Bill Belichick is having the worst yr of his life – at the least an NFL head coach.
Once revered like Paul Revere, the irascible Hoodie has morphed right into a crotchety Bond villain.
Move over “Goldfinger.” Meet “Middle Finger.”
We can’t take full credit score for that one. Belichick apologist Mike Florio posted on X in the course of the Patriots recreation on Sunday that continued presence of Mac Jones might be Belichick delivering “a middle finger both to Jones and to ownership.”
The House of Belichick has fallen. Largely because of the horrible play of Jones. Now Belichick State Run Media is in full “CYA Legacy” mode.
We’re being requested to consider that Jones was the one grocery merchandise Belichick didn’t buy since Y2K. Thus, this fanciful narrative that Robert and Jonathan Kraft walked into the Patriots War Room on Draft Night in 2021 and informed Belichick that both his brains, or Jones’ title, can be on the Patriots decide sheet.
This largest of Big Lies underpins the historic nature of this Patriots season. A catastrophic breakdown on and off the sphere pushes this Patriots squad into the pantheon of previous Patriots Futility.
These are your father’s Patriots.
Is this the worst Patriots group of all time? Not but. They might properly blow all of it aside and go 3-3 down the stretch. More not than possible. But that may forestall Belichick from tying the NFL file of 165 regular-season losses. He has 161.
The 2023 Patriots have labored themselves into our Top 5 Worst Patriots groups of all time.
That is kind of an achievement contemplating the competitors.
Fasten your seatbelts and ensure tray-tables are within the upright place. It’s going to be a turbulent six weeks.
The countdown:
No. 5
1992
Record: 2-14
Buzz: Tickets have been low-cost and plentiful. The Patriots have been on their third proprietor in 5 seasons. Worst-Owner-Ever Victor Kiam had offered the group to James Orthwein within the offseason. A merciful enchancment. But with the arrival of Orthwein got here a nonstop stream of rumors in regards to the group shifting to St. Louis, given his ties to the Busch Family. The lovable Dick MacPherson embodied the best that good guys end fifth within the AFC East. Four completely different beginning QBs have been used: Hugh Millen; Scott Zolak; Tom Hodson; and Jeff Carlson. (Jeff Carlson?) Only Zolak would win underneath heart. The offense didn’t rating a dashing TD till week 11. MacPherson and his employees have been fired after the season. Orthwein employed Bill Parcells, who would draft Drew Bledsoe No. 1 general in 1993. The nook was turned.
No. 4
1970
Record: 2-12
Buzz: The Boston Patriots started their first NFL season with a 27-14 win at Harvard Stadium over the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 20. Things rolled downhill – kind of – till “Varitek split the uprights” some 11,459 days later. The worst-record-in-the-new-NFL Patriots noticed coach Clive Rush stop after a 1-6 begin because of a coronary heart situation. His alternative John Mazur additionally went 1-6. Billy Sullivan signed free-agent QB Joe Kapp in October after Kapp had led the Vikings to Super Bowl IV. Kapp misplaced 9 of 10 begins. Boston’s 149 factors stay the fewest by any group in franchise historical past that performed a full season. The New England Patriots debuted in Foxboro the next season. New England would take Jim Plunkett with the No. 1 general decide within the 1971 draft.
No. 3
2023
Record: 2-9
Buzz: The 2023 Patriots introduced again the dysfunction that outlined this franchise all through its first 4 many years. Acrimony between possession and coach. A revolving door at quarterback. (18 QB transactions and counting as of Monday). Crushing turnovers. Excruciating video games. This comes following a Score of Success that made the Patriots the superlative group in all North American sports activities. Mac Jones combines the worst traits of Tony Eason, Matt Cavanaugh, and Millen. Without Brady to bail him out every week, the “genius” of Bill Belichick has confirmed to be no simpler than the guise of Chuck Fairbanks. Belichick, like Fairbanks, seems poised for a equally acrimonious exit. These Patriots are on monitor to achieve a number of markers in offensive incompetence not seen because the arrival of Bledsoe 30 years in the past.
No. 2
1981
Record: 2-14
Buzz: Patriots antagonism at its worst. So many shut losses. The Patriots edged out the Colts for the primary decide within the 1982 NFL draft within the season finale. In a recreation dubbed – amongst different issues – “The Toilet Bowl,” the Patriots misplaced 23-21 at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The subsequent day’s Boston Herald greeted readers with “We’re No. 28” and images of 28 particular person index fingers throughout the web page. (The NFL had simply 28 groups on the time.) The Patriots selected Texas DE Kenneth Sims with that No. 1 general decide in 1982. Unquestionably the worst first-round decide in group historical past, Sims ranks among the many largest NFL No. 1 busts of all time. The oft-injured Sims performed only one full season and completed with 17 sacks in 74 profession video games. His profession with the Patriots would finish 16 days after he was arrested for cocaine possession in 1990.
No. 1
1990
Record: 1-15
Buzz: Lisa Olson. Victor Kiam. Sexual harassment. “Patriot Missile” jokes. That can be sufficient for many franchises. Not this one. The 1990 Patriots are the one group in franchise historical past with only one victory. They misplaced their remaining 14 video games and have been outscored 446-181, the worst NFL level differential of the Nineties. 11.3 PPG stays the bottom in Patriots historical past over a 16-game season. The unflappable Rod Rust was always undercut by possession and can be fired 4 days after the season ended. “Patriots Have Rust Problem” stays seared into our minds 33 years later. The venerable however damaged Steve Grogan (1-3) recorded this group’s lone win in Week 2. QBs Marc Wilson and Hodson accounted for the opposite 12 defeats.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF & @BillSperos on X) will be reached at [email protected].
Source: www.bostonherald.com