In Week Three, my preview and predictions both failed. I am not doing well so far. Grumble. Grumble.
Coach Vrabel had a weird game. It’s hard to put it all on him when saddled with an offensive coordinator he probably didn’t pick. I’ll get to that.
That said, the team is at home, and the home woes continue. The Pats are 7-20 at home since 2022 after outplaying the Steelers for most of the game in many areas. They made some truly undisciplined plays that led directly to their loss. That discipline level is something that falls squarely on the big boss. Welcome to New England, Coach Vrabel.
Our young QB-savior, Drake Maye, has some decent stats so far with QB rating of 101.3 for the season, but he is making some hero ball plays. Trying to throw through walls that include opposing players often results in interceptions. There was one of those, and another one dropped. The biggest issue: Maye takes really bad sacks. The sack on the last drive by Pittsburgh superstar T.J. Watt was momentum killing.
The fourth-down play that McDaniels called WAS HORRIBLE. I hate plays that go behind the line of scrimmage in short-yardage situations. It looked like Pittsburgh knew the call. Maye needs to look up the field, and they need to let him. If they are going to lose, then lose with him throwing bombs a mile long.
Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels had an old-school McDaniels result. I swear when the Patriots were good, Belichick would give Josh one of these games a year where he would randomly shift between aggressive and conservative. The last drive had momentum, but a sack led to a timeout.
That timeout resulted in the worst play call of the young season. A behind the line of scrimmage pass to Demario Douglas. Despite Hunter Henry owning the Steeelers for the whole game. You would think a short yardage play to the big tight end would make more sense than to Pop Douglas.
The fumbles from the running backs did not help, and that is a cultural thing. Maybe the offense is too complicated and the backs are thinking too much.
The defense was pretty good, although the shell of Aaron Rodgers wasn’t really doing anything back there. Pittsburgh had only 203 total yards and ran 20+ less plays than the Pats. They got five turnovers though, and that really was the greatest amount of pressure on the Pats defense. Harold Landry is going to be amazing by the end of the year, but I want to see even more aggression. Go get those QBs!
Stefon Diggs had an ok game with 3 catches, and OnlyFans star Brittney Jones said he is her baby’s father as well. So maybe that is 4 catches? Carbi B is also pregnant, and remains with Diggs so he seems to be doing ok there. He was only targeted 3 times, which is typical of a Josh McDaniels offense. Just not knowing how to use elite talent without Brady here to do it for him. Grumble. Grumble. Josh must go!
Old Grumbly Fan Predictions
Ok so I am 1-2 now on the straight win line. This week features the Carolina Panthers, a team that is probably going to be one of the worst teams all year. The Pats should win this game. That said, Carolina won its last game against the Falcons 30-0. So maybe this game will be a nail biter!
Pats 21 – Carolina 19 and Hunter Henry runs amok! Diggs catches a bomb and does a dance rocking a baby!
See you next week!
