The Patriots are 27-33 since Tom Brady left. They dropped to 2-7 with Sunday's home loss to the Commanders and now are 5-12 since last season's bye week.
Most head coaches would've been fired by now. At best, they'd be coaching for their job this week, with the bye on the horizon.
But Bill Belichick isn't most head coaches. He's the best coach in NFL history (yes, still) and led New England to six Super Bowl champions. He deservedly gets a much longer rope.
But could Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany, be the tipping point? The Boston Globe's Ben Volin last week reported losses to Washington and Indy would put Belichick on the hot seat in time for the Week 10 bye. No other insiders have corroborated the report, but again, the writing would be on the wall for all to see if we were talking about any other coach.
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With that in mind, Belichick was asked about his job status during a Monday morning video call.
Reporter: "Have you received any assurances from ownership about your job status for the rest of the season?"
Belichick: "My focus is on getting ready for the Colts."
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Reporter: "Do you, personally, believe you could be coaching for your job this week against the Colts?"
Belichick: "I'm going to control what I can control and I'm going to get ready for the Colts."
Those kinds of deflections were expected and unsurprising. Belichick might be comfortable leaking details about his contract to national insiders, but he's not going to talk about his job status with local beat writers.
Still, the fact he's even being asked these questions tells you all you need to know. Barring a stunning turnaround, we probably are looking at the final weeks of the greatest coaching tenure in football history.
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Featured image via Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports Images