For 24 years, Bill Belichick was the leader of the New England Patriots, as he brought the team to nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl wins throughout his tenure.
However, this offseason, after an ugly 4-13 season, New England made a change, parting ways with Belichick and promoting Jerod Mayo to head coach.
Through the first four weeks of the post-Belichick era, the Patriots don't look much different. They boast a 1-3 record, having lost their last three. Their offense has still struggled to do much offensively, and their defense, which was expected to be near the top of the league, hasn't lived up to that yet.
How does Belichick see them?
"I have no idea what the plan is, so I don't know. I can't comment on that. If Mayo says he has a plan, then I guess he has one," Belichick said on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday."We'll have to wait to see what it is. I don't know. I'd say there are a number of issues there. One is they can't move the ball and can't score. They got a 63-yard field goal and then they got a touchdown off of a fumbled kickoff. Otherwise, they had a hard time moving the ball. I don't know exactly what the numbers were but the amount of time that [Brock] Purdy had to throw was pretty high. I have to think, in terms of the amount of time before the ball was released, had to be the highest in the league or close to it. I think there are some pass-rush issues there. There are some scoring issues.
"Joey Slye, that's a great addition for him. They got a great kicker. That's a big upgrade from where we were last year. I'd say there are some other things that have to be worked out. Obviously, they got the protection straightened out that cost them the game against Seattle on the blocked field. We'll see. We'll see what the plan is. I have no idea what it is."
Honestly, Belichick is probably just as confused as the average fan right now because this team hasn't been built to succeed or to give young players an opportunity to grow in 2025. Although, he's partially to blame for this issue.
The shot at Chad Ryland, who was statically the worst kicker in football in 2023, is an interesting one, considering Belichick used a fourth-round pick on him last year and watched him continuously fail over and over as a rookie.
MORE PATRIOTS NEWS
Patriots will get reinforcements back soon
Winners, losers from New England’s Week 4 performance
Takeaways from Patriots loss vs. 49ers
Instant analysis of Patriots third loss in a row
