The New England Patriots lost a game on Sunday that it appears it should have won against the then 2-7 Houston Texans. Whenever that happens, there will be blame.
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Josh McDaniels’ Play Calling
For most of the season, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has pushed the right buttons with his playcalling. He’s leaned heavily on the run game, which is the reason the Patriots ranked at the top of the league in rushing yards per contest heading into the Week 11 battle with the Texans.
However, that tendency to look to the run and short passing game is being criticized, especially as we watch Cam Newton throw the ball more effectively down the field. CLNS’ Evan Lazar presents a few relevant passing statistics as well as a plea to McDaniels and the Patriots’ coaching staff concerning their offensive philosophy over the final six games of the season:
#Patriots QB Cam Newton on passes of 10+ air yards yesterday: 8-of-8, 207 yards (25.9 YPA), TD, perfect 158.3 passer rating. Let the man cook.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic offered specific criticism of McDaniels’ playcalling on a crucial Patriots drive in the fourth quarter that resulted in the team settling for a field goal when it needed to get into the end zone.
Howe wrote:
With Newton’s downfield accuracy and seven of those nine big throws coming in the second half, Josh McDaniels’ play-calling in a late sequence was even more perplexing. McDaniels called a run to White on second-and-19 and a screen to Meyers on third-and-17, which preceded the field goal that made it 24-20. Newton had plenty of success pushing it down the field and was also doing a solid job with check-downs at that point. McDaniels completely took that off the board with those two calls.
This was particularly puzzling considering the Patriots’ defense had yet to show the ability to stop Deshaun Watson and a battered Texans offense. More on that in a second.
Team’s Inability to Pick Up the Blitz
The other major issue on the offensive side of the ball for the Patriots was the team’s inability to pick up the blitz. Newton had fits with the Texans’ blazing-fast safeties coming at him off the edge. Whose responsibility is it to call out these free runners and to account for them?
That’s unclear, but what is clear is that McDaniels and the team’s offensive line coach Cole Popovich, who replaced the legendary Dante Scarnecchia, has to find a way to ensure center David Andrews and Newton are equipped to see and adjust.
That’s not happening at this point.
Bill Belichick’s Defensive Gameplan Against Deshaun Watson
There is always some hesitation to criticize Bill Belichick. His resume speaks for itself, but unfortunately, his failures do as well. Belichick gets all the credit in the world when his defenses perform well, so it’s only fair he takes some heat when that unit falters as it did on Sunday.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss dropped some gems in his recent notes on the loss to the Texans calling out Belichick’s overcompensation to contain Watson’s athleticism.
Cleaning out the Patriots notebook…
No matter who is at fault, the Patriots have six weeks to prove the issues are fixed and there is almost no room for error if the team wants to play in the postseason.
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2 Patriots Coaches Taking Major Heat For Sunday’s Loss