Before the game, the hype surrounding the Buccaneers and Patriots matchup made this the most anticipated regular-season contest in recent memory. The storylines, excerpts of the new book, interviews, the long tailgate, NBC, and ESPN shows onsite made the showdown on Sunday Night a must-see television event. Without Gronk making the trip, Tom Brady had the lone spotlight as he returned to New England. The pre-game warmups and entrance showed how the Patriots fans were conflicted with Brady loudly cheered as he ran out the tunnel and booed at the start of the first drive. Several fans wore customized Tom Brady jerseys and even a guy dressed in a costume as a goat.
A factor many ignored in their predictions was the weather. The rain fell on and off during the entire game. Scoring turned out to be a premium, especially in a low-scoring first half. As I predicted, both quarterbacks got hot in the second half, and the game was decided on Brady orchestrating a successful drive late in the 4th quarter leading to a field goal. However, the Patriots still had a chance, and Mac Jones led the team to the Tampa Bay 37-yard line. On 4th down, Bill Belichick decided to have Nick Folk kick the field goal. Folk hit the uprights with the kick, and Brady sealed the win by kneeling on the Gillette Stadium turf for once last time. In this article, we look at the five biggest takeaways from a Patriots perspective.
1. Was Field Goal the right decision? – the debate arising from the game was whether Bill Belichick made the correct decision to kick a 56-yard field goal in a monsoon or to trust his young quarterback and go for it on 4th and 3 with 59 seconds left. Bill defended his decision by stating the team went 2 of 9 on third down, and therefore a field goal was the best option. The analytics also supported the decision. According to ESPN Win Probability, the Patriots had a 42.2% chance to win using the field goal and only a 34.7% chance if he converted on 4th down. Despite the analytics, I preferred going for it on 4th down because of these four reasons: 1) Mac Jones had the Buccaneers’ defense reeling, 2) it would tie Nick Folk’s longest career field goal, 3) he would have to kick it in adverse weather conditions, and 4) if the field goal was good then it would leave too much time on the clock for Brady to score.
2. Mac Jones rose to the challenge-Mac started shaky in the 1st quarter by throwing a dangerous pass in tight coverage that led to an interception. However, from that point, Jones rose to the challenge. He completed the game going 31 for 40 passes, 275 yards, and two touchdowns. In one stretch, Jones completed 19 straight passes, and according to Elias Sports, it is the longest rookie streak in the past 40 years surpassing Russell Wilson/Mike Glennon’s 16 straight completions. It actually tied Tom Brady’s career-best completion streak in his 20 years with the Patriots. Jones was brilliant and stood in the pocket and delivered the ball despite the Buccaneers blitzing him all night long.
3. Josh McDaniels finally went into the bag of tricks-as I mentioned in the previews, Josh McDaniels was on the hot seat in terms of an unimaginative game plan week after week. It appears he was saving them for Sunday night. The first adjustment he made was to have Jones play in the shotgun and operate a no-huddle offense. Also, Josh brought the tricks by having Jacoby Myers make two gimmicky throws down the field which fooled the defense. Finally, he called a brilliant play-action fake throw to Jonnu Smith on the goal line for a touchdown when the heavy offensive line pointed to a predictable run play.
4. Belichick’s defense made it hard on Tom- many analysts and fans predicted a blowout victory for the Buccaneers. I felt people discounted Belichick’s ability to craft a defensive game plan and his knowledge of Tom Brady. Bill did a tremendous job of disguising coverage and forcing Brady to make quick decisions after the ball is snapped. If there is one play they will regret is giving up a 6-yard scramble late in the fourth quarter to the speed-less Tom Brady.
5. The patriots were sloppy again-the margin of defeat could have been worse if the Bucs took advantage of the two Patriots’ turnovers. The offensive line failed to give Jones sufficient time giving up four sacks for 25 yards compared to the one sack on Brady for 8 yards. The Patriots also lost the penalty battle 8 to 7 which cost them 77 yards to the Bucs 74 yards. One of the senseless penalties was Matthew Slater’s unsportsmanlike penalty when he ran out of bounds 30 yards without trying to come back in bounds, hitting the returner and forcing a fumble.
While there are no moral victories, the Patriots will need to pick the positives from this performance and fine-tune the details as they face a must-win in Houston on Sunday.