the greg hill show: bill belichick joins the show following patriots upset win over bills
For the first time in 2023, the Patriots’ offense scored more than 20 points on Sunday. They put up 29, in fact, en route to an upset win over the division-rival Buffalo Bills.
Quarterback Mac Jones threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns, completed 83% of his passes, and didn’t turn the football over. Wide receiver Demario ‘Pop’ Douglas caught four passes for 54 yards and added a 20-yard carry on the ground. Tight end Mike Gesicki caught the game-winning touchdown pass with :12 seconds remaining. And most importantly, the offensive line allowed only one sack of their signal caller during the contest.
During his weekly appearance with WEEI’s The Greg HIll Show on Monday, head coach Bill Belichick was asked about the offense’s, and Mac Jones’, performance against Buffalo:
“I would just say, offensively, one of our better performances,” he explained. “Had some consistency, moved the ball, scored some points. Those are all good things, and Mac’s a big part of that.”
The Patriots notably started Mike Onwenu at right tackle instead of his normal guard spot on Sunday and the switch boded well for the entire offensive line’s performance.
“I don’t think it was easy,” the head coach said when asked about the unit. “It’s never easy. Yeah, again it’s a team offense. There were some good things with the offensive line, you know our receivers, [running] backs did a good job running with the ball. Mac made some good plays. Tight ends had a couple big catches. So, you know a lot of contributions from different areas. I don’t think it was just one guy or one thing. Overall, complementary football. Offense, defense, special teams. A better all-around game from everybody. That’s what we need.”
At a stop in play during New England’s game-winning drive, Belichick could be seen standing alone on the sideline, in the ear of his quarterback. Here’s what (he said) he told him:
“We were just talking about the situation," Belichick explained. "No time outs, tie score, and how we wanted to play it. It was pretty straightforward. Turned out well.”
It sure did, as Jones found Gesicki on a short seam route for a one-yard score to take the final lead of the contest.
“Well, it was a different personnel group on Pop's [Douglas] play. It ended up being a seven-man protection, they blitzed," Belichick explained when asked if the game-winner was a similar concept to a play they ran earlier in the game. "Then on the last play we substituted and we had four players out on the route instead of three. So it was a little bit different but the idea was, you know, to throw the ball up there high to Mike and, you know, Mike’s made that catch in practice a lot. It was a good throw, good catch, and big time to hit it.”
Speaking of Gesicki, the tight end said following Sunday’s game that the treatment of his quarterback has been ‘unfair’ over the course of the last several weeks. Belichick was asked if he agrees with this sentiment:
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think we all just go out there and try to do the best we can. Whatever it is, it is.”
Belichick also (sort of) spoke about his reported new contract, Mike Vrabel and Dante Scarnecchia being inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and more on Monday’s edition of WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. You can listen to the full interview here.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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