The Bill O’Brien Victory Lap
When the Patriots made a decision to move on from the Matt Patricia experiment most thought the logical choice was Bill O’Brien. I never liked the idea and i’ve been very consistent that he would not help Mac Jones. Through 11 weeks, I could not have been more right. Sure, he didn’t pick the players or even mac the decisions to go for it on 3rd or 4th down. But he has not helped Jones. He has ruined Bailey Zappe by not believing in him and the offense is the worst in the NFL. Who could have imagined it was worst than last year?
I will give O’Brien some credit, he has taken full responsibility for the offense this season. The accountability he has taken I admire since Bill Belichick has not. But, I hate to say I told you so on O’Brien.
New England ranks 28th in yards per play (4.7) and 25th in total yards per game (293.5) with an average of 13.4points per game. O’Brien was brought in based off his success at Alabama with Bryce Young. He was never with Jones at Alabama despite running a similar offense. Young and Jones are completely different players. I never thought it would work for that reason and our last impression of O’Brien in the NFL. He traded a star receiving for a running back? He had Deshaun Watson as he QB which attributed to any real success. Alabama average 40 points per game in 2022 but the fans were not happy with his play calls. They went 12 personnel plenty of times and his inconsistency around the goal line was a major problem. He had the Heisman trophy winner and went to a National Championship and couldn’t win. He also never won a championship with Tom Brady. Yet, was supposed to come in and help Mac Jones?
I’l leave you with one last thing on O’Brien. Check out this video of a kid who got the coaches autograph and the other brother got utter disappointment.
