Welp, that turnover pretty much seals it. Boy, that was one of the most frustrating games I think I've watched. I don't think anyone besides Mike Gillislee played particularly well.
End o' game reactions:
-Bill Belichick got absolutely outcoached. Former Jags' RB Maurice Jones Drew got some flak at the start of the week for saying that Andy Reid would win the coaching battle with Belichick, but he was absolutely right. After the second Patriots' touchdown, Reid started bumping Pats' receivers about 5 yards off the LoS, and the New England passing attack was largely shut down afterwards. Meanwhile, New England never adjusted to KC's pitch/toss running game, and Belichick didn't seem interested in adjusting his defense to account for it. On top of that, the two failed fourth downs were incredibly questionable. This game is probably going to be up there with the 4th & 2 game that just makes people question what Belichick was doing. Patriots were outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
-Brady looked bad, too. Consistently overthrew receivers, and got incredibly greedy with his throws towards the end of the game, going for home run passes that he hadn't hit all evening. Reminded me a lot of the end of Super Bowl XLII, where New England had a reasonable chance at a drive to get in position for a game tying Field Goal, but Brady just spend every down throwing deep to Randy Moss. Expect to see a lot of questions about Brady's age after this one.
-Fuck's sake the defense was just awful. Even if we're not taking Belichick's decision making into account, there were two huge blown plays in the secondary, and a ridiculous amount of missed tackles. The defensive line still isn't capable of generating any pressure, but the LBs played really poorly as well.
-Injuries galore will affect things going forward. Danny Amendola and Dont'a Hightower were knocked out of the game, which isn't going to make life any easier.
-Rob Gronkowski was a non-factor; no great way to say it, but he didn't look anything like the force he's been in years past. He needs to step up big time next week, especially considering how we've gone from the deepest receiving corps in the NFL to relatively thing in the span of three weeks.
