Robert Kraft would have to fire Belichick before he tanks vs. Jets

Robert Kraft would have to fire Belichick before he tanks vs. Jets originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

So lemme get this straight — Bill Belichick plans to intentionally lose what’s probably his final game with the Patriots … to the Jets?!

The team he despises more than any in NFL history? The team that opened the SpyGates of hell? The team he may have screwed over as recently as this year’s draft? The team he couldn’t stand the thought of HCing before joining the NEP in disgrace-turned-glory?

Those Jets?

There’s a better chance of Belichick taking a tearful high-five lap of Gillette, like Yaz in 1983, than laying down vs. Gang Green simply to ensure his replacement picks third instead of sixth.

If we’ve learned anything about Belichick over the last quarter century, it’s that he’s an inscrutable creature of pride and obstinance and pettiness who takes orders with a sneer. The NFL wants him to abide by the rules of the injury report? He’ll list everybody. Ownership wants him to draft Mac Jones? He’ll systematically break him into so many pieces, there won’t be a functional quarterback left to put back together. The media wants answers about his future? We’re on to (insert opponent), you b*****s.

Now we’re supposed to believe that Robert Kraft will order Belichick to bench starters in Sunday’s finale to increase the likelihood the team picks second instead of seventh? Kraft can demand whatever he wants, but by now he must know that short of firing his head coach tomorrow, he can’t force Belichick to play along.

And it’s hard to imagine why he would. There’s just no way Belichick wants his final moment on the Patriots sidelines to be jogging across the field to offer perfunctory congratulations to hardo Jets counterpart Robert Saleh, whose staff spent portions of Hard Knocks this summer mocking the do-your-job mantra of the Patriot Way.

I suspect if Belichick could choose between a humiliating loss to the Jets that guarantees his return to the Patriots sideline,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/robert-kraft-fire-belichick-tanks-185629252.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-01-03 18:56:29

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