Bill Belichick is very good at winning. It is essentially everything he has done in the past two decades with the Patriots. Now that Brady has left the city and the Patriots are not winning, Belichick is in unfamiliar – and uncomfortable – territory.
Bill didn’t like it, and with good reason. His technical team at the booth suggested that he challenge what was clearly a catch from Bills’ tight end, Dawson Knox, costing him a time limit. Still, angry or not, it’s very rare that you see an emotional outburst of perpetually stoic head coach.
Since 2002, the Patriots have had an unparalleled level of dominance. They won 17 of the 19 division titles, including 11 in a row from 2008 to 2019.
I’m not sure what Taylor Swift has to do with anything, but the Patriots were the personification of excellence in this excerpt:
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This is all history now. The Patriots were embarrassed by their ex-younger brother Buffalo at Monday Night Football last night, taking 38 to 9 for them. It was the first time a team had defeated the Patriots in a single season since 2000, when Belichick took over as coach. Struggling on national television, in a lost season, for a division opponent who has already won the division, there seemed to be a flagrant lack of organization or direction. I never thought about an organization led by Bill Belichick, but it’s totally obvious that Belichick doesn’t know what to do now.
Since returning from his fight with COVID-19, Cam Newton looked horrible. Maybe it’s mental, maybe it’s a physical tribute that the virus has caused in your body, maybe it’s something else. Whatever the culprit, he is not the same. In addition, he is a veteran quarterback with a one-year contract, and the Patriots are no longer competing. Why the hell is he out there? Why not give Jarrett Stidham a couple of starts for the end of the year and at least assess what you have before going on to the next season?
I am not saying that Stidham is the answer; when he finally got into the game in the third quarter, he looked like shit. He went 4/11 for 44 yards. EW. However, it would be prudent to give him some live game reps to better inform his off-season plans.
At his post-game press conference, Belichick said, “We weren’t able to do much * grumbling * at any stage of the game. They overcame us in every way, they overcame us, * grunt * they overcame us. “
I think that’s the curse of Belichick’s two decades of unprecedented success – he has no practice with losing.
When an empire falls, it usually falls fast. Now that the train is off the tracks, I’m not sure he knows how to put it back.