Bill Belichick and Patriots coaching staff make curious decisions in loss to Bills

Along with Cam Newton’s fumble, and several costly penalties, the Patriots had another issue that was difficult to overcome during the Bills loss — a few head-scratchers for coaching decisions.

Josh McDaniels’ offensive play-calling was conservative to a fault during the 24-21 loss, especially in the first half.

Sure, he was dealing with an offense that didn’t have Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and was forced to go with just one tight end, with both Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene out, but all the runs on second-and-long, and third-and-long plays?

What was up with that?

Did McDaniels and Patriots coach Bill Belichick not trust the offense, or specifically not trust Newton with the game and perhaps season, on the line?

It sure looked that way.

Most glaring was surrendering the chance for a possible touchdown at the end of the second quarter. Belichick sent the field goal unit on the field instead of going for a third-and-one from the 15, with 12 seconds to play before the half.

At the very least, the Patriots had a shot at the end zone. They could have given Newton one more try for the touchdown with that amount of time on the clock, and no timeouts.

But no, Folk was sent out for a 33-yard-field goal attempt, which he made to draw the Patriots to within one at 7-6 before the half.

Was Belichick thinking back to Week 4 against Kansas City during a similar situation, when Brian Hoyer took a sack with time expiring before the half, essentially nullifying any chance for three points?

Belichick didn’t cite the mishaps in the loss to the Chiefs as an excuse. He claimed taking a shot in the end zone was a “low percentage play,” and therefore didn’t risk it.

Newton’s reaction?

When asked if he was surprised he didn’t get one more shot at the end zone before the half, the quarterback replied: “No, sir.”

Belichick also indicated after the game that the blustery weather conditions didn’t influence play-calling.

And if any of those conservative calls were a bit mystifying, perhaps what happened late in the third quarter was the capper to a day of curious decision-making.

After tying the game at 14-14 with 3:03 left in the quarter, and momentum on the Patriots side with the offense finally rolling, Belichick opted to try an onside kick.

In this instance, did the Patriots head coach not trust his defense — which was having difficulty with the Bills running game — to make a stop? Because that seemed to be the message behind the ill-fated onside attempt.

The Bills easily recovered, giving themselves a short field, starting on the Patriots 45-yard-line.

Five plays later, they scored.

What was Belichick’s thinking?

“We were trying to make a positive play,” he said.

On NBC’s broadcast before the late NFL game, Patriots Hall of Fame safety Rodney Harrison did a little second-guessing of his former coach with that call.

“Once the Patriots tied the game, and got the two-point conversation, what the heck was coach Belichick doing on the onside kick?” said Harrison. “I just didn’t understand why he would do an onside kick there, and give the advantage back to the (Bills) offense. I didn’t understand it. Maybe he just didn’t trust his defense.”

As for the players, they didn’t point any fingers back on the coaching staff. They deferred to Belichick on the decision for an onside kick.

“That’s a coach Bill question,” said Damien Harris, who rushed for 102 yards to help the Patriots make the game close. “I have nothing to do with that.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2TJgdfh