Watch: Why Mac Jones is “infuriating” Patriots coaches
According to Bert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Mac Jones is “infuriating” members of the Patriots coaching staff with his decision-making. Breer mentioned this earlier in the week during an appearance on NBC Sports Boston and we discussed it on Felger & Mazz on Wednesday.
And there was one play in particular that seemed to stick out.
Early in the second half of the Patriots’ eventual 20-17 loss to the Washington Commanders, the Patriots advanced to midfield, where they faced a first-and-10. This is the play that both Greg Bedard (on “Big Boy Tuesday”) and, later, Breer, would reference. We’ve attached two versions of it here on the all-22 video, the first of which contains spotlight on both Gesicki and Jones, the second of which is slowed down so that you can witness how the play developed and the area Jones was targeting.
Here’s the play:
If we examine this play more thoroughly, we can why Mac Jones’ decision was, again, “infuriating” to Patriots coaches.
Now, a couple of things here: as we discussed on the show, Jones does a good job of identifying the soft spot in the Washington defense. which is down the offensive right hash. Shortly after the snap, Gesicki beats his defender and has nothing but open space in front of him. As long as Jones delivers the ball over the top of the defender at the right time, the worst outcome would be an incompletion. The best outcome? A touchdown, though it’s impossible to know if Gesicki would have beaten the defenders all the way down the field. Regardless it would have been a sizable gain.
SO what happened? Good question. Jones may have been flustered by a potential rush, but the replays suggest he had enough time to throw. Regardless, he ends up scrambling from the pocket and gain only three yards when the Patriots might have had considerably more.
For what’s worth, the Patriots ended up with a field goal and took a 17-10 lead. Those would prove to be their final points of the game. A touchdown on this drive would have given the Pats a 21-10 advantage and might have produced a win which would have dramatically changed some of the narrative surrounding the team this week.
You can listen to the segment where we discussed the play here.
Mazz: Is Tua now one of Bill Belichick's greatest adversaries?
At this point, it’s fair to wonder: is Tua Tagovailoa now one of Bill Belichick’s greatest adversaries?
With Sunday’s 31-17 win over the Patriots, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is now 6-0 in his career against Belichick, which is obviously no small feat. And while Tagovailoa has not played opposite Tom Brady during that stretch, the feat is nonetheless noteworthy given the stranglehold Belichick generally has had on opposing quarterbacks during a career in which he has established himself as one of the greatest defensive minds of all-time.
Here’s the other thing: let’s not ignore the pieces around Tagovailoa, including progressive head coach Mike McDaniel (3-1 against Belichick, 3-0 with Tua as his starter) and dynamic wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who has been a thorn in Belichick side for two teams – Kansas City and Miami both. In fact, with Hill on the roster, Tagovailoa’s last three games against Belichick have produced a 99.6 quarterback rating, which would place him near the top of Belichick opponents during the coach’s time in New England.
Among the other quarterbacks who have succeeded against Belichick, assuming a minimum of 100 passes thrown (roughly three games minimum) during the coach’s time in New England? Russell Wilson (131.0), Alex Smith (116.3), Drew Brees (116.1), Patrick Mahomes (104.6) and Deshaun Watson (102.1).
Those names, of course, exclude Belichick’s adversaries at other positions, including coach. (It is worth nothing that, with the exception of Watson, all of the above quarterbacks had head coaches who have won Super Bowls.) Still, there are a great many have matched wits with Belichick over the years – and in a variety of roles – and we offer up five of them here.
Tony Massarotti is the co-host of the number 1 afternoon-drive show, Felger & Mazz, on 98.5 The Sports Hub. He is a lifelong Bostonian who has been covering sports in Boston for the last 20 years. Tony worked for the Boston Herald from 1989-2008. He has been twice voted by his peers as the Massachusetts sportswriter of the year (2000, 2008) and has authored five books, including the New York times best-selling memoirs of David Ortiz, entitled “Big Papi.” A graduate of Waltham High School and Tufts University, he lives in the Boston area with his wife, Natalie, and their two sons. Tony is also the host of The Baseball Hour, which airs Monday to Friday 6pm-7pm right before most Red Sox games from April through October. The Baseball Hour offers a full inside look at the Boston Red Sox, the AL East, and all top stories from around the MLB (Major League Baseball).