Patriots: Justin Herbert admits Bill Belichick bamboozled him with defense

Though Justin Herbert is no longer a rookie quarterback, he certainly got the Belichick treatment usually reserved for first-year players in Sunday’s upset New England Patriots’ win over the LA Chargers.

Optimistic fans believed the Pats had a chance to slow down Los Angeles in a friendly road setting, especially coming off a drubbing of the Jets and a well-executed battle against the Cowboys. Pessimists thought Herbert’s coming out party would continue against a team that hasn’t exactly held elite young quarterbacks in check thus far this season.

Instead, given what was essentially a bye week against the Jets (sorry, Jets), Belichick had enough time to scheme up some extremely confusing shifts in coverage that Herbert hadn’t studied whatsoever.

It worked wonders, especially on the miscommunication that resulted in Adrian Phillips’ game-changing pick six.

After the game, the standout 23-year-old admitted as much, as his team’s record fell to 4-3.

No special teams snafus here. No missed kicks that doomed the Chargers in tight games, as they have so often. No “singular moment” of breakdown that changed everything. Just a good, old-fashioned smackdown on the defensive end, and Herbert gave full credit to Belichick for messing with his head from the opening whistle.

Patriots HC Bill Belichick confused Justin Herbert Sunday.

Who said Belichick’s lost his fastball?!

You only have one chance to unveil something you “haven’t shown all year,” and this must-win road battle with the Chargers felt like a perfect opportunity to do so. After all, if you lose and drop to 3-5 with all three wins coming against the Jets (twice) and Texans, that’s not a very impressive profile for a playoff hopeful.

Now? After a wild game featuring impressive defense and an efficient offense that took the air out of the ball when it mattered most, the Pats are 4-4, with the struggling (bad) Panthers, Baker-less (probably?) Browns, awful Falcons, and Derrick Henry-less Titans on the horizon. Anything less than 7-5 will be a disappointment, all thanks to Belichick’s deployment of a stunning tactic on Sunday.

Let’s take a look at the Phillips pick six again, shall we? By this point, Herbert and Jared Cook were clearly off-kilter, resulting in a miscommunication for the ages.

Let it be known: this might not be the best Patriots team. It might not be the deepest. But concerns about the group being entirely outflanked/unable to adjust to the modern game might’ve been misstated during the season’s opening weeks, specifically the dreary first half in Houston.

Does Mac Jones need to be more aggressive on occasion? Sure, but he deploys his deep throws when he has to. Now that we know the defense can still come up with something befuddling for even the league’s best QBs, we feel much more confident moving forward in the whole package.