Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick shared his thoughts on the state of the team following their 30-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
The Patriots fell to 1-3 on the season after once again failing to move the ball on offense. They recorded 216 yards of total offense in comparison to the 431 yards San Francisco racked up.
Belichick isn’t quite sure what the Patriots’ identity is at the moment. He cited everything from pass-rushing problems to overall scoring in his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday.
“I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea what the plan is, so I can’t comment on that. If Mayo says he’s got a plan, then I guess he’s got one, and we’ll have to wait to see what it is,” said Belichick, as transcribed by A to Z Sports’ Sophie Weller. “But I’ll say there’s a number of issues there. One is, can’t move the ball and can’t score… 63-yard field goal and then got a touchdown off the fumbles kick off.
“But otherwise, had a hard time moving the ball. And I don’t know exactly what the numbers were, but the amount of time Purdy had to throw was pretty high. I got to think that in terms of the amount of the time before the ball was released had to be the highest in the league or close to it. So think there are some pass rush issues there. There are some scoring issues.”
It would be fair to say that Belichick has to shoulder some of the blame for the offensive personnel and defensive line issues. The Patriots went 4-13 last season, and they are currently undergoing a full-scale rebuild as a result.
There’s no denying the roster needs work, and it’s going to take more than one season to fix it.
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