What was that? Adapt or die

Before I start my attempt to try to figure out what happened tonight in Kansas City, I just want to say read my article from earlier this week because a lot of what I am going to say here is similar to what was said earlier.

Patriots are afraid of change

Also, as I stated in my previous article there is a lot to be said about the way the Patriots chose to attack a team. And I just want to toss out a few numbers from tonight.

Combined passing attempts 30
Combined rushing attempts 16

Score: Chiefs 41 Patriots 14

What was that game plan McDaniels?

The Patriots started tonight the same way they started last week. 3 passes, 3 and out. McDaniels is living in the past and is not adapting to the team he has. He does not have offensive weapons, his offense is not capable of putting up 30 points a game. So why not simplify?

We have seen it plenty of times, he loves hitting those play action slant passes, but that is never going to be open if the linebackers do not respect your running game. Their defense was getting torched all night, so why not try to keep them off the field by extending drives or at the very least taking time off the clock and letting the defense rest.

McDaniels is not allowing this offense to succeed. If you offensive line can't protect your quarterback, your receivers can't get open, and your quarterback is struggling why do you continue to try to pass the ball? McDaniels needs to go watch some game film from their Super Bowl years and watch how they won their games. Defense and running the ball.

We have not seen McDaniels be creative or solve problems yet this season. Why? Because the years he was successful he didn't have to solve huge problems, he had weapons. The years he wasn't successful (Denver, St.Louis) he didn't adapt, and he got fired.

When you have an offensive line that cannot protect your quarterback let offensive lineman do what they do best, let them be physical. Lineman are naturally aggressive players, they love to play downhill and attack. If you let them push players around and run block 25-30 times a game, they will gain better trust in each other and it will translate to their pass protection because it will slow down the pass rush. The Patriots backs ran the ball 16 times for 75 yards for an average of 4.7 yards per carry. A good average. Passing clearly isn't working. So why not giving the rushing attack a bigger sample size?

Was the best thing McDaniels could think of doing was running the ball out of shotgun? Why would you want to hand the ball to a running back that is standing still and expect them to make plays, when you can hand it to a back with momentum, running down hill, and attacking the line of scrimmage. The offensive game plan from the get go made no sense. We have seen them have success running the ball out of their I formation with Devlin at fullback and bringing in an extra lineman to move the line of scrimmage. So why do we try to run the ball with 5 lineman out of shotgun, instead of 6 or 7. McDaniels is not thinking about his offensive game plan with his personnel in mind and he is setting his offense up to fail.

He tried to run draw plays and run the ball out of shotgun. That only works if the defense fears your passing game. With the lack of productivity in the passing game they can go man to man across the line with their cornerbacks and still devote 8 players to the running game. So running out of shotgun with no passing attack you are running the ball against 8 players with 5 blockers. Use your running formations and attack.

Everybody is going to look at Brady and the defense as the reason why the lost this game. Yes Brady wasn't sharp tonight, and yes the defense gave up a bunch of yards and points. But were they put in the best position to win this game by their coaching staff? McDaniels needs to embrace becoming a running and defensive team quickly, or it is only going to get worse from here. Especially with undefeated Cincinnati coming to town next week.

Just to show how well McDaniels used his personnel in this game. Shane Vereen who is by far the best receiving back you have on the offense. Led the team in rushes (8). Stevan Ridley who is your most physical and best rushing back in your backfield ran the ball just 5 times.

McDaniels. Stop trying to out think your opponent and just let your players out play them. Let them be physical, and let them play with some aggression.

There was only two positives I can take from this game. Matthew Slater is still a stud (we need to get him on the field more) and Brandon Lafell showed some continuity with Brady.

Oh, and just incase anyone was wondering Charlie Weis just got fired from his head coaching job at Kansas. And we all know he loved to run the ball in his years with the Patriots.


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