2023 NFL: Previewing Week 15

Is this really happening? This is how it’s going to end?

Professional football is a cruel business. It’s not often that anyone involved leaves riding a wave of glory and success. Careers tend to end in a whimper, stuck in a lost season on some roster where people will go, “huh, I forgot he played there” when they check his career history 10 years later on Wikipedia.

John Elway, Jerome Bettis and Peyton Manning retired after winning Super Bowls, but all three were shells of their former selves when they did so. Manning could barely throw the ball downfield.

Which brings us to Bill Belichick. We all know the Patriots stink this season, it’s official, we’ve seen enough evidence. Even after beating the Steelers last Thursday, New England is currently 3-10. Obviously, that’s not a great thing, that is not in dispute.

And there has been considerable grumbling about Belichick’s job status, which I found amazing. I know that attention spans are at an all-time low, but I would think that 10 Super Bowl appearances with seven Lombardi Trophies since 2000 would somehow linger in people’s memories. This isn’t Ray Handley. This isn’t Nathaniel Hackett. This is Bill Effin’ Belichick. One of the best that has ever done it, just going by the stats.

But I’ve clearly underestimated the impatience of football fans and ownership. A report broke on Monday by Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston that Patriots owner Robert Kraft has already made the decision to part ways with Belichick when the season ends. That decision was apparently made after the team’s Week 10 loss to the Colts in Germany.

At this point, I should be used to this. Every coach is hired to eventually be fired. It doesn’t matter how much success you have, how many wins you’ve compiled, how many trophies you earn. What made you great will be used against you when it’s time to move on. And let’s face it, Belichick’s roster-building moves have been questionable, at best.

But, what now? Will Belichick retire? An interesting nugget from Curran’s report is that the parting of ways could include the Patriots trading Belichick to another team. He’s 71 years old, is it worth it to start somewhere new? Maybe, because Belichick is just 15 wins away from Don Shula’s all-time record of 347. That might keep him around the league for another couple years.

But where could he go? Carolina? Eh. Las Vegas? Hmm, maybe. Those are the only two teams that currently have vacancies. Other teams that MIGHT have openings are the Chargers and the Commanders. I’m not sure I see the Titans or Buccaneers making a move, especially if the latter wins the NFC South.

All we can do right now is wait and wonder. And Belichick, to his credit, isn’t making a big deal out of this. When asked about Curran’s report on Wednesday, Bill dusted off his trusted maxim and said he’s “getting ready for Kansas City” a few times.

That’s fine. You get ready for Kansas City. In the meantime, we’ll all get ready for a life without you patrolling the Patriots sideline. We all knew the day was coming, just maybe not this soon.

NFL’S TOP 10

1. 49ers – Remember when they lost three games in a row? Me neither. If this team stays healthy, nobody is beating them. They’ve blown out the Eagles. Blown out the Cowboys. I don’t think they’ll have a problem with the Ravens when they face off on Christmas Day. Their other remaining games are against the Cardinals, Commanders and Rams. They’ve got the No. 1 seed locked up.

2. Cowboys – Dak Prescott is playing MVP worthy football right now and Dallas has scored at least 30 points each time out during its five-game winning streak. Now here comes the bad news: I can see them slipping this week when they travel to Buffalo on Sunday.

3. Eagles – Everyone is selling their Philly stock right now, which makes sense because they’re coming off back-to-back bad losses against their biggest NFC competitors. But I think it’s time to buy low on the Eagles. They face the Seahawks, the Cardinals and the Giants twice to close out the regular season. They’ll still win the NFC East title.

4. Ravens – I came very close to putting Baltimore in the top three, but I held back using my stock market rationalization. Plus, they came off a bye week and needed overtime to beat the Rams at home. Granted, L.A. is playing well right now, but I was still expecting more, especially defensively.

5. Chiefs – Sigh. It would be very easy to be a Patrick Mahomes hater. He’s had a lot of success, he does a ton of TV commercials and his wife and brother are very annoying. But I held off. Then Sunday happened. Mahomes had a complete meltdown after Kadarius Toney was called offside (and he was offside!!), negating a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Bills. Mahomes is the LAST person who should ever complain about officiating. He’s been gifted calls over and over again that have undoubtedly given the Chiefs victories in critical games. As people have pointed out, Patrick’s anger was probably more about his team’s offensive struggles this season. And Toney … ooof. This guy has been a public disaster.

6. Dolphins – This is why I don’t buy Miami as a true Super Bowl contender. You can’t blow a late fourth-quarter lead against the Titans. You just can’t. Inexcusable. I’m so disgusted with them, I wanted to drop them out of the top 10. But they’re still 9-4, so I’ve put them in this spot. But I’m holding my nose.

7. Lions – Again, not a true contender, even though they’ll likely win the NFC North. But that’s not going to be that easy. Every team they face the next four weeks are above .500, and one of those games is against the Cowboys.

8. Browns – Look at the old man! Seeing Joe Flacco come out of the abyss and be competent for Cleveland when they really needed it makes me smile. Who knows, the bottom could fall out tomorrow, but for now, I’m enjoying it. They’re 8-5 and have a favorable schedule the rest of the way.

9. Bills – They’re back in the hunt! That win in Kansas City was huge, for more than just their playoff hopes. It also shows everyone that they have the talent to be a contender. If they can get through the Cowboys at home this weekend, they’ve got the sinking Chargers, Patriots and the beatable Dolphins left.

10. Jaguars – Trevor Lawrence is doing his best to gut it out, but I don’t know how smart that is. Especially with the Ravens and their pass rush coming to Jacksonville on Sunday night.

WHAT’S THE CHATTER?

Clown of the Week Award: Karadius Toney. I know I already picked on him, but I’m not done yet. We’ve seen him drop passes in critical spots. But to line up offsides when you’re playing offense just boggles the mind. Especially when you can just check with a side judge and ask if you’re lined up right. No wonder the Giants were more than willing to get rid of him last season.

Football is weird: Zach Wilson stinks, right? He’s so bad that the Jets finally benched him once and for all a couple weeks ago in favor of Tim Boyle, of all people. Fast forward to the current day and Boyle has been released and Wilson was just named AFC offensive player of the week after throwing for 301 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over the Texans. This game makes no sense.

Sid’s moment has come: I was watching the Steelers and pulling my hair out all season. I was screaming that they were bad and Pittsburgh kept winning. Well, they’ve now lost three of their past four games, including back-to-back defeats against the Cardinals and Patriots. They’re 7-6, but I’m expecting them to lose three of their last four and finish below .500 for the first time in Mike Tomlin’s career. And no, he shouldn’t be fired.

Worldwide game: Do you like international games? It doesn’t matter if you don’t. The league’s competition committee will vote on a proposal to expand the minimum number of international games from four to eight. I guarantee that will pass. Mike Florio brought up a good point: With each team playing 17 regular-season games, it makes sense for everyone to have one international game. That would make it eight home games, eight road games and one neutral site game. I’m into that.

APPOINTMENT VIEWING FOR WEEK 15

Vikings at Bengals: Two backup quarterback teams fighting for their playoff lives. I’m going with Cincinnati here, since the Bengals are only using their second quarterback this season, not their fourth like Minnesota.

Steelers at Colts: I’m going to be sitting on my couch and drooling as Indianapolis puts the wood to Pittsburgh at home. They better do that. I have bad memories of lame Steelers teams somehow pulling out lame wins down the stretch.

Broncos at Lions: If Detroit loses this game at home, I’m not saying it’s time to freak out, but there might be some stern conversations going on at team headquarters.

Giants at Saints: Not a good game on its surface, but keep an eye on this one. If New Orleans loses, they might be done.

Commanders at Rams: Fine, I’ll watch this game so you don’t have to.

Cowboys at Bills: I’m calling it. I like Buffalo to win this game at home. I think they’re going to play good football the rest of the way.

Ravens at Jaguars: I just hope the Jags can keep Trevor Lawrence upright for this game. He really needs to be careful here. I’ll wince every time he gets hit.

Eagles at Seahawks: The road to Philly’s redemption starts here.