Was It Really Tom Brady? Bill Belichick & Others Seem to Struggle Without TB12

When Tom Brady and Bill Belichick parted ways after 20 years, each man wanted to prove he could succeed without the other. One of them did, while the other could not. Their divorce was a clean one. No ugly fights, no bad blood, or bitter feelings. But one person seemed to thrive, the other, on the contrary, sank deeper and deeper with his family and legacy.

The Brady and Belichick duo is a pivotal period in football history, let alone the history of the New England Patriots. Pivotal enough for it to warrant its own Wikipedia page. But the 46-year-old Tom Brady has moved on from the Pats and the football, while the 71-year-old head coach lingers on. He is still loyal to the same family that he has been with for two decades. So was the Pats’ success wholly due to Brady, or did Belichick have a role to play in it as well?

The Patriots are a dynasty in decline without Tom Brady

Two decades. That’s how long the head coach-quarterback duo dominated the NFL. They created a legend out of a mediocre team. 17 divisions and six Super Bowl wins – the most for any NFL team, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers – is their record. But then came a heartbreaking divorce, and Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccanneers. He won a Super Bowl with them, while Belichick is yet to win one without Brady.

With Tom Brady, he has a 0.769 record, while without him it is 0.463. That should settle the debate, right? Clearly, the 71-year-old wasn’t the defining factor in the Pats’ domination of the NFL. But Brady would beg to differ. Speaking on his Let’s Go podcast he said, “It’s not about me, it’s about us.’ And when you lose, as a leader, when you lose you take the blame and you give the credit when you win. But at the end of the day, it’s a team sport.” But numbers tell a different story.

Without Brady, numbers depict Belichick as a mediocre coach

Belichick’s 330 wins are the second-most in NFL history by a head coach. He is surpassed by Don Shula, who has 347 wins in his record. Maybe he’s just waiting around for 18 more wins so that he can break Shula’s record. But with the way the Pats are performing this season, it looks like it’s going to be a long time before that happens. @joehasdiabetes took to X to share some numbers showing how some head coaches have fared without Brady.

Bill Belichick features the lowest on the list with a score of 0.460. Jack Del Rio is at the top of the list with a score of 0.497. He has coached the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Oakland Raiders (now known as the Las Vegas Raiders). If Bill continues to stay with the Pats, and with someone like Mac Jones at the helm, the number is bound to decrease further.

Read More: “You Are Crying in the Corner”: Bill Belichick Turned Emotional Over Temperamental Bob Knight Before His Saddening Demise at the Age of 83

His future is uncertain in the Pats, but there have been rumors that he might move to the Washington Commanders. Only time will tell whether he will leave the sinking ship and seek to break Don Shula’s record with another team that has a better chance of helping him accomplish his goal.

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