Patriots Rumors: Bill Belichick Was 'Moonlighting as Play-Caller at Points' in Season

There is still a lack of clarity for what exactly went wrong for the New England Patriots during their disappointing 2022 season, but it sounds like some of the blame belongs to head coach Bill Belichick.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports that Belichick increased his influence on the offensive play-calling this year, which resulted in communication issues throughout the season:

"I'd add that Belichick himself is on the hook for all this, too. My understanding is Belichick was active on the headsets on game day, having the sort of oversight over the offense that he'd traditionally had over the defense, and moonlighting as play-caller at points (which is why, at times, calls were late going in, and the offense could look messy from an operational standpoint)."

The Patriots fell short of the playoffs with an 8-9 record after ranking 26th in total offense this season and 17th in scoring offense. Matt Patricia served as offensive play-caller while Joe Judge acted as quarterbacks coach, but that clearly wasn't a viable formula and led many to question Belichick's decision-making.

Just last week, a team source told Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, "I love coach [Belichick], but he f--ked us."

The Patriots hired Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator on Thursday to hopefully provide some stability and avoid last season's disaster.