The Game Goat Thread: Wk. 18 at Miami

[SeoulSoxFan]

From Barmore's injury to Mac's pick six to Andrew's equipment malfunction to some horrible officiating, yet another horror show in Miami.

The injuries are the ones I'm most concerned with, however. We need everyone as healthy as possible going into the WC game.

Goats? I'll put it on the dropped INTs. The one dropped by McCourty hurt the most.

Off the playoffs we go.

 

[cshea]

Alex Kemp

fuck the dolphins in the ear with a rusty fork.

 

[NickEsasky]

This game was basically 2021-22 Pats loss BINGO. Dumb penalties, dropped INTs, gashed on the ground, awful Mac pick, phantom roughing penalty, and the inability to get a stop to get the ball back late in the game. The injuries are just the icing on the cake. This team just isn’t ready for prime time yet.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Gamethread whining about the officiating. Yes, there were some bad calls, but trying to find the tacky-tackiest infraction by Miami on every play overwhelms the legitimate pointing out of mistakes

 

[ShaneTrot]

Shoot Cam Achord into the sun. Our special teams are killing us.

 

[Euclis20]

Special teams penalties. Essentially created two extra possessions for Miami, might have mattered at the end. Mac was awful for 3 quarters but redeemed himself somewhat near the end.

Despite having an excellent kicker the Pats came into this week 21st in ST DVOA. They were 1st last year and will finish in the bottom half of the league for the first time since 1993. That's actually fairly remarkable, but only highlights the ugliness we've seen this year.

 

[cshea]

Gamethread whining about the officiating. Yes, there were some bad calls, but trying to find the tacky-tackiest infraction by Miami on every play overwhelms the legitimate pointing out of mistakes

I mean, the roughness call and the PI on Mills were pretty game changing regardless of anything Miami got away with.

 

[Arroyoyo]

-First Half Mac
-All of the linebackers
-BB the GM for WR roster construction
-Age. Because in some areas it’s showing on D (McCourty, Van Noy, Guy)

This may be the most oddly inconsistent Patriots team I’ve ever seen. They look lights-out some weeks, like a losing team other weeks. We need a youth and speed injection on both sides of the ball.

 

[j44thor]

Coaches, this team has just come out unprepared to start too many games, not sure if that falls entirely on the coaches or the captains but there is a troubling pattern with slow starts on both sides of the ball late in the season. Also Judon, for as good as he was to start the season he has been nearly equally as bad late in the season. Seems to lose contain and the edge regularly and yet hasn't sniffed the QB in about 6 weeks. He did have a couple TFL today but I'm fairly certain he was also to blame for a couple of Tua's scrambles and some big outside runs.

 

[E5 Yaz]

I mean, the roughness call and the PI on Mills were pretty game changing regardless of anything Miami got away with.

And what I said was that reactions to the legit bad calls gets overwhelmed by the childish whining about every perceived infraction

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Special teams penalties. Essentially created two extra possessions for Miami, might have mattered at the end. Mac was awful for 3 quarters but redeemed himself somewhat near the end.

Despite having an excellent kicker the Pats came into this week 21st in ST DVOA. They were 1st last year and will finish in the bottom half of the league for the first time since 1993. That's actually fairly remarkable, but only highlights the ugliness we've seen this year.

I think there may be a new ST coordinator next year. I agree with this take.

 

[Tim Salmon]

The coaching staff, for calling for the false start option on 4th and short.

 

[Captaincoop]

I never blame Belichick but not going for it at the end of the 1st half to put some points up was gutless and could have been the difference in the game.

Shout out to JoeJuan Williams as well, for his spectacular failure to stop Tua at the end, but also for going the extra mile and taking out Barmore as well.

And I'd love to know more about Andrews' equipment issue that effectively ended the game. "Hope you had a hell of a piss, Arnold!"

Kind of feel like we're headed for a quick mercy-killing in the playoffs.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Clearly the run D. Now they lose their best lineman. Not great.

 

[Just a bit outside]

1. BB for not going for it at the end of the first half and not going to the hurry up offense earlier.
2. The run defense
3. Mac for his 2 huge mistakes

 

[patinorange]

Mac made a couple of costly mistakes but came back. I think he is going to be fine. The run defense was pathetic. Can we get some catching drills for our defensive backs? And the special teams (except for Folk) sucked. Again.

 

[BaseballJones]

Mac gets a goat for the pick six and fumbled exchange (minimum of 10 points lost there), but he came back strong in the second half.
Run defense didn't play well at all. Duke Johnson killed them, and then Tua got key scrambles.
Mistakes galore, in all kinds of ways. Penalties. Turnovers. Bad decisions. Missed tackles. Dropped interceptions.

Frustrating game, as they so often are in Miami.

 

[ShaneTrot]

They basically allowed one of the worse offensive lines in the league to push them around. Duke Johnson is off the scrap heap and Tua threw for 109 yards. Miami runs a high school offense. How are they not prepared for that?

 

[Ralphwiggum]

BB has made a career out of constructing teams that don't beat themselves and let the other team make the critical mistake, but I feel like this team is just insistent on shooting itself in the foot over and over again. It's strange (and frustrating) to watch. This team doesn't have the GOAT at QB or enough talent on offense to continue to fall behind by double digits and expect to win.

So I'll give it to

-the coaching staff,
-Mac for the terrible pick-6 as well as generally looking like a rookie for most of the game until the end
-Run D for getting owned all game long by a team that has a shitty QB and one weapon on offense

 

[Jungleland]

Game is pretty much on the pick 6. And the Bolden call was legitimately really bad, one of the times all season I think you could make a case the outcome of the game may have changed because of the refs.

 

[E5 Yaz]

I go back to what was mentioned in the game thread. They need to find a way to get past this tendency to start off slowly.

 

[Euclis20]

Not so much a goat, but this whole team plays poorly in close games. The margin in their wins is +21.4, the margin in their losses is 7.8. I don't know if there's anything worth reading into that, though.

 

[heavyde050]

I go back to what was mentioned in the game thread. They need to find a way to get past this tendency to start off slowly.

Yeah, this pretty much sums it up for me. I mean the pick-6 is horrendous, but a team should be able to come back from that if it is one of the first plays of the game.

Edit - Goat are the coaches, players, or whomever is responsible for the drive killing and sustaining penalties at the worst time.

 

[Beomoose]

Special teams Continues to be maddeningly awful.
LBs got absolutely roasted too many times.
Protection was shaky at best most of the game.
Mac had some really nice passes, but not nice enough to bury a couple really braindead plays.
We're terrible playing from behind, especially on D. We're not getting turnovers or quick stops to put us back in, and struggle to get any kind of stop period.

And what I said was that reactions to the legit bad calls gets overwhelmed by the childish whining about every perceived infraction

If we're turning Game Goat threads into whinging about gamethreading: anyone who responds "well it wouldn't matter if they didn't suck today" when members are talking about really egregious, game-changing calls.

 

[Old Fart Tree]

Just an all around dogshit performance despite the comeback. Our Special Teams coach should absolutely be fired into the sun.

 

[Dim13]

The coaching staff, for calling for the false start option on 4th and short.

Oh man, this. Just a horrific call in retrospect and in real time. Points there would have been huge.

 

[Silverdude2167]

Not so much a goat, but this whole team plays poorly in close games. The margin in their wins is +21.4, the margin in their losses is 7.8. I don't know if there's anything worth reading into that, though.

Performance in one score games so s statistically random from year to year. So it portends good things for the future, but it feels like you can pick out single plays in most of the games as to why they lost. So in this case it might just be a team that makes too many mistakes.

 

[Cellar-Door]

If we're picking a player it's Mac, gave away a pick 6 and looked like the fumbled snap was mostly his fault

 

[DeadlySplitter]

Letting Barmore get seriously hurt… that’s the big loser .

 

[Eck'sSneakyCheese]

1-3 after the bye… Coaching gets most of the blame for that. The lack of calls for and the terrible ones against us have been maddening in the losses even beyond us playing shitty. The mistakes have been too frequent. I have a hard time pointing to any specific onfield thing as far as the goat goes. They came out unprepared. Again.

 

[lexrageorge]

The illegal formation on the punt coverage was a horrible look for the ST coaching staff.

Mac's 2 turnovers and the run defense cost the team the game.

Hope that Barmore is back OK next season, but he was one of the bright spots from this draft when they desperately needed some.

The roughness call on Bolden was yet another egregious blown call by the refs. First one was the push by Bolden on Josh Allen when Allen was still in bounds. Second one was the picked up flag.

 

[heavyde050]

If we're picking a player it's Mac, gave away a pick 6 and looked like the fumbled snap was mostly his fault

I mean the fumbled snap was with the backup center. Not sure it is fair to give that mostly to him. It just looked like a bad exchange. For sure the interception was awful and all him.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

I really just can’t understand the fourth down punt near the end of the second quarter. I have defended every one of their coaching 50/50 decisions but this one just does not compute for me.

Their run defense is such that they just do not get a lot of offensive drives each game against any team that has a decent run game. Four or five drives per half has been the norm and they had already started the game off with an 8 minute drive.

They got 9 offensive drives. Four in the second half. That was eminently foreseeable and exactly what you would expect. Overcoming a ten point deficit with four drives requires a lot to go right.

I just don’t see how you can give away a good possession there. Not when you are losing by 10. Possessions are just too valuable. Close game? Fine. Down two scores you need to make something happen. It was way too conservative.

If you can’t get a foot how are you going to come back?

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Just once I would like to see the Pats not commit a ton of self inflicted stupid mistakes. Lining up over the long snapper. A fumble on a snap. Not just going for it on 4th and 1. The defense actually making a stop at the end of the game.

They got themselves back into this one but honestly they look like a poorly coached team.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

I really just can’t understand the fourth down punt near the end of the second quarter. I have defended every one of their coaching 50/50 decisions but this one just does not compute for me.

Their run defense is such that they just do not get a lot of offensive drives each game against any team that has a decent run game. Four or five drives per half has been the norm and they had already started the game off with an 8 minute drive.

They got 9 offensive drives. Four in the second half. That was eminently foreseeable and exactly what you would expect. Overcoming a ten point deficit with four drives requires a lot to go right.

I just don’t see how you can give away a good possession there. Not when you are losing by 10. Possessions are just too valuable. Close game? Fine. Down two scores you need to make something happen. It was way too conservative.

If you can’t get a foot how are you going to come back?

Completely agree, especially since it was just a foot. You get that on a sneak at least 80% of the time.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

1. Mac Jones. 2 turnovers, unforced errors, all by himself. One a pick six because he both blew a read and made a poor throw.

2. The defense. There is a way to look at this game where the defense was not that bad. Of the 33 points Miami scored, 13 were scored against the offense. Another 3 came after the Jones fumble, though the D allowed a long drive leading to that FG. In any case, allowing 17 or 20 points is not terrible for a defense. But here is the problem. The Patriots D has had a number of late game situations this year where they needed a stop for the win or to get the ball back for the offense, and they have failed almost every time.

3. The offical who called a "no contact" unnecessary roughness penalty on Bolden. I don't usually hit the officials in the game goat thread, but come. fucking. on.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Completely agree, especially since it was just a foot. You get that on a sneak at least 80% of the time.

Just line it up and snap the fucking ball, all that nonsense about hard counts and motion was idiotic.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Please, call up Wilkerson to play instead of Harry in the WC game.

 

[BaseballJones]

Just line it up and snap the fucking ball, all that nonsense about hard counts and motion was idiotic.

It worked when the Bills did it to the Patriots. :-(

 

[E5 Yaz]

Just once I would like to see the Pats not commit a ton of self inflicted stupid mistakes. Lining up over the long snapper. A fumble on a snap. Not just going for it on 4th and 1. The defense actually making a stop at the end of the game.

They got themselves back into this one but honestly they look like a poorly coached team.

Is it poor coaching, though, or lack of discipline and concentration on the part of the players?

 

[8slim]

Mac — Can’t have two turnovers. Just can’t.
LBs — Slow. Also slow. And slow. Miami’s O didn’t score a ton of points,, but they had a 7 minute TOP advantage. We can’t get off the damn field and it’s on the LBs much of the time.
ST — Embarasing, and something catastrophic happens almost every week now.

 

[twibnotes]

Is it poor coaching, though, or lack of discipline and concentration on the part of the players?

Couldn’t you argue it’s on the coaches to instill discipline and concentration in the players?

 

[cornwalls@6]

Mac- terrible decision on the pick 6, fumbled snap was on him as well, I think. He’s looked more rookie like in recent weeks, like the game is speeding up on him. Still high on him overall, but he’s regressed a bit this past month.

Run D-just terrible today. Getting gashed again. Poor gap control, slow reads against the RPO, bad pursuit angles, and poor tackling. When they got steam rolled in an otherwise good win against Tennessee 5 weeks ago, I thought it was an anomaly. It’s clearly a big flaw. Hopefully not a fatal one next week.

Coaching- hated not going for the 4th and 1 before the half. Thought that was a potentially huge missed opportunity, and way too timid and conservative. And overall, for the 3rd time in 4 weeks, team coming out flat, and not looking ready to go. They’ve got a ton to clean up before next week, or they will be a quick out.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Couldn’t you argue it’s on the coaches to instilling discipline and concentration in the players?

I guess, but it's not though those are computer chips to plug in and activate. It's probably both

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Just line it up and snap the fucking ball, all that nonsense about hard counts and motion was idiotic.

Amen.

This is also supposed to be a team with a physical identity. Line up, hit the other guys in the mouth, and get a foot.

 

[lexrageorge]

There was literally no downside to going for it on that 4th-and-half a yard at the end of the 2nd. Yes, if failed, Miami would have had enough time for a FG. But that is not guaranteed, and Miami almost made it into FG range anyway. That was an utter coaching blunder to go with the hard count, which Miami was never going to fall for.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

There was literally no downside to going for it on that 4th-and-half a yard at the end of the 2nd. Yes, if failed, Miami would have had enough time for a FG. But that is not guaranteed, and Miami almost made it into FG range anyway. That was an utter coaching blunder to go with the hard count, which Miami was never going to fall for.

There’s definitely downside to going for it, if we are being fair, but their weighing of the upside v downside and the fact the Pats are great in shirt yardage spots was all fucked up. Far too risk averse in that spot.

 

[Justthetippett]

This game was basically 2021-22 Pats loss BINGO. Dumb penalties, dropped INTs, gashed on the ground, awful Mac pick, phantom roughing penalty, and the inability to get a stop to get the ball back late in the game. The injuries are just the icing on the cake. This team just isn’t ready for prime time yet.

This. They’re a year or two away, assuming some good development from Mac. Still going to enjoy the playoffs, and hope for one of their good performances when the bright lights are on.

 

[tims4wins]

This. They’re a year or two away, assuming some good development from Mac. Still going to enjoy the playoffs, and hope for one of their good performances when the bright lights are on.

I don’t understand what a year or two does to fix any of this except Mac. These other, mostly unforced errors, are not Patriot / BB football and they have been happening far too frequently this year.

 

[Justthetippett]

I don’t understand what a year or two does to fix any of this except Mac. These other, mostly unforced errors, are not Patriot / BB football and they have been happening far too frequently this year.

If Mac progresses some of their margins might not be as slim, the games might have more possessions, he wins a game or two we otherwise should have lost. The top QBs mask a lot of this stuff. But I agree it’ll take tightening up across the board to put them back in the upper echelon.