Patriots 2023 Season

[Goldstar88]

Thank god the Dolphins fired Brian Flores. He was well on his way to breaking Tua as well. (Dolphins fan here).

What is it with Bellichick and his disciples?

Tara Sullivan of the Globe lays a sizable portion of the blame on Bill and his decisions.

Replacing McDaniels with the head-scratching, never-run-an-offense-before coaching tandem of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. Jettisoning them after a season in favor of O’Brien. Putting Jones behind a revolving door of retread offensive linemen around dependable center David Andrews (necessary after letting Joe Thuney leave just as Jones was arriving or Ted Karras leave after a solid year in front of the rookie Jones). A stunning lack of game-breaking talent at wide receiver, made worse by letting favored Jones target Jakobi Meyers walk away to the Raiders. No interest in retaining solid running back and Jones bestie Damien Harris, and failing to add a good third-down back to give Jones a dependable outlet.

Eighty-three career sacks later, including a season-high five by halftime Sunday, and Jones is a shell of himself. And now, more than ever, the sacks are as much on Jones as they are on the line. He’s jittery, as evidenced by the quick release on the final interception, as he no longer seems willing (or able) to stand in the pocket and take hits, damaged enough that he is hearing footsteps.

At this point, he’d be better off without the Patriots as much as they’d be better off without him.[/b]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/13/sports/mac-jones-patriots/

The level of negligence is pretty incredible…

[ozgod]

Thank god the Dolphins fired Brian Flores. He was well on his way to breaking Tua as well. (Dolphins fan here).

What is it with Bellichick and his disciples?

Tara Sullivan of the Globe lays a sizable portion of the blame on Bill and his decisions.

Replacing McDaniels with the head-scratching, never-run-an-offense-before coaching tandem of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. Jettisoning them after a season in favor of O’Brien. Putting Jones behind a revolving door of retread offensive linemen around dependable center David Andrews (necessary after letting Joe Thuney leave just as Jones was arriving or Ted Karras leave after a solid year in front of the rookie Jones). A stunning lack of game-breaking talent at wide receiver, made worse by letting favored Jones target Jakobi Meyers walk away to the Raiders. No interest in retaining solid running back and Jones bestie Damien Harris, and failing to add a good third-down back to give Jones a dependable outlet.

Eighty-three career sacks later, including a season-high five by halftime Sunday, and Jones is a shell of himself. And now, more than ever, the sacks are as much on Jones as they are on the line. He’s jittery, as evidenced by the quick release on the final interception, as he no longer seems willing (or able) to stand in the pocket and take hits, damaged enough that he is hearing footsteps.

At this point, he’d be better off without the Patriots as much as they’d be better off without him.[/b]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/13/sports/mac-jones-patriots/

The level of negligence is pretty incredible…

Two years ago this guy threw for 3800 yards and 22 touchdowns against 13 picks, got a Pro Bowl invite and finished 2nd in ROTY voting. Today he can't even see open receivers 20 yards in front of him.

Bill's coaching has been up and down but his team management has been execrable.

[johnnygreen]

Robert Kraft needs to completely get rid of the Belichick tree, from coaches to front office personnel. The team desperately needs a fresh set of ideas.

[SparzWizard]

Mac Jones is one thing-- I never bought into him when he was a rookie. He wasn't gonna be the next Brady. Was hopeful if he can at least sneak the Pats into the playoffs and go one and done (which they did for one year). Now he looks worse than a Blake Bortles or washed Joe Flacco or Andrew Luck. I'd even call Phillip Rivers to come back from retirement and QB this team.

Bill Belichick is another thing. Guy is just an anomaly. Roster management is terrible, draft selections are terrible. Hiring/rehiring his students to coach this team...McDaniels, Matty P, Joe Judge, my goodness. Even BoB is looking silly, but I'll spare him for not having an o-line and having Mac bust Jones. Coaching-- I'll say Brady was responsible for 90% of the Patriots' 20-year success. It's Belichick's fault for blowing Superbowl 52 because of his ego of benching Malcolm Butler. It's Belichick's fault for running Brady out that door. But I'm glad Brady also left so he wouldn't have been decimated by this pathetic o-line. In return we get to see 3 extra years of Brady, including one Superbowl win in his first stint on his new team.

Robert Kraft gotta clean the house asap. Pats need to tank and obtain the top picks of this summer's draft.

[Donoghus]

I wonder how some of you would've coped with the Victor Kiam/Rod Rust/Dick MacPhearson/Hugh Millen days.

[tazzmaniac]

Mac Jones is one thing-- I never bought into him when he was a rookie. He wasn't gonna be the next Brady. Was hopeful if he can at least sneak the Pats into the playoffs and go one and done (which they did for one year). Now he looks worse than a Blake Bortles or washed Joe Flacco or Andrew Luck. I'd even call Phillip Rivers to come back from retirement and QB this team.

Bill Belichick is another thing. Guy is just an anomaly. Roster management is terrible, draft selections are terrible. Hiring/rehiring his students to coach this team...McDaniels, Matty P, Joe Judge, my goodness. Even BoB is looking silly, but I'll spare him for not having an o-line and having Mac bust Jones. Coaching-- I'll say Brady was responsible for 90% of the Patriots' 20-year success. It's Belichick's fault for blowing Superbowl 52 because of his ego of benching Malcolm Butler. It's Belichick's fault for running Brady out that door. But I'm glad Brady also left so he wouldn't have been decimated by this pathetic o-line. In return we get to see 3 extra years of Brady, including one Superbowl win in his first stint on his new team.

Robert Kraft gotta clean the house asap. Pats need to tank and obtain the top picks of this summer's draft.

Of course Mac Jones wasn't going to be the next Brady.  Same goes for the next QB and the next QB.  That is an impossible standard even if the QB is surrounded by lots of top talent. 

[johnnygreen]

Mac Jones is one thing-- I never bought into him when he was a rookie. He wasn't gonna be the next Brady. Was hopeful if he can at least sneak the Pats into the playoffs and go one and done (which they did for one year). Now he looks worse than a Blake Bortles or washed Joe Flacco or Andrew Luck. I'd even call Phillip Rivers to come back from retirement and QB this team.

Bill Belichick is another thing. Guy is just an anomaly. Roster management is terrible, draft selections are terrible. Hiring/rehiring his students to coach this team...McDaniels, Matty P, Joe Judge, my goodness. Even BoB is looking silly, but I'll spare him for not having an o-line and having Mac bust Jones. Coaching-- I'll say Brady was responsible for 90% of the Patriots' 20-year success. It's Belichick's fault for blowing Superbowl 52 because of his ego of benching Malcolm Butler. It's Belichick's fault for running Brady out that door. But I'm glad Brady also left so he wouldn't have been decimated by this pathetic o-line. In return we get to see 3 extra years of Brady, including one Superbowl win in his first stint on his new team.

Robert Kraft gotta clean the house asap. Pats need to tank and obtain the top picks of this summer's draft.

I will never understand the argument that Belichick blew Super Bowl LII because he benched Malcolm Butler. The Eagles receivers barely had any separation from the Patriots DBs. Butler wouldn't have made a difference. The reason why the Patriots lost that Super Bowl was because Brady couldn't get in the endzone on their first 4 drives and were settling for field goal attempts on 3 of them. Any BTW, the Eagles were starting a backup QB, so for me, that's another reason why Butler shouldn't have been a factor.

To this day, I still have no idea what the score was when Brady won that Super Bowl with Tampa. I ended up shoveling my driveway and sidewalk after the Chiefs first drive in the third quarter ended with Mahones getting clubbed in the helmet. I have no doubt, the referees fixed that game and refuse to acknowledge its existence. It remains the only Super Bowl that I ever shut off.

[celticsclay]

The Bills game Mac's first year where they threw the ball 3 times was the point in which it went downhill.  The team has not been good since that game, especially Mac. I mean the Pats told the world they didn't believe in their QB in that game and it affected Mac.  His numbers went down significantly after that game.  Everything since has just solidified the point thst the team doesn't believe in Mac.

I will never understand this idea regarding that game. The coaches executed a game plan that won the game. Isn't that the whole point, to win the game?

Yeah mo has posted this a few times and it has not gotten any better with age. If a quarterback is ruined because of how many times his team decides to pass in bad weather his rookie year he is the most mentally fragile quarterback in nfl history and would never succeed in the nfl under any circumstance

Also even in that game IIRC, I don't even think the Bills had Josh Allen throwing that much either early on. They only started to have him throw a bunch in the 2nd half (4th quarter) when they were trailing and their running game wasn't really doing much. Does that mean they didn't trust Josh Allen either that night?

Allen had 7 throws and a QB run on a passing attempt in the 1st quarter of that game and ended that game with 30 passing attempts.  The Bills had a 1st down at the Patriots 14 yard line with 2.5 minutes to go and down 4.  The Pats defense came up big there, but it isn't like the game wasn't in doubt (and 2 of Mac's throws were in the 4th just before that game ending 4th down stop by the Pats - the completion was towards the end of the 1st quarter - Mac didn't attempt a pass for 2.5 quarters). 

In the 12 games before that game, Mac had a completion % of 70.34 and a rating of 97.1 (with 16 TD's and 8 INT's) and the Pats were 8-4.  In the four regular season games after that game, Mac had a completion % of 59.85 and a rating of 79.7 (a 6 to 5 TD to INT ratio).  The Pats only win was against the post-Meyer Jaguars.  In the playoff game against the Bills, Mac's rating was 75.8 with a 63.18% and a 2 to 2 TD to INT ratio. 

The Patriots went on national TV and told the world they didn't think their QB had a good enough arm to throw in bad weather. Sure, Bill embarrassed the Bills, but he also embarrassed his own QB, who was never the same after that, while the Bills turned that embarrassment into a 12 point win 3 weeks later in NE and a 30 point beat down in the playoffs another 3 weeks later. Mac never recovered though which was just compounded the next year with the terrible offensive coaching staff and the Zappe drama. Bill ruined Mac Jones.  I don't think Mac was ever going to be a franchise guy, but Bill absolutely stunted his growth and diminished whatever his ceiling might have been.

This would be a good first take segment, I’ll hand ya that. That being said, again it’s actually not really logical. If a guy is so mentally weak he psychologically breaks down because he isn’t throwing the ball in crazy winds in a game his team wins he is never going to make it in the nfl. That kind of mental weakness makes mark blount seem like a navy seal.

[Goldstar88]

Thank god the Dolphins fired Brian Flores. He was well on his way to breaking Tua as well. (Dolphins fan here).

What is it with Bellichick and his disciples?

Tara Sullivan of the Globe lays a sizable portion of the blame on Bill and his decisions.

Replacing McDaniels with the head-scratching, never-run-an-offense-before coaching tandem of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. Jettisoning them after a season in favor of O’Brien. Putting Jones behind a revolving door of retread offensive linemen around dependable center David Andrews (necessary after letting Joe Thuney leave just as Jones was arriving or Ted Karras leave after a solid year in front of the rookie Jones). A stunning lack of game-breaking talent at wide receiver, made worse by letting favored Jones target Jakobi Meyers walk away to the Raiders. No interest in retaining solid running back and Jones bestie Damien Harris, and failing to add a good third-down back to give Jones a dependable outlet.

Eighty-three career sacks later, including a season-high five by halftime Sunday, and Jones is a shell of himself. And now, more than ever, the sacks are as much on Jones as they are on the line. He’s jittery, as evidenced by the quick release on the final interception, as he no longer seems willing (or able) to stand in the pocket and take hits, damaged enough that he is hearing footsteps.

At this point, he’d be better off without the Patriots as much as they’d be better off without him.[/b]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/13/sports/mac-jones-patriots/

The level of negligence is pretty incredible…

Two years ago this guy threw for 3800 yards and 22 touchdowns against 13 picks, got a Pro Bowl invite and finished 2nd in ROTY voting. Today he can't even see open receivers 20 yards in front of him.

Bill's coaching has been up and down but his team management has been execrable.

Yep. It’s too bad he’s in such a dysfunctional environment. If I was him, I’d be praying for a trade.

[Moranis]

The Bills game Mac's first year where they threw the ball 3 times was the point in which it went downhill.  The team has not been good since that game, especially Mac. I mean the Pats told the world they didn't believe in their QB in that game and it affected Mac.  His numbers went down significantly after that game.  Everything since has just solidified the point thst the team doesn't believe in Mac.

I will never understand this idea regarding that game. The coaches executed a game plan that won the game. Isn't that the whole point, to win the game?

Yeah mo has posted this a few times and it has not gotten any better with age. If a quarterback is ruined because of how many times his team decides to pass in bad weather his rookie year he is the most mentally fragile quarterback in nfl history and would never succeed in the nfl under any circumstance

Also even in that game IIRC, I don't even think the Bills had Josh Allen throwing that much either early on. They only started to have him throw a bunch in the 2nd half (4th quarter) when they were trailing and their running game wasn't really doing much. Does that mean they didn't trust Josh Allen either that night?

Allen had 7 throws and a QB run on a passing attempt in the 1st quarter of that game and ended that game with 30 passing attempts.  The Bills had a 1st down at the Patriots 14 yard line with 2.5 minutes to go and down 4.  The Pats defense came up big there, but it isn't like the game wasn't in doubt (and 2 of Mac's throws were in the 4th just before that game ending 4th down stop by the Pats - the completion was towards the end of the 1st quarter - Mac didn't attempt a pass for 2.5 quarters). 

In the 12 games before that game, Mac had a completion % of 70.34 and a rating of 97.1 (with 16 TD's and 8 INT's) and the Pats were 8-4.  In the four regular season games after that game, Mac had a completion % of 59.85 and a rating of 79.7 (a 6 to 5 TD to INT ratio).  The Pats only win was against the post-Meyer Jaguars.  In the playoff game against the Bills, Mac's rating was 75.8 with a 63.18% and a 2 to 2 TD to INT ratio. 

The Patriots went on national TV and told the world they didn't think their QB had a good enough arm to throw in bad weather. Sure, Bill embarrassed the Bills, but he also embarrassed his own QB, who was never the same after that, while the Bills turned that embarrassment into a 12 point win 3 weeks later in NE and a 30 point beat down in the playoffs another 3 weeks later. Mac never recovered though which was just compounded the next year with the terrible offensive coaching staff and the Zappe drama. Bill ruined Mac Jones.  I don't think Mac was ever going to be a franchise guy, but Bill absolutely stunted his growth and diminished whatever his ceiling might have been.

This would be a good first take segment, I’ll hand ya that. That being said, again it’s actually not really logical. If a guy is so mentally weak he psychologically breaks down because he isn’t throwing the ball in crazy winds in a game his team wins he is never going to make it in the nfl. That kind of mental weakness makes mark blount seem like a navy seal.

It isn't that he didn't throw the ball, it is that his head coach didn't believe in him. If you don't think that matters, I don't know what to tell you.

[Phantom255x]

Wins since the start of October:

Red Sox - 1
Patriots - 1

[ozgod]

Tommy Terrific has chimed in on the Patriots' struggles.

On the latest episode of Brady’s Let’s Go! podcast on SiriusXM, the seven-time Super Bowl champion briefly spoke on the state of the team and an apparent lack of confidence.

“You’ve got to change your strategy, different weeks there’s different challenges, and I think the Patriots, they’re just having a tough stretch, just not playing with the kind of confidence that you’ve always seen,” he said. “Obviously Coach Belichick, I don’t think he’s coaching any different now than the way he coached when we were undefeated. There’s a lot of things that need to go right in order to win and succeed.

“The more I sit back and watch — everyone wants to celebrate when you win as organization; everyone’s responsible,” he added. “And the same’s true, everyone’s responsible when you lose, too. Everyone can’t be on the bus when you win and be off the bus when you lose and [say], ‘Let’s point the finger at one person.’ When you look at losing, the organization loses, the fan base loses; everyone’s in it together.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/14/sports/tom-brady-patriots-cj-stroud/

[celticsclay]

The Bills game Mac's first year where they threw the ball 3 times was the point in which it went downhill.  The team has not been good since that game, especially Mac. I mean the Pats told the world they didn't believe in their QB in that game and it affected Mac.  His numbers went down significantly after that game.  Everything since has just solidified the point thst the team doesn't believe in Mac.

I will never understand this idea regarding that game. The coaches executed a game plan that won the game. Isn't that the whole point, to win the game?

Yeah mo has posted this a few times and it has not gotten any better with age. If a quarterback is ruined because of how many times his team decides to pass in bad weather his rookie year he is the most mentally fragile quarterback in nfl history and would never succeed in the nfl under any circumstance

Also even in that game IIRC, I don't even think the Bills had Josh Allen throwing that much either early on. They only started to have him throw a bunch in the 2nd half (4th quarter) when they were trailing and their running game wasn't really doing much. Does that mean they didn't trust Josh Allen either that night?

Allen had 7 throws and a QB run on a passing attempt in the 1st quarter of that game and ended that game with 30 passing attempts.  The Bills had a 1st down at the Patriots 14 yard line with 2.5 minutes to go and down 4.  The Pats defense came up big there, but it isn't like the game wasn't in doubt (and 2 of Mac's throws were in the 4th just before that game ending 4th down stop by the Pats - the completion was towards the end of the 1st quarter - Mac didn't attempt a pass for 2.5 quarters). 

In the 12 games before that game, Mac had a completion % of 70.34 and a rating of 97.1 (with 16 TD's and 8 INT's) and the Pats were 8-4.  In the four regular season games after that game, Mac had a completion % of 59.85 and a rating of 79.7 (a 6 to 5 TD to INT ratio).  The Pats only win was against the post-Meyer Jaguars.  In the playoff game against the Bills, Mac's rating was 75.8 with a 63.18% and a 2 to 2 TD to INT ratio. 

The Patriots went on national TV and told the world they didn't think their QB had a good enough arm to throw in bad weather. Sure, Bill embarrassed the Bills, but he also embarrassed his own QB, who was never the same after that, while the Bills turned that embarrassment into a 12 point win 3 weeks later in NE and a 30 point beat down in the playoffs another 3 weeks later. Mac never recovered though which was just compounded the next year with the terrible offensive coaching staff and the Zappe drama. Bill ruined Mac Jones.  I don't think Mac was ever going to be a franchise guy, but Bill absolutely stunted his growth and diminished whatever his ceiling might have been.

This would be a good first take segment, I’ll hand ya that. That being said, again it’s actually not really logical. If a guy is so mentally weak he psychologically breaks down because he isn’t throwing the ball in crazy winds in a game his team wins he is never going to make it in the nfl. That kind of mental weakness makes mark blount seem like a navy seal.

It isn't that he didn't throw the ball, it is that his head coach didn't believe in him. If you don't think that matters, I don't know what to tell you.

This is literally the definition of someone presenting their own personal interpretation as an objective fact. I mean come on Mo you are better than this.

[green_bballers13]

The Bills game Mac's first year where they threw the ball 3 times was the point in which it went downhill.  The team has not been good since that game, especially Mac. I mean the Pats told the world they didn't believe in their QB in that game and it affected Mac.  His numbers went down significantly after that game.  Everything since has just solidified the point thst the team doesn't believe in Mac.

I will never understand this idea regarding that game. The coaches executed a game plan that won the game. Isn't that the whole point, to win the game?

Yeah mo has posted this a few times and it has not gotten any better with age. If a quarterback is ruined because of how many times his team decides to pass in bad weather his rookie year he is the most mentally fragile quarterback in nfl history and would never succeed in the nfl under any circumstance

Also even in that game IIRC, I don't even think the Bills had Josh Allen throwing that much either early on. They only started to have him throw a bunch in the 2nd half (4th quarter) when they were trailing and their running game wasn't really doing much. Does that mean they didn't trust Josh Allen either that night?

Allen had 7 throws and a QB run on a passing attempt in the 1st quarter of that game and ended that game with 30 passing attempts.  The Bills had a 1st down at the Patriots 14 yard line with 2.5 minutes to go and down 4.  The Pats defense came up big there, but it isn't like the game wasn't in doubt (and 2 of Mac's throws were in the 4th just before that game ending 4th down stop by the Pats - the completion was towards the end of the 1st quarter - Mac didn't attempt a pass for 2.5 quarters). 

In the 12 games before that game, Mac had a completion % of 70.34 and a rating of 97.1 (with 16 TD's and 8 INT's) and the Pats were 8-4.  In the four regular season games after that game, Mac had a completion % of 59.85 and a rating of 79.7 (a 6 to 5 TD to INT ratio).  The Pats only win was against the post-Meyer Jaguars.  In the playoff game against the Bills, Mac's rating was 75.8 with a 63.18% and a 2 to 2 TD to INT ratio. 

The Patriots went on national TV and told the world they didn't think their QB had a good enough arm to throw in bad weather. Sure, Bill embarrassed the Bills, but he also embarrassed his own QB, who was never the same after that, while the Bills turned that embarrassment into a 12 point win 3 weeks later in NE and a 30 point beat down in the playoffs another 3 weeks later. Mac never recovered though which was just compounded the next year with the terrible offensive coaching staff and the Zappe drama. Bill ruined Mac Jones.  I don't think Mac was ever going to be a franchise guy, but Bill absolutely stunted his growth and diminished whatever his ceiling might have been.

This would be a good first take segment, I’ll hand ya that. That being said, again it’s actually not really logical. If a guy is so mentally weak he psychologically breaks down because he isn’t throwing the ball in crazy winds in a game his team wins he is never going to make it in the nfl. That kind of mental weakness makes mark blount seem like a navy seal.

It isn't that he didn't throw the ball, it is that his head coach didn't believe in him. If you don't think that matters, I don't know what to tell you.

This is literally the definition of someone presenting their own personal interpretation as an objective fact. I mean come on Mo you are better than this.

I was hoping Mo would say the Pats were "at best a 2 win team" this year. He would have gotten closer to an accurate prediction.

[Donoghus]

The Bills game Mac's first year where they threw the ball 3 times was the point in which it went downhill.  The team has not been good since that game, especially Mac. I mean the Pats told the world they didn't believe in their QB in that game and it affected Mac.  His numbers went down significantly after that game.  Everything since has just solidified the point thst the team doesn't believe in Mac.

I will never understand this idea regarding that game. The coaches executed a game plan that won the game. Isn't that the whole point, to win the game?

Yeah mo has posted this a few times and it has not gotten any better with age. If a quarterback is ruined because of how many times his team decides to pass in bad weather his rookie year he is the most mentally fragile quarterback in nfl history and would never succeed in the nfl under any circumstance

Also even in that game IIRC, I don't even think the Bills had Josh Allen throwing that much either early on. They only started to have him throw a bunch in the 2nd half (4th quarter) when they were trailing and their running game wasn't really doing much. Does that mean they didn't trust Josh Allen either that night?

Allen had 7 throws and a QB run on a passing attempt in the 1st quarter of that game and ended that game with 30 passing attempts.  The Bills had a 1st down at the Patriots 14 yard line with 2.5 minutes to go and down 4.  The Pats defense came up big there, but it isn't like the game wasn't in doubt (and 2 of Mac's throws were in the 4th just before that game ending 4th down stop by the Pats - the completion was towards the end of the 1st quarter - Mac didn't attempt a pass for 2.5 quarters). 

In the 12 games before that game, Mac had a completion % of 70.34 and a rating of 97.1 (with 16 TD's and 8 INT's) and the Pats were 8-4.  In the four regular season games after that game, Mac had a completion % of 59.85 and a rating of 79.7 (a 6 to 5 TD to INT ratio).  The Pats only win was against the post-Meyer Jaguars.  In the playoff game against the Bills, Mac's rating was 75.8 with a 63.18% and a 2 to 2 TD to INT ratio. 

The Patriots went on national TV and told the world they didn't think their QB had a good enough arm to throw in bad weather. Sure, Bill embarrassed the Bills, but he also embarrassed his own QB, who was never the same after that, while the Bills turned that embarrassment into a 12 point win 3 weeks later in NE and a 30 point beat down in the playoffs another 3 weeks later. Mac never recovered though which was just compounded the next year with the terrible offensive coaching staff and the Zappe drama. Bill ruined Mac Jones.  I don't think Mac was ever going to be a franchise guy, but Bill absolutely stunted his growth and diminished whatever his ceiling might have been.

This would be a good first take segment, I’ll hand ya that. That being said, again it’s actually not really logical. If a guy is so mentally weak he psychologically breaks down because he isn’t throwing the ball in crazy winds in a game his team wins he is never going to make it in the nfl. That kind of mental weakness makes mark blount seem like a navy seal.

It isn't that he didn't throw the ball, it is that his head coach didn't believe in him. If you don't think that matters, I don't know what to tell you.

This is literally the definition of someone presenting their own personal interpretation as an objective fact. I mean come on Mo you are better than this.

Its just pure nonsense.

Don't waste your time taking the bait.