The Patriots dropped to 1-5 after a tightly contested loss to the Raiders, and it seems like Bill Belichick's frustrations are finally boiling over.
The veteran coach was stewing on the sideline throughout the 21-17 loss but finally appeared to have enough late in the fourth quarter.
Just before the two-minute warning, running back Rhamondre Stevenson ripped off what looked like a five-yard first-down run. However, it was wiped out by a holding penalty on rookie guard Atonio Mafi to set up a second-and-11.
MORE: Why the Patriots made Malik Cunningham the backup QB behind Mac Jones
Belichick was irate after that mistake and the penalty, which backed the Patriots up to their own 8-yard line. He made that clear by spiking his tablet into the ground next to one of the officials, an action that was captured by one of the CBS cameras.
#Patriots HC Bill Belichick took his frustration out on the tablet during the loss to the #Raiders 😯
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 15, 2023
pic.twitter.com/E9rLPYqDVJ
So, why was Belichick so annoyed at that moment? He wasn't asked directly about his tablet spike, but he acknowledged that the team's consistent penalties and mistakes were eating at him.
"We had penalties to start the game and three penalties in the last two minutes," he told reporters during his postgame news conference. "So it's not a good formula. We need to eliminate that."
Penalties were a major issue for the Patriots against the Raiders. They recorded 10 during the contest and that cost the team 79 yards in total. That was a particularly problematic number considering that New England generated just 259 yards of total offense during the game.
Thus, it's easy to see why Belichick finally broke in that moment. His exasperation only continued to grow as DeVante Parker dropped a perfectly thrown pass from Mac Jones for what would have been a massive gain before the quarterback took what ended up being the game-ending safety on the following play.
MORE: Breaking down Bill Belichick's record with and without Tom Brady
It's clear that the Patriots' issues go beyond those penalties, and the 71-year-old coach knows it. He did, however, acknowledge that the team's four-point loss to the Raiders wasn't nearly as bad as their back-to-back blowout defeats against the Cowboys and Saints.
But what's the path forward for the team as they navigate their worst start of the Belichick era?
"We need to do a better job here and really just thought every area just any one of a number things could have made a difference," Belichick said of the loss to the Raiders. "We just need to be able to coach better, and play better; execute a little bit better. And that was really the story again."
Perhaps marginal improvement will help the Patriots to at least become a bit more competitive and give them a chance to win against some of the NFL's below-average teams.
But as it stands, the Patriots look like one of the NFL's bottom-feeders. That bodes well for them as they look to become involved in the Caleb Williams sweepstakes.
But for Belichick's future? That will become murkier with each passing defeat.
