Is Bill Belichick intentionally making life more difficult for Tom Brady?
That’s the theory floated Monday on FS1’s “Undisputed” by Skip Bayless, who believes the New England Patriots are in “huge trouble” after their Week 3 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
“The Patriots are in huge trouble because I do not believe Bill Belichick, the genius, can make this defense that much better,” Bayless said. “And there are times when I’m not really sure he wants to make this defense that much better, because it seems like again and again he’s trying to make it harder and harder on Tom Brady to succeed.”
Bayless’ theory stems from believing that Belichick wanted Jimmy Garoppolo — not Brady — to be his starting quarterback this season before Patriots owner Robert Kraft intervened and New England traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers last October.
Maybe Belichick really did prefer to move forward with Garoppolo, who turns 27 in November, instead of Brady, who just turned 41. And perhaps the Patriots coach really was frustrated with having to trade away Garoppolo, who once looked like the perfect successor to Brady. But to think Belichick is purposely sabotaging New England’s chances of succeeding this season out of spite? Seems a little out there.
That said, the rest of Bayless’ argument isn’t outlandish: New England’s defense hasn’t looked great through three weeks, and the Patriots actually might be in trouble after back-to-back ugly losses to the Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.
