Getty New England Patriots, Bill Belichick
The New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings had an entertaining battle on Thanksgiving night. The Vikings prevailed 33-26 in a game the Patriots had several chances to win. After the final ticks ran off the clock, a post-game exchange between Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Minnesota star receiver Adam Thielen was less-than-friendly.
Mike Cole of NESN caught this icy shoulder bump between the two men:
I guess Adam Thielen and Bill Belichick haven’t made up.
It seemed clear Belichick wanted no part of a friendly handshake or even much eye contact with Thielen. What’s the issue between these two? It might date back to an exchange of words the two had back in December 2018 when Belichick appeared to tell Thielen to “shut the f*** up.”
Take a look at the video in the tweet below from Mostly Football:
Omg Bill Belichick just hit Adam Thielen with a STFU 😂
You won’t find many instances when a player gets under Belichick’s skin enough to cause a reaction publicly. As Cole suggested, perhaps Belichick and Thielen still haven’t made up, and the former was probably even more irritated after his team dropped the game on Thanksgiving, snapping their three-game win streak.
Patriots Stars From Thanksgiving
Mac Jones
Yes, the offense stalled a bit in the second half, but Mac Jones had his best game of the season. Jones didn’t just stay away from turnovers; he also threw for a career-best 382 yards to go with 2 TD passes.
Jones took three sacks, though not all of them were his fault. In any case, he played well enough for the Patriots to win if they had been a little better in other phases of the game.
Rhamondre Stevenson
The Patriots’ top running back didn’t go wild on the ground as he rushed for a modest 36 yards on just seven carries, which came to an impressive 5.1 yards per rush. Stevenson did have a team-high nine receptions for 76 yards. His breakout season continues to look more impressive, but you have to wonder if New England abandoned the run game too early.
Devante Parker
Parker caught all four passes thrown his way en route to an 80-yard performance. While he didn’t find the end zone, he was a big-play threat the entire game.
Patriots Duds From Thanksgiving
Trent Brown
The Patriots’ huge O-lineman didn’t have his best night. On a crucial play in the fourth quarter with the Patriots trailing 33-27, Brown inexplicably tried a cut block on the Vikings’ Danielle Hunter.
Needless to say, it didn’t work, and Jones was sacked. The play tanked what could have been the game-tying drive and nearly got Jones injured.
Special Teams
Usually, New England’s special teams’ play is solid. While kicker nick Folk did his best to ensure the Patriots got points on their mostly failed red zone visits, the coverage team let Belichick down. This was never more apparent than on Kene Nwangwu’s 97-yard kickoff return for a TD in the third quarter.
The Patriots had seized momentum with a strong drive to open the second half, but the big kick return snatched it back for the Vikings.
Jalen Mills
Things didn’t go well for Mills on Thanksgiving. The Vikings seemed to find him in coverage throughout the night, and he was victimized on Minnesota’s go-ahead TD pass to Thielen.