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As tension and uncertainty mount inside Gillette Stadium, the New England Patriots are staring down a stretch run that will have historic ramifications for the direction of the franchise.
Many in the building have been looking over their shoulders, recognizing head coach Bill Belichick’s job is at stake and wondering who else is auditioning for jobs in Foxboro or elsewhere.
Even an upset against the Pittsburgh Steelers only seemed to steady the ship for a few days. The mood has been bleak, an obvious byproduct of a 3-10 record that is the second worst in the NFL.
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Signs have pointed toward this being the final four games of Belichick’s unprecedented tenure with the Patriots, according to sources close to the situation. The Patriots, who are already eliminated from postseason contention, will go a fifth consecutive season without a playoff victory, and that’s been compounded by a poor draft record, largely unsuccessful and expensive attempts to fix the roster in free agency and now a group that’s become split with a month to go.
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However, there are still some in the building who wonder if an unlikely winning streak — or even three wins in their final four games against rivalry opponents — could change the narrative surrounding Belichick’s future. While it surely appears owner Robert Kraft is prepared for a split after the season, a continued string of strong defensive showings, signs of life from quarterback Bailey Zappe’s offense and an eradication of game-swinging mistakes could conceivably swing Kraft’s thinking in the other direction. Games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets still carry weight with the Patriots’ old guard.
Bill Belichick gave the same response to three different questions about his future and whether he’ll continue coaching/be with the Patriots.
“Getting ready for Kansas City,” he said each time. pic.twitter.com/SszHKNHMWA
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) December 13, 2023
Kraft, as he’s foreshadowed during recent offseason media appearances at the NFL annual meetings, hasn’t been happy with all this losing. He preached the importance of winning. He demanded more competitive playoff results than the 47-17 embarrassment in Buffalo. He wanted more of a return on the hundreds of millions in contracts that he doled out during free agency in 2021.
Instead, the Patriots have the 12th-worst record in the league since 2020 (28-35), and it’s gotten worse each season since 2021 — a similar fate sealed coach Pete Carroll’s tenure following the 1999 season. New England is one of 14 teams without a playoff win since 2019.
It’s one thing to lose. It’s another to become irrelevant.
This week’s Patriots-Chiefs game at Gillette was the first ever to be flexed out of “Monday Night Football.” Sunday morning of Week 13, just ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers’ 6-0 victory at Gillette, tickets on the secondary market were being listed for $5. In October, Belichick followed up the most lopsided defeat of his career (38-3 in Dallas) with the second most lopsided loss of his career (34-0 at home to the New Orleans Saints).
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It was one disaster after another, and Kraft was becoming apoplectic. The Patriots subsequently fell to 1-5 with a lifeless loss to the reeling Las Vegas Raiders, then to 2-8 during another turnover-fest in a 10-6 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany. That performance was significant to Kraft in front of an international audience, and the Patriots served up another stale offensive showing that all but sealed quarterback Mac Jones’ fate in Foxboro. It also started a stretch in which the Patriots became the first team in 85 years to lose three consecutive games despite not allowing more than 10 points in any of the games.
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There’s been tension from all reaches of the organization, from the top between Belichick and Kraft to the locker room between the offense and defense. And while last Thursday’s victory against the Steelers yielded a brief spark, the good vibes largely dissipated this week once it was time to get back to work to prepare for Kansas City — a sign the team recognized it was still mired in a lost season with the probability of widespread change looming.
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Belichick has been open in the past that it’s tough to play for him and prominent players from Super Bowl teams have echoed that sentiment, but they mostly enjoyed the environment because the wins flowed like confetti in the crisp February air during yet another Super Bowl parade through Boston. But winning takes a unified drive, and that’s been missing of late with the harsh demands being questioned more by the players — not all, to be sure, but enough to make an impact.
Even those wondering if a strong finish could save jobs recognize the hurdles in place. The Chiefs, Broncos and Bills are jockeying for playoff seeding, while the Jets just walloped the playoff-contending Houston Texans 30-6.
And surely, the victory in Pittsburgh was impressive, but it’s fair to wonder if it was a smokescreen. The Steelers’ offense has also been broken, and backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky didn’t help the cause. For as well as Zappe played in the first half with three touchdowns, the Patriots only mustered three first downs on six second-half possessions.
Credit the Steelers’ stout defense for adjusting, but recognize the Chiefs, Bills and Jets also have top-eight scoring defenses while the Broncos have surrendered the second-fewest points in the NFL since Week 6. The opposition isn’t getting easier for the lowest-scoring team in the league.
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Perhaps, that’s where the opportunity lies. Kraft may be hard-pressed to jettison Belichick if the Patriots somehow use their win against the Steelers to propel them into a few more to save face in the final month.
It just feels like too strong of an if with too much to overcome — a roster with too many holes, an offense without an identity and a building that seems more focused on the future than the present.
(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
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