Celani: Belichick Doesn't Always Do 'What's Best For The Team'
BOSTON (CBS) - Well that was fun, if your idea of fun is a slow, methodical, painful, bleeding out-type death.
Do you hear that?
That's the sound of the sky falling in New England, and for good reason.
The Patriots are a sad, sad bunch right now, and whether you think the line isn't good enough or Tom Brady is all done, the old adage says that "[bleep] rolls downhill," which means the crap must have come from somewhere -- the top. It starts with Bill.
Tom Brady is 37 years old, not 137 years old despite how he looked on Monday Night Football. Quarterbacks can perform well in the latter stages of their career. Just ask John Elway.
As a Patriots fan, I look across the conference at the Denver Broncos, ironically operated by the aforementioned Elway, and ask, "Why can't we surround Tom Brady with weapons like that?" Why can't we "load up"?
According to Miguel@PatsCap.com, the Patriots are 31st in spending in 2014. Not exactly "loading up" if you ask me.
Contrary to popular belief, and contrary to what's constantly regurgitated at his press conferences, Bill Belichick doesn't always do what's best for the team.
I could begin this diatribe with Wes Welker or Richard Seymour, but that's too easy.
Let's start with the turnstile -- I mean the offensive line. They're an easy punching bag right now. How is trading Logan Mankins, your most feared lineman and protector of Tom Brady, "what's best for the team"?
After making the AFC Championship Game in 2013 with a depleted roster, signing Darrelle Revis in the offseason seemed to be the final puzzle piece to a Super Bowl berth. Yet four games in and the former shutdown corner is playing 10 yards off the receiver rather than right in his grill, something Patriots fans criticized the Buccaneers for doing last season.
What's the point of owning a Ferrari if you're just going to keep it in the garage? Is playing Darrelle Revis in off-coverage really what's best for the team?
Speaking of fast cars, why is Chandler Jones mostly reading and reacting, when he's better suited at getting after the quarterback? Maybe Belichick doesn't like players with high sack totals, because then you'd have to pay them, God forbid.
Sticking with the defensive line, where on earth is the depth? Sealver Siliga gets placed on IR and all of a sudden the Patriots look like the Little Giants trying to tackle Spike.
Former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommy Kelly has been a valuable piece so far to the 3-0 Arizona Cardinals. He could have been playing on the Patriots, but Belichick released him in the summer. I wonder if people feel like Chris Jones or Joe Vellano, two undrafted guys (for a reason, I might add), are "what's best for the team" over Tommy Kelly.
Aaron Dobson may be the team's only legitimate deep threat, and Kenbrell Thompkins appeared to have good chemistry with Tom Brady in the preseason, so why do the Patriots keep insisting on trotting out Danny Amendola? 16 receiving yards and 15 penalty yards through four games, if you're keeping score at home.
Oh that's right. Amendola got $10 million guaranteed. Can't let that money just sit on the bench. Follow the money. Again, not what's best for the team.
Speaking of lack of weapons, maybe you could have gotten one in the second round instead of taking a quarterback. Is that what's best for the team? Maybe in the future, but not the present.
The fact of the matter is Tom Brady was always good enough to hide the blemishes and fill the holes that Belichick routinely stuck him with. Brady took a pay cut last offseason in the hopes of getting more help around him, and it seems like the help has only gotten worse.
We've seen the Patriots figure it out before, so this is not a lost season by any means, and it'd be foolish to completely write them off.
But right now this team stinks. Like bad, really bad.
And that's a cold, hard, sobering reality this morning for Patriots fans who now have to look themselves in the mirror and ask, "In Belichick We Trust?" or "In Belichick We Trusted?"
Read more from Andrew Celani by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @ACE_Worldwide.
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