Oh, I totally agree that Cam was terrible last year. I mean, basically as bad as Brady was in 2019, but looked worse doing it, and with less leadership and clutch play.
But that means that to go 7-9, the roster couldn't be quite as terrible as it was made out to be, especially considering the opt-outs
Sure. Last year was what it was - a big step back because they had to adjust to the loss of the GOAT QB, plus had to pay the piper for all the deferred cap hits (which they were right to defer, as they were trying to make the most of the remaining TFB window) even under the best circumstances, and those circumstances got pretty sub-optimal with all the opt-outs and no preseason.
The player's on one hand, and the coach's on the other. Because a coach's job isn't just game planning and play calling. It's player development, and working with the player to get the absolute most possible out of his talent.
It's like this. The coaches get all credit for gameplanning (well, players can get credit for their strenghts and talents in particular areas making some types of game plans possible) and some credit for execution as well - running crisp practices and player development. The converse is also true.
No.
No
Yes. It was a totally defensible play call, and I would call it good.
I never said it was a bad call. He traded some probability of success for the element of surprise. Defensible, probably less defensible against a Belichick-coached team.
The missing piece, though:
Do great coaches help make great players great? Do they put players in a better position to be better executors, and to leverage their strengths and hide their weaknesses?
You actually do hear blame go to the coaches when there is poor execution: That's a badly coached/undisciplined team. Right? When teams are racking up penalties? When they don't seem to have an understanding of the situation? When they are turning the ball over and making unforced errors? Especially when it isn't a single player or occurrence, but multiple players in a pattern over multiple games? You don't hear blame go to the coaches?
The GM primarily, and the coach for not clearly communicating his needs and uses for the players, and/or for not coaching them well. And the players for not being good enough/taking coaching well.
GM, assuming it's purely money - meaning structure of contracts, future cap planning, etc. But probably a combination of GM and coach's communication.
In Bill's case, he is the GM and coach. There can be player fault, certainly, but it falls on him. Has that happened? The worst I've seen for a team that he really "owned" was a single year barely below .500...
Um...Chung, HT, Cannon and LaCosse were all presumptive starters. One is the heart and soul of the defense. One retired following 2020. One we traded for value. One we spent through the nose to make sure we didn't need to rely on this year. And Brandon Bolden is a valuable member of the team, as well.
2nd most opt-outs in the NFL was 5. Only 2 teams had more than 3. The Patriots had 8. Put another way, out of all the opt-outs in the NFL, just shy of one out of every 8 was a Patriot. Or nearly 4x the league average. To make matters worse, HT and Chung both specialize in hardening the run D. Shockingly, that was the single biggest weakness last year.
It was a massive deal, and one that planning couldn't account for.
Separate question:
Would all those players have opted out if TFB had stayed? Probably not. But with the perfect storm of all those things - Brady leaving, the cap hit, the opt-outs, no preseason for a new QB who wasn't a system fit anyway...
...they were still just a game short of .500.
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