Bill Belichick Has a Long Way to Go to Prove He Can’t Coach

With all the heat Bill Belichick is taking, you would think he was Eric Mangini.

But this isn’t Cleveland. While all the Browns have to look forward to is the first pick in the 2010 NFL draft, the Patriots have more on the horizon.

Let’s remember that.

The reaction that has ensued following the Patriots’ loss to the Colts has bordered on madness. Belichick has been criticized by fans, media, even former players. At this point, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a mob of angry Patriot followers with pitchforks and burning torches headed to Gillette Stadium to confront Belichick and run him out of Foxborough.

Everyone needs to settle down, take a deep breath and get a grip.

Meteors might be falling from the sky, but cats and dogs aren’t scheduled to drop from the heavens until at least 2012.

The hooded one took a big gamble that didn’t pay off. The Patriots suffered a tough loss. But it wasn’t the Super Bowl. It wasn’t the playoffs. It was Week 10.

The Patriots are 6-3. They have seven games left to play in the regular season. In other words, they have seven weeks to get into the playoffs. 

The biggest game of the season is this Sunday against the Jets.

After that, it will be Monday night at New Orleans. Then, it will be every Sunday for five weeks. And if the Patriots are good enough to keep playing, they’ll have two or three playoff games in January and close out the season with a date in the Big One.

Bill Belichick doesn’t care if you like him. He doesn’t care if his coaching staff and players like him. This isn’t a popularity contest. He just needs his team to respect him.

And they do.

Belichick has built enough winning capital that he’s not going to lose the trust of anybody in the Patriots’ organization because of one call that went against the grain and failed. He’s not going to go down in franchise history as Clive Rush, Ron Erhardt or Rod Rust for making one decision that wasn’t by the book and didn’t end well. 

Legend has it even Paul Brown and Vince Lombardi made mistakes. Nobody is infallible, and Belichick has a long way to go to prove he has forgotten how to coach.

Now is no time to start doubting him. Three world championships don’t happen by accident.

The fourth-and-2 call may have kept Belichick up late at night for a night — or it may not have — but the focus has shifted to this week’s opponent.

The Jets are coming to town. It’s a division game, a hangover game and a revenge game all mixed into one. That’s a potent mix.

Overlooking New York by looking back at Indianapolis could prove costly. It’s just about the worst possible thing New England could do.

Belichick won’t let that happen on his watch.

If he does, maybe then a little criticism is warranted.