Are Bill Belichick's days numbered as head coach of the New England Patriots?
Thinking out loud … while wondering if supermarkets say they are lowering prices every day, why isn’t anything in the store free yet?
Does anyone else get the feeling that last Sunday’s “Debacle in Dallas” will become a defining moment for the 2023 Patriots and for head coach Bill Belichick? And not in a good way?
Two career “worsts” for BB: Halftime deficit (28-3) and overall margin of defeat (38-3). Not sure how, even with six Lombardi Trophies to his credit in New England and two decades-plus of extended goodwill, he escapes this current malaise unscathed for much longer.
He may not hear the current noise — the doubts, the critics, the comments and jokes — but surely others in the organization are hearing it. The bottom line, his receivers aren’t getting open. His linemen aren’t blocking. His quarterback is regressing after playing for three different offensive coaches in three years.
More: After Dallas debacle, has time come to turn the page on Bill Belichick?
Add those injuries — Matt Judon is lost after playing every game since 2021, ranking fourth in the NFL in sacks over that time. Christian Gonzalez, with so much promise and ability, is done four games into his rookie season.
Belichick has had backers and detractors since his time with the Giants, if not before. In a bottom-line business, there is little doubt, however, that he has been at the front of the line in the NFL. One of the smartest, most creative minds in football. Ever.
But present attention to detail and needed discipline on the field with the current team are still sorely lacking. Is he the coach needed, right now, to get this team where it hopes to go?
Robert Kraft may have a rare, even unprecedented decision to make — what does he do with a Hall of Fame coach no longer coaching at a Hall of Fame level? Just sayin’.
∎ X post of the week I, from @chatham58: “New England put forth the biggest face-plant of the day, but maybe lost in the local misery is recent darling Miami losing by 28 … and the Browns, Steelers & Bengals losing by 25, 24 & 24 respectively. Lotta AFC bedsheets gonna need a deep clean.”
∎ On the other end of our sports spectrum are the Boston Celtics. They’re clearly going for it.
Jrue Holiday is a big pickup, and his addition puts this team smack dab into the mix of a title chase, Milwaukee’s addition of Damian Lillard notwithstanding. But these Celtics are still thin in the frontcourt.
Address that, and I’ll find room on the bandwagon.
∎ Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey says she’s “distressed” over migrant residents basically "kicking out" Army and Navy veterans from hotel rooms they had already booked for the Army-Navy game at Gillette in December?
Then do something about it, Madame Governor. Massachusetts is a "right to shelter" state. But this is a bad, bad look for the state, for the governor, for those hotels canceling reservations, for the entire area that stands to earn millions for the local economy.
Basically, they’re choosing illegal immigrants over veterans. Over our economy. It’s embarrassing to write that.
∎ Call it the Late Night Madness effect. You know, a packed house, homecoming weekend, concert in the arena. But that was an impressive list (and showing) of recruits in the AMP door last weekend. A constant conga line down the hallway leading right into the Friar locker room. Smiles everywhere.
∎ Biggest smile? From Larry Lepore, the building general manager. His roof is fixed, there’s a new subfloor to keep the basketball floor from sweating with the ice surface underneath and a favorable start time to the PC-Georgetown game in January.
∎ Preseason games? Nope, not this year. The Friars will play two "closed-door" scrimmages against other D-I teams on Oct. 21 and 28, one on campus and the other likely away. Your only chance to see the team prior to the season opener will be at the Mal Brown scrimmage on Oct. 14.
∎ Before that, however, will be the debut of the "Kim English Show" on WPRO. The coach will host his first radio program on Tuesday, Oct. 10, from Union Station Brewery in Providence at 6 p.m.
∎ Equal opportunity hooping: URI’s season-opening celebration will be on Oct. 13 at the Ryan Center in a Homecoming Hoopfest. Both men’s and women’s teams will take the floor — the men will hold a 20-minute scrimmage. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Speaking of Rhody basketball — the school released a video showcasing the new Soloviev Family practice facility. It’s sharp. Welcome to the modern era of hoopdom, Rams.
∎ Congrats to former Rhody star guard Jimmy Baron, hired last week by my one-time employers, the San Antonio Spurs, as their new shooting development coach.
∎ The mystery surrounding coach Jared Grasso’s sudden leave from the Bryant basketball program is still just that — a mystery. Lots of rumors out there. And every one of them might make this a tough job for assistant and interim coach Phil Martelli Jr.
∎ News from the NCAA this week — the Division I Council voted to shorten the transfer windows available to student-athletes in basketball and football to 45 days after the season ends. In football, it will be 30 days after the season, and another 15-day period in the spring. Ostensibly, this change will help coaches configure their teams and staffs in a more orderly fashion. Chaos gets reduced to mere confusion.
∎ My buddy “Big E” says he and Mrs. E went to a wedding last week where two wifi engineers got married. The reception was fantastic.
∎ Meeting No. 107 between Brown and URI football for the Governor’s Cup trophy at noon on Saturday in Providence. The Bears hold the all-time series lead, but the Rams have the edge since the Cup was first introduced as the "prize" back in 1981. Both teams are coming off wins, and Rhody is back in the FCS top 25 polls this week. Some serious juice flowing on the East Side in the Capital City for a change.
∎ No. 15 PC hockey will get a serious opening weekend test with two games at perennial power Michigan under a bit of a spotlight. Besides the matchup itself, the Wolverines dismissed a player from their roster last week after he allegedly vandalized campus property near the school’s Jewish Resource Center.
∎ X post of the Week II, from @realOBF: “Very few athletes in my lifetime were as much beloved in Boston during and after their career as was [Tim] Wakefield. He gave as much off the field as on it. That he suffered and passed at such a young age makes his death all the more sad and tragic. May his family find peace.”
∎ Word of Wake’s passing last weekend was a cold slap to the soul. By all accounts, Wakefield was genuine. Constantly thinking of others. Charitable. Family man. Great teammate. Makes for a helluva epitaph but so, so tragic for his loved ones.
All for anything the Red Sox can do to honor his memory, with several suggestions of renaming Jersey Street outside Fenway to “Wakefield Way” among the good ones. And maybe you don’t believe in the power of prayer, but if you do, you might consider keeping his wife, who is fighting her own cancer battle, and children in your thoughts.
∎ Kudos to the NESN and WEEI radio crews for getting through what was obviously a very tough day last Sunday in the season finale against the Orioles.
∎ Loved this note from 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Tony Massarotti on Wake’s invaluable career: Tim Wakefield had 13 career regular-season games in which he threw more than 130 pitches, including 172 with Pittsburgh in 1993. His high with Boston was 169 in a 2-1 win over Milwaukee during the '97 season. Over the last 30 years, those are the two highest totals in all of baseball.
∎ Not for nuthin’, but even in the aftermath of an embarrassing attendance figure in Tampa last week for the Wild Card playoffs (only 19,000 bothered to show up), MLB attendance for the regular season was up nearly 10% over 2022, with more than 70 million fans buying tickets, the largest total since 2017.
∎ And just like that, leave it to the Sox to **** all over that momentum by saying they would likely be raising ticket prices for next year. Which I’m OK with, provided they SPEND on players for next year, too.
∎ X post of the Week III, from @Super70sSports: “It’s going to be interesting explaining to someone why Pete Rose isn’t in the Hall of Fame when we inevitably end up at the 2040 DraftKings Hall of Fame Induction Weekend Presented by FanDuel.”
∎ News of ex-Patriots and 49ers tight end Russ Francis’ plane crash and death last weekend was also a real shake-your-head moment. Francis was one of the first tight ends I recall being a good receiver, as opposed to being just another big guy at the end of the offensive line.
I’d also argue for John Mackey and Mike Ditka back in the day. But the crazy thing about Francis, after the late, great ABC announcer Howard Cosell anointed him with the “All World” nickname — he hated being called that.
Francis once told the story he called Cosell and politely asked not to call him “All World” anymore. It was embarrassing, and guys were taking cheap shots at him. Cosell told him to "get tough or get out" and hung up.
∎ Sorry to learn of the passing of Tom Army last week at the age of 93. One of the first hockey captains at Providence College, he also played baseball at PC and helped spread his love of the sport to his sons as well as countless hundreds of kids who played East Providence Youth Hockey.
Just this past summer, Tom was awarded the Malcolm Greene Chace Award by the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in recognition “of achievement and outstanding service by a Rhode Islander to the game of hockey.”
Interested in having your questions on Rhode Island sports (and, yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Think out loud and send your questions, comments and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/threads right here! Join me on Twitter/X, @JRbroadcaster on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Is Bill Belichick the right coach for these New England Patriots?
