These final two weeks of the 2023 regular season could mark the last of Bill Belichick's New England Patriots career. Our Tom E. Curran recently reported a decision on Belichick's future was made after the team's Week 10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany, but could the longtime head coach make a case to keep his job during his end-of-season meeting with Robert Kraft?
If the six Super Bowl trophies Belichick helped bring to Foxboro aren't enough to get Kraft to keep him around, he'll have to convince the Patriots owner that the disastrous 2023 campaign was an outlier. Somehow, he'll need to assure Kraft that he can turn things around in 2024 and beyond.
That won't be an easy case to make, but on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast, Curran and Phil Perry shared a few valid arguments Belichick can bring to the table when his uncomfortable conversation with Kraft takes place.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
🔊 Patriots Talk: A deep dive on Bill Belichick’s case to remain with the Patriots | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"If you're Bill Belichick, don't you start with the number of close losses that you've had? That is maybe as good a case as any that Bill Belichick has to explain to Robert Kraft that we're not all that far off," Perry said. "It's seven one-score losses in 2023. And then you can go from there. Then you can talk about the injuries to Christian Gonzalez, Matthew Judon, and the offensive line. Then you can talk about the poor quarterback play. But if all of those other things align, then maybe some of those seven losses actually turn into wins, and maybe you're sniffing a winning record.
"I wouldn't necessarily believe that argument if was being presented to me, but it might be where he starts."
MORE PATRIOTS
Curran believes Belichick could use the Bill O'Brien hire to point the finger at Kraft.
"I also wonder how much in looking at 2023, Bill might say to Robert, 'I kind of thought we were heading in the right direction last year. I know that it was unconventional with Matt (Patricia) and Joe (Judge). By the end of the year, I felt OK about the direction we were headed.' We heard that mentioned that Bill did feel they were on the right track, and we heard it mentioned by people extremely high in the organization. So that was a contention by Bill," Curran said.
"They did what Robert wanted to do, brought in an offensive coordinator, and it's Bill O'Brien. And I could certainly see Bill Belichick saying, 'Look, I love Billy, but I told you I think we're heading in the right direction with Matt and Joe and we switched anyway, and I don't think that helped us. I think we would've been OK with Matt and Joe, and we had to switch again, and that didn't help Mac (Jones).'
"So I think that would be something that Bill could use to adroitly flip it on Robert and say, 'If it wasn't for you, I don't think it would've been this bad. It was your idea to bring Billy in.'"
Also in the episode:
- How important is it for Belichick to show humility?
- How much can Belichick blame Mac Jones for the offensive struggles?
- Will Belichick appeal to the sentiment of Robert Kraft?