18 November, 2019
Tom Brady is less than
enthused about the New England Patriots' win over the Philadelphia Eagles on
Sunday evening.
Bill Belichick was
thrilled - as are all of the Brady detractors in the Boston-area media, but for
very different reasons. Many are trashing the certain Hall of Fame quarterback
for not only his performance against the Eagles, but for his dour attitude in both
his post-game presser and on his weekly radio show appearance on Monday
morning.
Belichick, the eternal
grouch, positively beamed as he stood on the podium following the game, joking
around about Julian Edelman's passer rating and discussing the merits of ice
cubes on sore shoulders after the receiver's scoring pass for the Patriots'
lone touchdown.
But Brady, the
glass-half-full, politically-correct optimist, slouched in his stylish parka at
the lectern, his beard bordering on standard depression trim and with
rummy-looking red eyes that translated his emotions without him having to utter
a word - which is what nearly happened anyway, as Brady uttered one sentence
replies to media questions.
The student, it appears,
has become the master.
At issue, is his apparent
displeasure with both the ultra-conservative play calling from offensive
coordinator Josh McDaniels and the pass catching weapons that he's been given
to mete out the aforementioned play calling.
Who really knows? Not me,
but I know that I was frustrated with the play calling on Sunday. I mean, how
many times can you call a screen play that the other team has sniffed out every
time before you realize that another plan of attack is needed? How many times
will you lose yardage on toss sweeps before you realize that the bad guys are
defending the edges like a pack of rabid badgers?
Those two things are
related, don't you know. The Eagles' defensive game plan was apparently to
ground New England's screen game, which meant dedicating resources to the edge,
which is why when the Patriots ran that toss sweep, there were plenty of green
shirts waiting for the runner.
The majority of Brady's
passes were sent outside of the hashes - again, where the Eagles were
concentrating. So it's no wonder that when Brady went over the middle, he found
guys open and hit on a decent play or two.
In the red zone offense,
the Patriots threw the ball on three consecutive plays when presented with a
goal line situation instead of trying to mix it up with a power run or two, and
ended up with a field goal. This also speaks to an apparent lack of trust in
the running game, when the only way to build that trust is by practical
application.
The thing that is really
baffling is why Brady was sent on bootleg rollouts to the right. Talk about
telegraphing. Brady has all the athleticism of a sloth, so putting him on the
run to the flat puts him and the entire offense at a distinct disadvantage, and
the Eagles know that. They know he isn't going to tuck the ball and run with
it.
They know that running to
the right hash reduces the space that his receivers have to operate in, and it
limits Brady's options. So the Eagles stuck with their assignments and covered
everything, knowing that there was only one thing that is going to happen once
Brady is out in space in the flat.
Sure, I get that they were
probably doing that to protect Brady against left tackle Marshall Newhouse's
turnstile act, but that's what's called being dictated to by the opposing
defense. And when that happens, seventeen points (or fewer) is what you get.
On the bright side and
illuminated by the rays of sunshine emanating from Belichick, the Patriots'
defense recovered nicely from a slow start, made their adjustments on the fly,
and shut down the Eagles' offense for three full quarters.
And Belichick should
be happy about that. And so should Brady.
But here's the thing: I
know from being a chef for more than three decades that there are times that
even when you create a successful dish, you can still be upset with the manner
in which it was produced, and want to make changes in the process. The result
will still be a phenomenal product, but you feel better about how efficiently
it was created.
Maybe that's what's going
on here. I don't know, but listening to Brady talk Sunday night and Monday
morning, that's the feeling I get when invariably reading between the lines. Of
course he likes the win, but he didn't care for the way they got it. Brady made
this very clear on his radio show appearance, saying that they need to figure
out how to generate more offense.
This is a departure for
Brady, as he rarely if ever calls out anyone in the organization, and is
usually upbeat and can find a silver lining in just about anything. His silver
lining in this scenario is also an indictment on the performance of the
offense, that is, his offense is now forced to ride the coattails of the
Patriots' excellent defense.
That's hard cheese for
Brady to swallow, as for most of his stellar career he and his offense has had
at least an equal stake in the team's overall success. But now he feels that
his offense is simply taking what the opposing defenses are giving them instead
of pressing the issue and forcing the defense to actually defend.
Being dictated to is the
exact opposite of being aggressive, and Brady has the offensive structure to be
aggressive, but the play calling is not allowing for that.
For years, McDaniels has
been built up as an offensive genius, solid play caller and is viewed around
the league as an attractive head coaching candidate with gonads the size of
coconuts – but something happened to him along the way, and Brady doesn't like it.
Those who have followed
this blog over the years know that I am hardly a fan of Josh McDaniels, and may
feel that my interpretation of Brady's disgust is influenced by it – and perhaps that
is true in small measure, but now it seems that when faced with problems,
McDaniels is folding like a cheap tent and allowing defensive coordinators to
dictate to him how his offense performs...
...and reducing Brady to
no more than a game manager, which is a level far below his pay grade and a
waste of such rich talent.
Get used to Brady being
demure and grouchy, because his countenance is not going to change until he is
allowed to be aggressive and take the game to the opposition. It may be that
Sunday's win over Philadelphia is just one of those anomalous instances where
McDaniels comes up with a stinker of a game plan.
It has happened before,
and the team usually rebounds the next game and McDaniels is back to being Boy
Wonder – but Brady's reaction to this particular game plan indicates that he feels
that it may not be one of those rarities, rather, that he sees no easy solution
or that his hands have been tied.
The Patriots have won
titles with less talent than they have now. They are getting as healthy as they
can be and are primed to run the table as far as Brady can take them – he just needs to
be turned loose and not tied down by conservative game planning and taking what
he wants and needs by force.
That is the Patriot Way,
after all.
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