Even if nobody asked…..(Patriots edition)
1. Kraft hired a guy who had neither the resume nor the experience to succeed in the role as an NFL head coach. Doesn’t make that coach a bad guy or someone a fan wouldn’t cheer for (I did), but it did make him someone that needed to be replaced, sad to say.
2. The New England Patriots have been near dead-last in payroll spending and rated very poorly in player evaluation surveys for years now. Ownership has lived off the asset value of the franchise and a collection of Lombardi’s. They have NOT been good owners to work with or for in a long time. Does that change now that rock bottom has been achieved?
3. The decision to remove Belichick was the right one. The choice in how to replace him was NOT.
4. The Bills tanked the game Sunday. As a team in their position, tanking is resting for the playoffs and is much easier to pull off than throwing a game for a draft pick.
5. The Patriots held the #1 pick for one week of the 18-week NFL season. In most forecasts they had between a 15% and 20% chance for the top overall pick. Those odds played-out. They never were really the rightful heir to the #1 pick, but it would have been nice, for sure.
6. Firing Wolf yesterday would have minimized the accountability of the coaching staff by suggesting it was a GM issue too. Wolf can be dealt with another day.
7. Good thing the Jets won yesterday, or the Pats W would have resulted in a more difficult schedule next season, trading last place opponents with 3rd place opponents. Thank you Jets!
8. The roster is a LONG way from being competitive (thanks Bill) and no new set of coaching brainiacs will make this suddenly an overnight success.
9. Players running their mouths and coaches saying one thing and doing another are an indictment of leadership. Bill did a GREAT job in this regard and my greatest worry with a “players coach” (Mayo) was this would be lost. And it was.
10. Address the OL problem in free agency instead of drafted rookies. Use the draft to take the best talent you can find, priority on play-makers, WR’s and DE’s.
OK, done.