Belichick vs. Brady.
Brady vs. Belichick.
The individual accomplishments of the two men who inarguably benefited from each other’s abilities for two-plus decades leading the NFL’s greatest-ever dynasty in New England have been compared for years.
It started as a friendly barroom-style banter, a credit pie debate inside the walls of Patriot Nation sometime along the way toward the team’s second run of Super Bowl successes.
Who was more responsible for the winning ways in Foxborough, helping collect six Lombardi Trophies along the way?
In the fading days of their relationship together the narrative turned a bit darker, pitting the two as still-bonded adversaries under Robert Kraft’s ego-massaging, alliance-mending guidance. It was no longer a fun debate, but rather a divisive, pre-divorce discussion. Lines were drawn.
Then, when Brady chose to move on from New England and take his talents to Tampa Bay via free agency, the comparison was only ramped up. Brady secured yet another Super Bowl by continuing to defy Father Time while Belichick began a difficult Patriots rebuild, seeking and needing both a new franchise quarterback and new path to glory.
It became accepted by some that Brady, not Belichick, was the proven foundation of the Patriots’ dynastic run, his Tampa title entered in evidence as Exhibit A.
Belichick vs. Brady. Brady vs. Belichick.
One thing that was always consistent in the comparison over the years, is that it was a comparison of relative greatness. Two GOATS gloriously grazing the football fields, first together and then apart.
But now, now the comparison has taken a relatively sad and torturous turn for fans.
Now, both Belichick and Brady feel like aged, somewhat broken men of anything but genius.
Belichick spent the last year trying to prove that he knew more than essentially the entirety of the football world, experts and novice fans alike, who believed his decision to install Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to lead his Patriots offense and the development of second-year Pro Bowl quarterback Mac Jones was doomed to fail.
Well, it failed. The Patriots had an 8-9 record thanks in large part to having one of the worst offenses in the NFL, arguably the worst in New England in more than 20 yards. New England missed the playoffs for the second time in three years post-Brady.
Criticisms of the 70-year-old Belichick’s fatal mistake were widespread and unified, hurled from Patriots fans and haters alike.
The result, a press release last week from New England that symbolically told us that Belichick, still chasing and 19 victories shy of Don Shula’s NFL wins record, doesn’t run the football show in the same way he has at Gillette Stadium since he arrived in 2000. New England’s two-sentence press release detailing its plans to work on a contract extension with Jerod Mayo and begin interviews for a new offensive coordinator almost certainly came over the symbolic dead body of Belichick’s former dictatorial power.
Belichick was a beaten man on the field in 2022 and therefore a beaten man off of it. He said prior to the season if his ill-advised coaching plan didn’t work only he should be blamed. And he was. He was left with little to push back with against Kraft’s ongoing criticisms that New England has now gone four years without a playoff win and failed to return to the contender status that he expects.
Belichick, is now a fallen figure. A hooded shell of his former self.
But Brady isn’t doing much better. Brady spent the last year embroiled personal and professional failure. His retirement was a failure. His grand reported plans to join Sean Payton with the Dolphins was a failure.
Begrudgingly and addictively back under center in Tampa Bay, Brady too went 8-9 this season, the first losing campaign of his career. He snuck into the playoffs thanks to his dismal division, only to be dispatched in dominant fashion by Dallas on Super Wild Card Weekend, one year removed from Belichick’s own one-and-done embarrassing postseason beatdown in Buffalo.
Brady put up some individual stats, setting an NFL regular season record for passing attempts and completions, but it was simply stat accumulation rather than impressive accomplishment for a Bucs team that couldn’t run the ball and could never find its footing.
Brady’s time in Tampa appears to be done, though his time in the NFL may not be. He once again may be looking for a team for his mercenary talents, a cherry-picked spot to try to prove himself once more.
Belichick is far from the coach and organizational boss that he once was.
Brady is far from the franchise-carrying QB that he once was.
Both are aging, fading legends who simultaneously have something and nothing to prove.
Both should be better than this.
But, right now, neither really is.
Belichick vs. Brady. Brady vs. Belichick.
The comparison continues, sadly.
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