In a game where Bill Belichick could surpass George Halas as the second winningest coach in NFL History, he seemingly botched his team in the process. When Mac Jones threw his sixth interception of the season last night and was pulled in lieu of Bailey Zappe many believe it was due to the short leash that Jones was given. Waking up on Tuesday morning many Patriots fans are waking to the news that Bill Belichick botched this quarterback situation.
Bill Belichick Post Game
Belichick in his post game press conference gave no indication who the starter will be moving forward. Along with that he said the game plan heading into the Monday night matchup was to play both Jones and Zappe. Not only is this an asinine thought process but this does not benefit the team.
Bill Belichick responded "that's not what it was" when asked if Mac Jones was benched due to performance pic.twitter.com/jyyUUFktQa
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) October 25, 2022
If Jones truly was healthy enough to play then why was he on a “snap count” as bland as Belichick describes it. Besides that he was healthy enough to play but not healthy enough to play the full sixty minutes then why was it not Bailey Zappe under center from the start. The issue here is a lack of continuity between the coaching staff and the team.
Bill Belichick doesn't want to get into 'hypothetical questions' on if Mac Jones will be the starting QB when healthy 🤔 pic.twitter.com/wnZWerG7o0
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) October 25, 2022
Players Reactions
According to Mark Daniels’ report on Mass Live , players had no clue that the plan was to play both Jones and Zappe.
Rhamondre Stevenson was quoted saying “No. We weren’t aware,” when asked about the rotation with the quarterbacks.
Jakobi Meyers said “Not necessarily, I would say it’s a shock, but we don’t really have time to focus on it too much. The bullets were already flying by the time we realized it. You have to go out there and keep making plays.”
"It's tough to see somebody who worked so hard get that kind of treatment" 👀
Jakobi Meyers on the Patriots QB situation pic.twitter.com/IP9rpJZxd7
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) October 25, 2022
So Belichick is quoted as saying he informed the quarterbacks and team leaders about the decision but then how are your starting running back and number one target receiver unaware of the situation. Also with regards to the running backs, they have to be aware when they are in pass protection so how could they be unaware of who they were blocking for.
In all fairness to Matt Patricia as well, if the reports are true, found out Sunday that both quarterbacks would be playing. So Patricia had to create two different game plans to cater to the two different skill sets that Jones and Zappe possessed. Unfortunately, this was the case for an offensive line coach who is the DeFacto Offensive Coordinator. So this problem cannot be thrust upon a first time play caller, who honestly isn’t so great at calling plays.
Pass protection and offensive line play was a huge issue last night and I know it is not all Patricia’s fault but three penalties on the first two series by your left tackle is difficult to come back from, especially when two of the penalties took you from third and short to third and long.
Patriots Overlooked The Bears
Belichick clearly treated last night’s game like a pre-season game and regardless of the Mac or Zappe debate neither could perform last night. Jones couldn’t find an open receiver and Zappe got lucky on his two big throws. Zappe was bailed out by an excellent effort by Jakobi Meyers after Zappe almost missed him wide open. DeVante Parker bailed Zappe out on the 43 yard deep ball when he went up above two Bears defenders to pull down the pass.
Even though the Patriots defense didn’t show up last night it seemed like the entire team had circle the Bears game as a win and completely overlook their opponent.
Either way Belichick created this whole mess by not sticking with one or the other last night. Zappe should’ve played the entire game if the plan was to split snaps. Even though Zappe showed he’s fallen back down to earth the smarter plan would’ve been just playing him. Now in doing so you have the fans calling for Mac’s head and the “Zappe Fever” people looking as dumb as ever.