We have officially fallen on black days here in New England. The momentum generated by what we thought was a convincing victory over the Bills at home two weeks ago lasted a little less than halfway through the first quarter of Sunday’s matchup with the Miami Dolphins. With 1:48 left in the half, and within striking distance of a game tying touchdown, Mac Jones threw an absolutely backbreaking interception directly to fresh-off-an-injury Jalen Ramsey. This unforced error killed an 8-play, 52-yard drive that saw the Patriots moving methodically down the field and into the red zone, seemingly unperturbed by Miami’s go-go offensive thrust that had put them up by 7 points. If the intended target, Kendrick Bourne, had caught it, he would have most certainly run it in for a touchdown. Instead, Ramsey came sweeping in out of a disguised coverage on DeVante Parker to snatch the ball directly out of Bourne’s hands.
We will put aside, for the moment, the question of whether or not Jones should have been fooled by the Dolphins’ defensive feint of pretending that they were assigning their best cornerback to cover the Patriots worst receiver. Like so many times this season, Patriots fans watched all the promise of an evenly fought match dissipate with one horrible decision at the absolute worst possible time. This has been happening to Jones all year, with alarming regularity. At the post-game press conference, he said that he did not misread the coverage, that he knew Bourne was the one Ramsey was actually covering, but that he threw it anyway because, “that’s just what happens on that play, the guy either takes it and it’s a touchdown, or the guy falls off and nothing happened.” We’re not sure what he meant by, “the guy falls off and nothing happened,” but there is a third possibility that Jones did not mention, and it’s the one that actually occurred – the nearest defender makes a play and you get picked off.
It was a dramatic return to form for both Ramsey and Jones.
These are the disguises you have to know, as a quarterback. If Jones did recognize the coverage, as he claims, then the obvious question is: why make the throw? Ramsey is one of the best cornerbacks in the league and Kendrick Bourne – as much as we love him and want him to stay for the rebuild – is simply not Justin Jefferson. The answer is that Jones has still not learned when to throw the ball away. This is something Brady knew instinctively, which is why it is so frustrating for us and all of the fans. After years of watching Brady’s rhythm, instincts, and decision making process, we have a fairly good sense of what choices he was likely to make in a given situation. He was a very patient, common sense quarterback.
No one truly plays like Brady anymore, and it’s not reasonable or fair to expect any future quarterback to do so. Still, learning when to throw the ball away rather than take a sack or throw a pick is not something that only GOATs can do. This is a fundamental quarterbacking skill that should be one of the primary developmental goals of every serious high school coach in the country. Instincts can, to some degree, be developed. The fact that Jones made it through Alabama – and even won a championship – without needing to figure this out is a testament to his accuracy, his underrated throwing prowess, and the tools available to him in Nick Saban’s program. It also means that perhaps he should not have been considered as “pro ready” as all the analysts (and, indeed, Saban himself) claimed that he was. After the victory over the Bills, the loss to the Dolphins brought the Patriots brutally down to earth, reminding them of just how far their offense has to go to truly compete. The task has never felt more enormous. Black days, indeed.
But, on Monday morning, a sliver of hope…a possible ray of light to potentially wash away the rain, broke through the clouds from none other than Bill Belichick himself. During his weekly, Monday base-touching with Boston’s WEEI radio station, Coach Belichick discussed his duties and the way in which they are becoming more circumscribed. He said, “you can’t be a full-time personnel person and a full-time coach. That’s impossible.” He then discussed his relationship with the “personnel people,” and described a relationship in which he was largely removed from the decision-making process (“if we need something on the coaching end, we make the personnel department aware of that”). https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/everything-bill-belichick-said-looming-trade-deadline-patriots/#
The implication of the entire piece was that the Patriots had concluded that Belichick could run personnel or coaching – and he had clearly chosen coaching. Whether it was chosen for him or it was a mutual decision is not really of interest to us. The only thing that concerns us is that all of Belichick’s energy and focus is on doing what he does best. This is good news. Next, Kraft has to shell out for an offensive specialist at GM. Clearly Belichick doesn’t mind the change.
Stop faking, and get it right. That would be the first step of a true rebuild.