Belichick’s decision-making in big moments has hurt the Patriots lately

The Patriots have lost their last two games in no small part because Belichick made questionable calls in each that hurt the Patriots in key moments.

Heading into today’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots find themselves in an odd place. They have dropped two games in a row – a rarity in the Brady/Belichick era – especially in the month of December, when all of the kinks have usually been worked out.

The Patriots’ recent struggles have caused many fans and members of the media to question Bill Belichick’s judgment when it comes to personnel decisions on a few key plays in the back-to-back losses.

Of course any time a team of New England’s caliber loses like the way they did against Miami and Pittsburgh, people will be angry and demand answers.

Good luck expecting to get them from Bill Belichick anytime soon though.

One personnel decision that had Patriots micro-managers fuming was the package that Belichick rolled out for the final fluke play of the game in Miami: he notably had Gronkowski in the game with a defense that was ready to protect against the Hail Mary.

Clearly, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was not capable of making a throw that far; not to mention the fact that he was dealing with a bad shoulder and he had to leave the game earlier with an ankle injury.

Not the best recipe for throwing a near 70-yard bomb.

The most glaring personnel blunder on that play wasn’t necessarily that Gronk was in the game – it was who he was in the game for. The Patriot defender taken out in favor of Gronkowski: Devin McCourty.

Removing McCourty, who is one of the best open field tacklers on the team, not to mention one of the best New England defenders all-around, is a move that’s pretty hard to understand or justify.

Some notable members of the Patriots secondary that remained on the field for the Miami Miracle: JC Jackson, Duron Harmon, Jonathon Jones, and McCourty’s less-talented twin, Jason McCourty. Swap any one of them out for Gronk instead of Devin McCourty, and maybe Kenyan Drake doesn’t make it all the way to the end zone.

Oh well. You know the rest: a bunch of missed tackles followed by Gronk tripping over his own feet trying to save the game. Pathetic.

When asked about the decision-making on the play, Belichick did what he does best: he gave a mumbled response without really answering the question, and provided little to no insight on what his true thought process was in that moment.

Moving on to the game in Pittsburgh, Belichick again made a questionable personnel call – this time on offense. On the final offensive snap for the Patriots on 4th and 15, they ran verticals with Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, and Cordarrelle Patterson.

Not on the field at the time? Josh Gordon.

Gordon has size, strength, athletic ability, and can up the imaginary ladder to make a catch. Patterson, despite some nice catches recently, is more a special-teamer than a true clutch wideout with the game on the line. To not have one of your leading receiver on the field during a 4th down play to win the game isn’t just a head-scratcher… it’s a blatant mistake.

There is no guarantee that having Gordon out there wins you the game. But in football – and in any sport for that matter – it all comes down to putting the guys out there that give you the best chance to win the game.

In both of these cases, Belichick did not do that – and that falls on him. I would not be surprised if some of the players are questioning his decision-making as of late, and that is never good for a locker room.

After the debacle in Miami, the game in Pittsburgh was supposed to be huge in terms of seeing what this team was made of and how they responded in the face of adversity. Unfortunately, they didn’t answer the bell against the Steelers, and paid the price with another loss.

Many things have to go right for this team to have a shot at another Super Bowl. Quite simply, Belichick’s decision-making when it comes to who he sends out on the field in key situations needs to improve.

If it doesn’t, he is going to have a lot of people start to turn on him. It started with the bizarre decision in last year’s Super Bowl defeat to bench top cornerback Malcolm Butler without explanation. At 9-5 and with the season teetering on the edge, it’s time for Belichick to get back to making the kind of quality decisions that got him here in the first place… before it’s too late.