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The 2-7, worst-in-the-AFC Patriots play the Colts on Sunday in Germany.
Bill Belichick may get das boot once this season is over.
Or sooner.
Let’s catch up.
In January 2020, two months before Tom Brady headed south, we urged the Patriots to tank
and begin the post-Brady rebuild immediately.
They opted for Cam Newton and a three-plus-year run of sub-par play and mediocrity we
haven’t seen since we spent Thursday nights with “Friends.”
RIP Williamstown-born Matthew Perry.
In July, we told you with all the irony we could muster in print that Belichick’s future with the
Patriots was inextricably tied to the performance of Mac Jones on the field this season.
Ouch.
In August, we reminded you that the Patriots twin-monarchy Robert Kraft and Belichick were
being delusional when it came to spending cash on legitimate offensive players, like DeAndre
Hopkins.
In September, we warned you about the perils of a slow start.
Bill Belichick is 71.
Brady fought Father Time to a draw.
But the Old Man is coming for his former coach with red-eyed vengeance.
Toby Keith summed up 2023 Belichick thusly: “He’s not as good as he once was, but he’s good
once as he ever was.”
Looks like we were being too generous.
No more.
On Oct. 12, we again raised the issue of Robert Kraft culpability in all that has gone wrong
with his football team since it decided to move on from Brady.
We always make sure to note Kraft’s “unicorn” status as an NFL owner, having achieved so
much more success than any of his counterparts.
But it’s 2023, not 2003.
The Belichick-Kraft Post-Brady Dynasty has shown itself to be a House of Cards.
Of all the NFL franchises Brady left in ruins, none has fallen deeper than the Patriots.
The Patriots without Brady are Las Vegas without gambling, The Sphere and David Copperfield.
No winning. No allure. No magic.
In the same piece, we offered a preview of the talking points you’ve heard non-stop over the
two weeks.
Don’t fret the future of Belichick and Sons. The Hoodie will see unlimited checkbook offers from
the Bears, Giants and Commanders if he becomes available.
If Robert Kraft doesn’t want to be known as the guy who let go of Bill Parcells, Tom Brady, and
Bill Belichick, he can pass the baton to Jonathan.
After all, Don Corleone did not break the peace.
The following week, we warned anyone who would listen (or read) that things are going to get
very ugly with this team. A lot quicker than anyone could care to imagine.
It took the Kraft Family nearly 30 years of team ownership, but their Patriots have finally turned
the Red Sox triple play:
Unwatchable …
Unlikable …
Unable to win …
Their goodwill has gone hunting.
That brings us to last week.
We’ll re-state what we wrote since everyone else has done it in the interim.
It’s hard not to fault Belichick and Kraft for running the same playbook with a tight checkbook.
Combined, they are 153 years old – 153 years ago, college football was in its second season. We
didn’t have telephones, electric lights, or organized professional baseball.
Belichick is in his 49th season coaching in the NFL. Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994. That’s 78
years of collective experience coaching and owning in the NFL.
How dare you question them?
Now, suddenly, it’s “news” that Belichick may end up in Washington.
Or that he and the Patriots will be kaput with a loss in Germany.
Or that Mike Vrabel/Jerod Mayo/Bill O’Brien has all but gotten the job as Patriots head coach.
To paraphrase Sergeant Schultz: “We all know nothing. Nothing.”
Except that Belichick has become the Colonel Klink of the AFC East.
Patriots radio analyst Scott Zolak is as plugged in as anyone to the inner-workings of the Kremlin on Route 1. Tuesday on “Zo and Bertand” the rumbustious former Patriots QB put Belichick’s odds of being the Patriots coach in Week 1 of 2024 at “less than 50%.”
That’s straight from State Run Media Central.
We won’t predict the future. We’re having enough trouble with our weekly NFL picks. Now that
mobile sports betting is back in Florida, we’ll be trying to use our EBT card at Dunks by
Christmas.
But we are obligated to offer our informed speculation (or reporting) on what could happen
with New England’s NFL entry.
Our question now is this: “Can Bill Belichick keep his job?”
The current iteration of Belichick cannot, no matter how close he is to Don Shula’s record of
347 wins.
The last vestige of the Belichick Mystique – an impregnable defense – crumbled like a freshly-baked corn muffin against Sam Howell last Sunday. “Bend But Don’t Break” has found the junkyard, right next to your 2007 Ford Taurus with the blown transmission.
Right now, the Patriots have at least three too many Belichicks on the payroll.
The elder Belichick has nothing to offer but 49 years of experience, eight rings, and a bucket of
grunts, mumbles, and excuses.
A new-and-improved Belichick might have a chance to stay in the employ of the Kraft family.
But that would require the one thing Belichick abhors more than talented quarterbacks and All-Pro wide receivers: change.
Does Belichick want to change his approach to the importance of offense? His approach to evaluating talent?
His approach to dealing with the public (through the media)? His approach to resisting new ideas, if not assistants? His approach to his own strengths and weaknesses? His hold on all things Patriots?
Probably not.
The internet offers at least 13 ways to say “goodbye” in German.
Another loss on Sunday and any one of them should suffice.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF and @BillSperos on X) can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com
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