The New England Patriots underachieved this season, falling short of the NFL playoffs, and ESPN's Mike Greenberg is pointing the finger directly at Bill Belichick.
Greenberg called out the Patriots head coach Monday, one day after New England's season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.
"I think Bill Belichick did his worst coaching job this year in New England," Greenberg said on ESPN. "Hear me out. I think that for him to overcome what he overcame in his coaching staff was somewhat remarkable and a testament to how good a coach he is. However, I think the biggest problems -- the primary things he had to overcome -- were self-inflicted. I think hiring Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to coach his offense -- and the only reason that anyone didn't make a bigger deal of it at the time was you figure, 'Well, if Bill's doing it, it has to make sense.' Well, guess what. No, it didn't."
The Patriots finished 8-9 and missed the postseason with Sunday's 35-23 defeat in Buffalo. And much of the blame this season can be placed on New England's offense, which took a huge step backward in wake of Josh McDaniels' departure.
Not only did Mac Jones fail to improve in his second year as New England's starting quarterback. He actually went in the opposite direction, suddenly raising questions about his long-term potential after a promising rookie season in 2021.
"Mac Jones regressed this year to the point that it was impossible to watch," Greenberg said. "I feel sorry for the kid. I've never met him and I don't root for the Patriots. But I feel sorry for that kid, because he knows much more about offensive football. The book on Mac Jones is how smart he is. That's a kid who knows much more about offensive football than the people who were coaching him. And if I'm Mac Jones, I want to know that I'm either getting Bill O'Brien or Kliff Kingsbury or, I don't know, Charlie Weis -- someone who has ever called a play in his life -- or I want the heck out of there. I think that was a terrible job by Belichick."
The Patriots now have missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. They haven't won a playoff game since the 2018 campaign, Tom Brady's second-to-last year in New England.
Obviously, this is a disappointing reality in Foxboro after two decades of dominance. And Belichick and the Patriots definitely can't afford to sit on their hands this offseason.
"I think Bill is the greatest football coach that ever lived, but I think he got much too cute on this thing here and I think it cost him," Greenberg said. "And so in that regard, I think the criticism of Belichick is 100 percent deserved, and I think he's got to make a change there before next year."
