It’s not that hard to figure out which NFL offense is probably driving Kurt Warner crazy. The Hall of Fame quarterback posted a picture Monday of his handwritten notes excoriating a team whose game tape he reviewed.
Almost everybody thinks Warner is likely talking about the Patriots, who put forth another horrible offensive performance in their 22-18 loss Saturday to the Bengals. Though Mac Jones completed a couple of deep balls in the second half, they were shutout over the first two quarters, and once again looked disjointed.
Bill Belichick gets ready for the dolphins
The first big hint comes on Warner’s first bullet point: “CONCEPT? 3-4.”
In non-shorthand, that means Warner couldn’t fathom what this unnamed team was trying to run on an early 3rd-and-4. The Patriots’ opening drive Saturday ended on 3rd-and-4 when Jones got sacked.
Warner’s second bullet point — “SCREEN?? 3-6” — also makes it apparent he’s commiserating over the Patriots. Jones threw a screen to Rhamondre Stevenson on 3rd-and-6 during the Patriots’ second drive. The pass fell incomplete, and they went 3-and-out.
The Patriots punted on their first six possessions, and didn’t even cross midfield.
Warner punctuates his frustrations with phrases such as, “What are we doing?,” which he uses twice.
Towards the end of the game, Jones threw a 50-50 touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers and was called for an intentional grounding. Sure enough, apparent notes about those plays are visible, too.
Warner has ripped into the Patriots’ offense a couple of times this season. A few weeks ago, he told the Herald’s Karen Guregian he would be “bored to death” playing quarterback for the Patriots.
He also tore apart the Patriots following their Thanksgiving Night loss to the Vikings. New England scored 26 points in that one.
As bad as that was, it was a lot better than whatever happened Saturday.
What are we doing?