The Patriots aren’t good enough to be secretive about their QB situation, and other final thoughts

Patriots

How much good does keeping the starting quarterback a secret do for a 2-9 football team?

Bill Belichick AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Commentary

  • What Bill Belichick said about the Patriots’ QB situation following loss to Giants

  • Demario Douglas exits Patriots-Giants game early with head injury

Brutal. Absolutely brutal.

How else does one describe seeing the Patriots lose a 10-7 game against the Giants on a missed 35-yard field-goal attempt?

The Patriots couldn’t trust either Bailey Zappe or Mac Jones to move the ball effectively in a clutch situation trailing by three late in the fourth quarter.

So, they played it safe. They handed the ball off five times on the final 10-play, 33-yard drive. They had Zappe limit his throws to short attempts. And they hoped that their rookie kicker Chad Ryland would nail his only field-goal attempt of the day.

Ryland’s kick sailed wide left of the goalpost and missed the mark.

“I’ll own that and I’ll take responsibility for that every day of the week,” Ryland told reporters after the game. “Protection was good, snap was good, hold was good. I’ve got to do a better job of making that kick.”

The Patriots held Saquon Barkley to 46 yards and sacked Tommy DeVito six times and still went home with the loss.

Here are a few final thoughts from the action.

If you’re going to lose, at least be transparent about the decision-making.

Where is the accountability from Bill Belichick? This team is one of the worst in the NFL, and he’s calling at least a significant portion of the shots.

The way he continues to handle the quarterback situation is laughable. Belichick declined to name a starter throughout the week, telling reporters over and over again that he told all of the players to be ready to play.

Well, none of the quarterbacks looked ready to play. Mac Jones was benched for a fourth time after throwing two terrible interceptions in the first half. Bailey Zappe threw an interception and averaged 3.9 yards per attempt.

The Patriots averaged more yards handing the ball off to both Rhamondre Stevenson (4.7 yards per carry) and Ezekiel Elliott (5.1 yards per carry) than they did throwing the ball with either quarterback.

After the game, Belichick was asked when he informed the players who would start at quarterback would be.

“Ummm,” Belichick said with a pause and a shrug. “Yeah, I can’t remember. Sometime during the week.”

Seriously? How hard is it to just tell people who the starting quarterback of your 2-9 football team is? What competitive advantage does keeping it a secret provide? How does any of this help Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe prepare to win a game?

Is it really worth all the trouble when you can’t even put up 10 points on the 4-8 Giants who are giving up an average of 25.9 points per game?

Jabrill Peppers said no-call on Demario Douglas hit is a joke.

Demario Douglas left the game with a head injury on a punt return.

New York’s Cam Brown was not flagged for the hit, and New England safety Jabrill Peppers was not happy about it.

“It’s just crazy,” Peppers said. “They preach all of this player safety stuff, but that doesn’t get flagged. But I’ve been fined maybe two or three times for clean hits. So that pissed me off too.”

“They even looked up at the jumbotron and there was still no flag,” Peppers continued. “But you can’t say anything about the refs in this league. It is what it is. To me, that’s a joke. You can’t say you care about player safety and not flag that play.”

At least the Patriots helped their draft chances.

There are six games left, and the Patriots have clinched their second-straight losing season.

Even if they win the rest of their games, the best the Patriots’ record would be is 8-9. But, with four of the six teams left on New England’s schedule sitting at .500 or better, that’s unlikely.

Each loss inches New England closer to a premium position in the upcoming draft. At 2-9, the Patriots are neck-and-neck with the Cardinals for the No. 2 spot. Only Carolina, which traded its pick to Chicago, has a worse record than New England.

The Patriots are still in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick, and the closer they get to it, the better off the franchise will be. Beating the Giants certainly helped that cause.

Nick Folk is making 95.5 percent of his field-goal attempts.

Remember Nick Folk, whom the Patriots traded to the Titans for a seventh-round pick?

He’s 21-for-22 on field-goal attempts this season. He’s 8-for-8 on kicks between 30-39 yards. His only miss was from 50+ yards. He’s also a perfect 15-for-15 on extra-point attempts.

Obviously, Ryland’s miss was a brutal one. He took accountability for it. It’s his job to nail that kick when the team is counting on him.

But, he never should have been in that position. The Patriots’ offense underperformed yet again and it led to a miserable finish in East Rutherford.