Bill Belichick has surprising excuse for Patriots’ preseason loss

Dec 29, 2019; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines during the second half of their loss to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots looked bad in their preseason finale Friday, losing 23-6 to the Las Vegas Raiders. Bill Belichick had an interesting theory as to why his team was so flat.

Belichick suggested after the game that the Patriots may have left it on the practice field during joint practices with the Raiders on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“All right, well we didn’t have a really good night tonight in any phase of the game,” Belichick said after the game, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “That’s obvious. Might have left it on the practice field on Tuesday and Wednesday. Certainly practiced a lot better than we played out there tonight.”

It’s not often that you will hear a coach suggest that their team may have actually practiced too hard. Of course, process is hugely important to Belichick, so he can deal with bad preseason showings if he thinks the practices are good enough.

The bigger issue may be that the Patriots once again looked inept on offense. That has been a trend throughout camp, and it raises worries about their bizarre playcalling setup as the regular season looms.