Smith couldn't grasp this offense. Stop blaming that on Mac. He literally took out both our starting TEs (one of them being him) because he kept running into other Patriots receivers. And he was here when Mac was a rookie and before everyone had a book on Mac and other receivers like Henry thrived and Smith was awful.
And Mac's biggest problem isn't his talent. It is he has become a head case because he lost his confidence. He made costly mistakes early in the season, but prior to the Cowboys game, he played pretty at times too. And he played great against the Bills. He just is like Tony Eason in that he is seeing ghosts and making bad decisions because of it. Mac may have never become a good QB anywhere, but he became a trainwreck here because he is not mentally tough and Belichick did everything to ruin him. A mentally stronger QB might have overcome it. But when you are weak mentally, you crumble.