Having had a chance to sleep on it:

The Colts game was winnable. The blocked punt/TD was 99% the fault of the kicking team. There was the play where Stevenson got tackled by Wynn. There were 2 awful false start penalties that cost valuable points. The defense missed tackles. It was a game where even marginally better execution would have made a difference. I'm sure the bad week of practice, acknowledged by multiple players, also had a role in Bill's mood that evening.

Yesterday, the Pats simply got beat. As bad as Miles Bryant was, the reality is that the Bills were simply better across the board. Josh Allen had an MVP-level performance, Diggs made some tough catches, and an unknown receiver stepped up and made plays. Meanwhile, the Bills defense disguised their coverages really well and made life miserable for Mac in the pocket. The Bills have a better roster, including a huge talent gap in the most important position on the field. Certainly better execution would have helped the Pats, but given the way the Bills played, the Pats would have needed a perfect game to win.
The Bills outplayed the Pats right from the opening play til the end. And yet....the Pats were one easy interception by the guy with the most interceptions in the NFL over the past few years (JC Jackson) away from quite possibly (likely?) winning that game. The Pats had just cut the lead to 26-21, the crowd was in a frenzy, and Buffalo had the ball at their own 25 with 7:37 left. First play, Allen overthrows Diggs and Jackson has it RIGHT IN HIS HANDS. And drops it. I don't know if he would have taken it to the house, but it would have been, at a minimum, New England ball at the Buffalo 33 or so with less than seven and a half minutes to go.

So yeah, as badly as Buffalo outplayed the Patriots, that game was still right there for the taking. So the Pats didn't need a perfect game. They basically needed JC Jackson to hold on to the football that was thrown right into his hands.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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You guys are really overselling how easy the JCJ pick was. It was such a bad throw, that it was way out of reach of Diggs and had JCJ twisting away from Diggs and towards the sideline. Should it have been a pick? Maybe. But he really contorted himself to get both hands on that ball.
 

Eddie Jurak

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You guys are really overselling how easy the JCJ pick was. It was such a bad throw, that it was way out of reach of Diggs and had JCJ twisting away from Diggs and towards the sideline. Should it have been a pick? Maybe. But he really contorted himself to get both hands on that ball.
I think it was an incredibly difficult pick, it would have been a great, highlight film play if he had made it. But sometimes in football, the way a star player will pick up his struggling team is by making a great highlight film play. JCJ had a chance but could not do it.
 

epraz

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In addition to what's mentioned above, Jackson's view of the ball was probably blocked by Diggs. That would've been a highlight reel catch for a receiver, let alone a DB.