For a lot of reasons.
–But mostly I’m thankful for personal reasons.
It’s as if I willed it into existence.
I had a deep philosophical discussion with my brother for over and hour on this subject.
And ask they keep the suffering coming for six more weeks (shudder).
–It’s astonishing that an offense can be so thoroughly inept in the modern NFL.
But inconceivable that it could look as bad as it did given they hadtwo weeksto prepare.
I mean, what did the coaches and players do with the extra time?
Get an early jump on their Black Friday shopping?
Catch up on that Classic Literature Reading List they started during Covid but ended up watchingTiger Kinginstead?
I owe a lot of people apologies.
I put all my anger and frustration with Mac Jones last season on him.
And what we gotten is even worse.
Appreciably worse, which I never believed was even remotely possible.
A simple out route by Mike Gesicki turns into a softball pitch from an Unlimited Arc rec league.
A basic comebacker by Douglas sails wide.
So the whole passing attack ends up being nothing but checks and WR screens.
–But then again, O’Brien may have had no choice.
Mac Jones is broken.
Panics at the first sign of trouble.
Because when Jones gets spooked, he gets trigger-happy.
He simply sauntered upfield on his seam route.
So that was bad play design, with no plan for handling a blitz-heavy defense.
Shook to his core.
A guy who can’t be trusted to make smart decisions with the ball.
A shell of the promising young Pro Bowler he was two years ago.
–Which is not to suggest I think Zappe is the answer to our prayers.
He’s never outplayed Jones.
But at the moment, he’s the QB1 by default.
The least bad option.
The lesser of two feebles.
–And there are people on this team who don’t deserve all this frustration.
Lost in all this is how well they’re playing defensively.
They’ve allowed 10 points in back-to-back games, both on the road, and lost them both.
Which hasn’t happened in the NFL in 30 years.
And Hyatt again beating Jackson on a 3rd & 15 Go route.
-Davon Godchaux saw more snaps at nose tackle than I can ever remember.
Christian Barmore continues his ascention, and is probably the best defensive player on the active roster right now.
–And it’s been especially rewarding to see Keion White develop.
Therefore, he might be cut down.
And because the Patriots are objectively a terrible team, they draw the objectively worst officiating crews.
How was this not flagged?
Did they legalize the Clothesline tackle when we weren’t paying attention?
I’m not complaining because I want Douglas back in the lineup.
It’s just that if we’re bagging the whole Player Safety is Our No.
–I should end by saying I’m grateful to you for reading this far.
And apologizing for ever believing this season would work out.
Thanks, and hey forgive me for being optimistic.
It won’t happen again.
