New England Patriots: Score one for Tom Brady over Bill Belichick

The New England Patriots have moved on without Tom Brady, but there is still competition between the GOAT and Bill Belichick.

One of the NFL’s most prominent storylines this season has been unofficial battle between former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

When Brady departed for Tampa Bay in March after twenty seasons with the New England Patriots, it marked the conclusion of arguably the greatest dynasty in sports history. But it also gave us an opportunity to finally answer the age-old question: who was more responsible for the Patriots’ dominance of the past two decades, Brady or Belichick?

At first, Belichick seemed intent on proving to Brady that he didn’t need an elite quarterback to win. This was evident by the fact that, as of late June, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer were the only two quarterbacks on the New England Patriots roster.

More from Chowder and Champions

• 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
• 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
• MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
• 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
• Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win

Of course, we all know what happened after that. Belichick bailed on that plan, and he went out and signed former MVP Cam Newton.

But with Newton sidelined for this past Monday night’s game against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs due to him testing positive for COVID 19, we finally got a chance to see the Stidham/Hoyer combination that was the Patriots’ original plan. Finally, we would get the chance whether or not Belichick could truly win without an elite quarterback commanding his offense.

And the result wasn’t pretty.

Life without Tom Brady on full display vs Kansas City Chiefs

Brian Hoyer started the Monday night matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, and he actually engineered several lengthy drives, getting the New England Patriots into the red zone multiple times. He completed 15 passes for 130 yards. And perhaps most importantly, Hoyer’s drives at up a lot of clock time, thereby keeping Patrick Mahomes and the explosive Chiefs’ offense off of the field.

But it was Hoyer’s two bone-headed mistakes in the red zone that cost the Patriots crucial points, and ultimately lead to him being benched in favor of Stidham.

First, he took a critical sack at the end of the first half, which prevented the New England Patriots from attempting a field goal that would have tied the game. And then, in the third quarter, Hoyer was strip-sacked deep inside Kansas City territory, once again costing the Patriots points in a low-scoring game.

Brian Hoyer was benched for Jarrett Stidham after that, but things didn’t go much better for the second-year signal caller out of Auburn. Stidham was just 5-of-13, throwing for 60 yards. He did have a nice touchdown pass to N’Keal Harry, but he also threw two interceptions—although one of them was not at all his fault.

Stidham’s quarterback rating was an abysmal 39.4. But perhaps even more significantly, he wasn’t able to keep the offense on the field for an extended period of time. This gave Mahomes and the Chiefs more opportunities to wear out an already-tired Patriots defense, and allowed Kansas City to break the game open in the fourth quarter.

When all was said and done, Belichick’s two backup quarterbacks finished the night 20-of-37, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Those aren’t exactly GOAT-esque numbers.

Most importantly, the Chiefs easily handled the Patriots, winning by a margin of 26 to 10.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway of the night was that even the greatest coach of all time needs a great quarterback to win. After twenty years of Brady and three games of Cam Newton, Belichick finally had a chance to prove that he could win without an elite player under center.

And he fell flat on his face.

Now, the great Tom Brady- Bill Belichick debate is far from over. Fans will continue to debate who was most responsible for the dynasty for years to come.

But make no mistake, Monday night’s debacle in Kansas City pushed the needle quite a bit in Brady’s direction.

Score one for Mr. Tom Brady.