How Did The New England Patriots React To 35-28 Loss To Eagles?

Dec 6, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches from the sidelines during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Shortly after the New England Patriots fell to the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday, the team met with the media to discuss the loss.

Here is the official transcript: (via Patriots.com)

Bill Belichick

BB: Just overall we obviously didn’t do anything well enough today. Didn’t do enough on offense, turned the ball over, gave up two third-down touchdowns on defense, didn’t play well in the kicking game, just really didn’t do anything well enough to really win. We competed and sort of had a chance there at the end to come back, but when you give up 21 points when your defense isn’t on the field, you lose about 98 percent of those games. [We’ve] just got to get back to work, got to do a better job.

Q: What was the thinking on the onside kick when you were up 14-0?

BB: I think everything we did, we’re trying to do what we think is best.

Q: Why did you have Nate Ebner kick twice and Stephen Gostkowski only once on the three onside kicks?

BB: Because we thought that was the best thing to do.

Q: Who handles the play calling on surprise onside kicks?

BB: We make all the decisions.

Q: Specifically on the drop kick, was he supposed to put air on the ball so it’s a jump ball or was he supposed to hit it on the ground like a typical onside kick?

BB: We don’t have time for all that.

Q: You told us during the week that the Eagles have the best special teams of any team you’ve played this year. Did we see exactly what you meant today?

BB: Yeah, give them credit. They took advantage of our mistakes. We’ve been good in that area, but we weren’t today.

Q: What was the risk-reward calculation on the first onside kick? Why did you think that was a good time to do it?

BB: Well, I mean there wasn’t a tremendous downside to the play. It was like when they mortared their one over there and [Michael Williams recovered it]. It was different, but it was kind of the same thing – kicking it to dead space.

Q: What did you see on the blocked punt?

BB: We blew it, just didn’t block it properly obviously. Nothing we hadn’t seen before, just didn’t execute it well.

Q: There was a third-and-three where pass interference was called, but Jamie Collins signaled that he tipped it. Would you have had any problem if he called a timeout and had you challenge the play? Did you guys talk about that at all?

BB: No.

Q: Obviously there are no moral victories but what did you take away from the fact that your team battled and gave you a chance at the end?

BB: We had some good plays in the game. We just didn’t have enough of them. We had too many bad ones. Just, it’s not good enough.

Q: The Eagles had given up a lot of points in their last two outings. Did their defense do anything different today or was it a result of your own team’s play?

BB: Look, I said all week they have a good defensive team and they do. They have one of the best fronts. Fletcher Cox is one of the best defensive linemen in the league. They have a good defense.

Q: What went into the decision to call the pass to Tom Brady and did you think it was well executed?

BB: I mean we got a first down on it, yeah. We thought it was a good play to run at that point.

Q: What did you see on the pick-six?

BB: There were a lot of plays in the game that I’m sure all of us would like to have back – all of us that played, all of us that coached. That was a big swing.

Q: What were you trying to accomplish by going hurry-up on the first-and-goal prior to the pick-six?

BB: It was the same thing that happened when we scored a touchdown in the same situation – trap their dime defense on the field at the 1-yard line. We obviously didn’t execute the play well, let [Malcolm] Jenkins run four yards in the backfield unblocked. That’s not what we’re trying to do obviously.

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