The New England Patriots Thread (4-13) - Mayo fired, Vrabel hired

[fromcal]

New England Patriots (4-11) at Buffalo Bills (9-6)
Sunday December 31st 2023 at 1pm ET

 

[fromcal]

@Buffalo Bills 27 New England Patriots 21 final.

 

[DemonessBaby]

The Patriots Defence did pretty well.

 

[philthepat]

So if we lose to the Jets next week... almost certainly #2 pick.

If we win... probably #5 or #6.

Can we put Mac back in for one more week?

 

[DemonessBaby]

So if we lose to the Jets next week... almost certainly #2 pick.

If we win... probably #5 or #6.

Can we put Mac back in for one more week?

Drinking game for every time Mac throws an interception.

 

[philthepat]

Drinking game for every time Mac throws an interception.

 

[KingBrady]

Fully expecting a win. Hoping the Jets have got sick of losing to us and pull out the win

 

[DemonessBaby]

Water might be better.

 

[philthepat]

Right, here is the draft pick situation for next week. No matter what, we can't go higher than #2 or lower than #5.


If NE loses and WAS wins, NE will have the #2 pick

If NE loses and WAS loses, NE will have the #2 pick if the combination of relevant SOS games falls 1+ game in NE's favor; otherwise WAS will have the #2 pick and NE will have the #3 pick
(relevant games: PIT-BAL (root BAL 0.5g), HOU-IND (root HOU 0.5g), ATL-NO (root ATL 1.0g), CHI-GB (root CHI 0.5g), DEN-LV (root DEN 0.5g))

If NE wins and WAS/ARI/NYG lose, NE will have the #4 pick if the combination of SOS games falls 1+ game in NE's favor, otherwise NYG will have the #4 pick and NE will have the #5 pick
(3 or 4 of the following must occur: BAL over PIT, HOU over IND, CHI over GB and LV over DEN)

NE cannot fall below LAC (based on tied SOS & H2H tiebreaker) or TEN (based on lower SOS)), so they will not pick lower than #5

 

[KingBrady]

Would be nice to know if Chicago wants a QB or not. If not, then third isn’t bad as can trade up and Chicago still gets Harrison.

 

[KingBrady]

So is this the last game for Bill Belichick?

I certainly hope not. I don’t like any of the names mentioned to replace him.

 

[philthepat]

It's tricky because I'd want to keem him as the head coach, but get someone new in to GM... which I don't think he would accept... thus the reason why I think he will be leaving.

If/when he does... I hope they go for a young, offensive minded guy. Ben Johnson from the Lions would be cool... went to Boston College, just as a little extra bonus.

 

[KingBrady]

I just hope he puts the ego aside and realises he’s probably not getting that power elsewhere so decides to coach a team he’s largely put together rather than one he’s had nothing to do with. Although it’s always hard for the greats to put their egos aside

 

[fromcal]

New York Jets (6-10-0) at New England Patriots (4-12-0)
Sunday January 7th 2024 at 1pm ET

 

[KingBrady]

Doesn’t look like an easy schedule next year. Hopefully a much improved Patriots team though and can get back in the playoffs.

 

[KingBrady]

The Athletic suggesting if Bill Belichick remains as Patriots head coach, that he could hire Josh McDaniels back.

They don’t say in what capacity. Whether that means Bill O’Brien will be out as OC or if McDaniels takes up a Patricia type advisory role.

 

[philthepat]

I suppose it's because everyone is waiting on BB... but Bill O'Brien should absolutely not be back either way. Not putting 100% of the blame on him, but the offense was historically bad. I can't really see anything that went well on that side of the ball, apart from the emergence of Pop Douglas.

 

[KingBrady]

So Vrabel or Mayo?

Imagine O'Brien will stay as OC, unless someone like Ben Johnson somehow gets the job. I assume McDaniels will be Belichick's OC wherever he goes.

 

[KingBrady]

 

[fromcal]

The New England Patriots obviously have a lot of work to do to go back as a playoff team.
I say it will take 5 seasons at least to get back to that potential.