Curran: Patriots ‘turtled’ by not going for late TD vs. Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Another week, another new low for the 2023 New England Patriots.
The Pats fell to 2-9 on the season after an abysmal loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. They had a chance to tie or win the game late in the fourth quarter, but their day once again ended in disastrous fashion.
Bailey Zappe replaced Mac Jones at quarterback for the second half and tied the game at seven with a third-quarter touchdown drive. The Giants went up three with a field goal in the fourth quarter, but Zappe led the Patriots down the field in the final minute and put them in a position to steal a victory.
New England worked its way to the Giants’ 17-yard line with six seconds remaining. On fourth-and-5, head coach Bill Belichick opted to attempt a game-tying field goal rather than give Zappe a chance to win the game with a touchdown. That decision backfired as rookie kicker Chad Ryland missed the 35-yarder, resulting in a 10-7 defeat.
Our Tom E. Curran was critical of Belichick’s decision on Patriots Postgame Live.
“You’re a 2-8 team with nothing to lose,” Curran said. “You are, by some dent of good fortune, in a position to actually win the thing. So if Bailey Zappe throws a pick in the end zone, Bailey Zappe throws a pick in the end zone. He still probably has a better game than Mac. Instead, they turtle. They fold in on themselves. And then they give it to the kicker, the fourth-round kicker, who hooks it.
“This is beyond polluted. These are not in a vacuum mistakes that each individual is making. This is dysfunction permeating the team and impacting each other.”
Jones’ woes continued as he completed 12 of his 21 passes for just 89 yards and tossed two interceptions before being benched. Zappe added a pick of his own, but the offense looked more functional with him under center than it did at any point in the first half.
“You certainly did see a bump — from the insertion of Bailey Zappe –…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/curran-patriots-turtled-not-going-220942877.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2023-11-26 22:09:42
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