Giardi: The Patriots have no one to blame but themselves; Bourne tore ACL

The morning after…

This will be a regular feature, where I pick through some of the game that I didn't write on Sunday or briefly touched. 

Less than 24 hours removed from the Patriots' 31-17 loss to the Dolphins, and already the bellyaching about the officiating is making me nauseous. Every amateur referee on X (formerly Twitter) is quoting the rules and breaking down each time the Pats were unfairly penalized or the Fins were allowed to get off scot-free. I understand the frustration. Hell, I wrote a paragraph about it postgame, and if you know me, you know how I hate to focus on something neither team can control. Maybe it would have made a difference for the Pats and allowed them to rally to beat their division rival. Butterfly effect and all that. But more likely than not, Miami would have overcome those calls because - wait for it - they're so much more talented than you. Stop with the losers' lament.  

Sunday's game was another in a long line of examples over the last few years (i.e., Post-Brady) of the difference between you and the teams with real postseason aspirations. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, when playing teams that finished the year with a winning record, the Pats are 10-25. Let that marinate for a second. This organization is in year four of its "rebuild," and there's been no progress; there's been no consistent hope that something real is brewing. No. They are - at best - stuck in neutral. At worst - and that feels like how this is trending - are going in the wrong direction.

The Dolphins have horses. Tyreek Hill is better than any player the Patriots have. Jaylen Waddle, too. And please stop telling me Mac Jones is in the same weight class as Tua Tagovailoa. He's not. Oh, sure, he'd have better numbers than what he's putting up in your paint-by-numbers offense, where any coloring outside the line ruins the whole damn picture. Still, something has been more and more evident over the last two seasons - Mac melts down, making the worst possible decisions and worst possible throws in critical junctures. The interception before the half yesterday was the latest example. What. The. Hell. Was. He. Thinking?

"I knew the coverage, I knew everything," said Jones. "I made a bad throw really late. Didn't really drive it. That's what happens on that play. The guy either takes and it's a touchdown, or the guy falls off, and that can happen. Can't do that as a quarterback."

Let's unpack this quote for a second. So Jones knew the coverage but guessed where Jalen Ramsey would be. Not knew. Guessed. Because DeVante Parker was running the post, and a) no one fears that dude, and b) he was running into a crowd, he was never a real option. That left the boundary receiver, Kendrick Bourne, on the short side of the field, along the sidelines, and Mac trying to put a ball in there from the opposite hash. The quarterback doesn't have the arm strength to zing the ball into that window. He would struggle with that throw from the same-side hash mark.

Put him on the other, and you're asking for trouble. Which is precisely what you got - a deflating turnover in a season filled with 'em from that position. You can't win because of Mac. And now I'm convinced you can't win consistently with him, either. In big moments, he turns into a puddle (the comeback over the Bills is clearly an anomaly). This is his first rodeo. We're in year three of this nonsense. If you can't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it. Isn't that how the saying goes? Well, my goodness, the Pats QB keeps doing to same crap week after week, now year after year. Enough. I beg of you.

So Mac isn't the answer, but this entire setup feels like they're right there with him. The Pats are dead last in the AFC. Not the AFC East, but the whole conference. This is only the second time a Bill Belichick team has started 2-6. The other? Year one of BB, back in 2000. That team finished with five wins. 

The Pats have a -90-point differential, the worst in the Belichick era. They're averaging 14.8 points per game, the fewest at this point under the head coach, and are allowing 26 points per game, the second-most through eight games under Bill. Tell me exactly what they do well. I'll hang up and listen.

BOURNE TEARS ACL

The news the Pats feared was confirmed this morning: Bourne has a torn ACL in his right knee and is done for the season. Bourne was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter in Miami, staying on the turf after a tackle by Eli Apple (clean play fwiw). The wide receiver has bounced back after a forgettable 2022-23 season that led Bourne to admit he wasn't in the right headspace and re-evaluated his approach this past offseason.

Bourne leads the team with 37 catches for 406 yards and four touchdowns, including scores in back-to-back weeks. His void will be felt both on the field, where the free-agent-to-be has been on the field for 73% of the offensive snaps, but in the locker room as well, where his energy and upbeat personality carry a lot of weight.

The Pats may also be without Parker, who left Sunday's game with a concussion. That would leave Demario Douglas, JuJu Smith-Schuster (didn't play a snap in the first half), Jalen Reagor, Tyquan Thornton (healthy inactive) and Kayshon Boutte (inactive since week one) as the remaining options. 

This is also just brutal timing for Bourne just months away from free agency.

BELICHICK ON TRADE DEADLINE

Appearing on WEEI's 'The Greg Hill Morning Show,' Belichick was asked about the team's approach as they close in on the NFL"s trade deadline (4 p.m. Tuesday).  

"Yeah, I don’t know," he said. "We just got back from the game last night. We’ll regroup here today and see where things are at."

Well, that clarifies it (sarcasm intended). The obvious answer is you are what your record says you are, which necessitates moving pieces that aren't part of whatever long-term plans you have. But Belichick wasn't biting.

“Yeah, every situation’s different,” he noted. “I mean, it takes two people to make a trade. It would have to work for both teams, whichever teams those are.”

As for how those decisions are made, Belichick did offer more insight on his Monday morning video chat with reporters.

"Personnel department handles personnel. Coaching department handles coaching, and we join together on a regular basis to talk about both. If things come up that are applicable, then we act on them. So, if we need something on a coaching end, we make the personnel department aware of that. If they see an opportunity that would help the team, then we talk about that. So, that’s the same way it’s been ever since I’ve been here. I mean, different people doing it, but that’s what we do. I mean, I can’t keep track of all the personnel in the league; (are) you kidding me? And, out of the league, guys that are available, free agent workouts and all that. That’s not just one person in the personnel department; that’s pro personnel, college personnel, advanced scouting. I mean, there’s a lot of people involved in that, just like there’s a lot of people involved in the coaching end of it.

I weighed in on this postgame Sunday.