Shockingly, the New England Patriots have hit rock bottom.
Following their disastrous loss in Germany to the Indianapolis Colts, Bill Belichick’s team is now 2-8 and could potentially finish the season with the worst record in all of football.
Needless to say, the Belichick-Tom Brady divorce seems as one-sided as ever.
Although it’s not fair to discount Belichick’s true genius, it’s become painfully obvious just how critically vital Brady was to all of the Patriots past success.
Brady winning the Super Bowl in his very first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put a cherry on top of his legendary career and proved he can indeed win without Belichick.
Meanwhile, Belichick has struggled and is being accused of not being able to “adapt” to the changing world of the NFL and modern-day offenses.
All of this makes it extra fascinating to look back at what made the Belichick-Brady dynasty work so flawlessly.
Ian O’Connor’s book “Belichick” did an unbelievable job at pulling back the curtain on the inner-workings of the Patriots machine.
One stunning nugget from the book however has not aged well at all.
Quoting an unnamed Patriots assistant coach, O’Connor help reveal just how relatively little Belichick and the coaching staff at the time thought of Brady…
“[If] you gave us any of the top 15 [quarterbacks in the NFL], we could do it,” the coach said, referring to New England winning six Super Bowls and maintaining a consistent level of excellence.
“I don’t think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. [Owner Robert Kraft] thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but the coaches don’t,” the unnamed assistant added.
Belichick is a loser without Brady. pic.twitter.com/zsGpInWgrO
— Marlin Runia (@mjrunia) November 12, 2023
Again, it’s hard to think of a take aging worse than that…
Tom Brady watching the Patriots and Bill Belichick elevate his legacy even in retirement. pic.twitter.com/U0trKR3ujh
— Thomas Carrieri (@Thomas_Carrieri) November 12, 2023
At the same time, we can all acknowledge the greatness and vital importance of Brady while not acting like Belichick had nothing to do with all of the success.
It will be fascinating to see what ends up happening in New England.
Will this be Belichick’s final season with the Patriots?
If it is, he most likely will continue coaching elsewhere … He’s extremely close to the NFL all-time win record, which is something thought to be very important to him.
There’s also a burning competitiveness within Belichick that isn’t always easy to see – but make no mistake, it’s there … He would love nothing more than to win another Super Bowl (despite how unlikely that might be).
What do you think will end up happening???