Bill Belichick is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. One former two-time Super Bowl champion suggested the praise is unwarranted.
“Belichick is starting to show you he is an average coach without Brady,” said Asante Samuel via Twitter.
Samuel was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by New England and played five seasons with the franchise before leaving via free agency. He was on the team’s 2003 and 2004 Super Bowl-winning rosters.
His comments came a day after Belichick received criticism for his handling of the Patriots’ QBs Mac Jones and rookie Bailey Zappe on Monday night.
Jones started and wasn’t 100%. He went 3-of-6 for 13 yards and one interception before he was pulled in the second quarter for Zappe.
Zappe immediately electrified the crowd and led the Patriots to 14 points as he went 4-of-4 for 97. His final stat line — 14-of-22 for 185 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions — doesn’t jump off the page, but there was no mistaking the life he gave an offense that barely had a pulse before he entered.
It’s brought a QB debate to New England, and it’s by Belichick’s own doing.
There’s been a discussion since Tom Brady left New England over who was more responsible for the franchise’s six Lombardi Trophies during the Brady-Belichick era.
In 2021, Brady won his seventh Super Bowl after joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Belichick is still searching for his first playoff win.
This isn’t the first time Samuel has criticized the Patriots and Belichick. After Brady left the Patriots in 2020, Samuel was asked about the move. Per CBS Sports, he discussed the “Patriot Way” and said, “it’s not something I enjoyed.”
Per Pro Football Talk, earlier this year Samuel went on the “I Am Athlete” podcast and said that other teammates that bought into the “Patriot Way” were “brainwashed” and were “company men.”
Belichick miscalculated on Monday night and he’s receiving more criticism than at any other time in the post-Brady era.
As Samuel proved with his 51 career interceptions, he knows how to take advantage of others’ mistakes.
