The Patriots Have Officially Entered the 'Kraft is Angry and Ready to Fire Belichick' Phase of the Post-Dynasty Era

Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.

Over the four seasons since the Patriots won their last postseason game (which was a Super Bowl; let's not discount that), the idea that Bill Belichick could be on the proverbial Hot Seat has gone from preposterous to laughable to unlikely to plausible to, well, reality. 

There's no need to go over the numbers, because we all know them by now. When the production is as low as it has been through five games, you could fire the team's statisticians and analytics staff and replace them with one Muppet vampire.

Suffice to say that Belichick needs 18 more wins to tie Don Shula for most all time. And at the current pace, he's expected to do it some time around the heat death of the universe. So the idea that Mr. Kraft would give him all the slack he needs to retire with the record gets less and less likely as the losses pile up. Especially the ugly, non-competitive losses. 

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Worse still, we're beginning to see cracks in the hull of the ship. From players taking to their socials to complain in emoji-form about their roles. Or lack thereof:

To "sources close to players" contacting reporters to complain about the talent around them:

To general angst coming from team sources:

With all this going on, it's not at all unreasonable to assume that the seat in the coach's office in Gillette is the temperature of Betelgeuse, and still getting warmer. And I say this as a devout Belichickian Fundamentalist. 

For his part, Mr. Kraft hasn't hid his disappointment and frustration. Publicly demanding changes in the football ops of the franchise he saved from moving to St. Louis almost 30 years ago. And letting it be known there are limits to his patience. And according to this report, a 1-4 record (with a point differential of -76) has brought him - and us - to those limits:

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Source - Patriots owner Robert Kraft just spent a quarter billion dollars on Gillette Stadium renovations, including the construction of the largest outdoor scoreboard on the planet.

On Sunday, that scoreboard very prominently revealed the most lopsided shutout loss in franchise history, a 34-0 meltdown against the inconsistent New Orleans Saints.

There’s a school of thought that suggests Bill Belichick has earned the right to go out on his own accord, that the architect of the greatest dynasty in NFL history can coach in New England as long as he chooses.

Kraft doesn’t subscribe to it. …

Kraft likes to remind people he grew up as a Patriots fan during the organization’s darkest days. But that doesn’t mean he has patience to endure more of them. On multiple occasions in recent years, he has lamented the team’s lack of a postseason victory in the post-Brady era. Kraft has grown frustrated, if not downright angry, over this shortage of success, according to people close to the situation. …

Based on their lack of execution in the first five games, there’s little evidence to suggest a marked turnaround is imminent.

And Kraft has long since gotten sick of watching other teams’ highlights on his new scoreboard.

As hard as this is to fathom, we are at this point. How else could a man of Mr. Kraft's stature react to the debacle we've seen so far. We're almost one-third of the way through a season that was supposed to represent a major turnaround, and instead we've seen nothing less than the consistently worst football of his tenure as owner. Players Belichick has let go - Jakobi Meyers, Jonnu Smith, Nick Folk - are thriving with their new teams. Guys brought in to replace them - Juju Smith-Schuster, Mike Gesicki, Chad Ryland - are making minimal impact, unless you count the impact of the rookie missing half his field goals. 

Worse still, Mac Jones has not only not rebounded from having non-professional offensive coaches developing him in his crucial second season, he's regressed. Badly. Despite having a competent, experienced coordinator he's worked with before in Bill O'Brien. That damage from last season remains. And might be permanent. 

I've been dreading ever having to write this since the day I first started writing for Barstool back in 2004. But Bill Belichick is coaching for his job right now. And it's fair to question if all of his players are fully invested in helping him keep that job. Like I've said and will continue to say until it's official over, I shall stand by Belichick through all the trials and tribulations. But fat lot of good that does when his players and "sources close to them" start being openly defiant and the boss is letting it be known he's "frustrated" and "angry."

Regardless, the only cure for all of this is a win on Sunday in Las Vegas, followed by many, many more wins to follow.