When Bill Belichick arrived at North Carolina, the question was, “How long will he stay?” After a 4-8 season, the question has become, “How long will they want him to stay?”
Via Greg Barnes of Inside Carolina, UNC is committed to Belichick “for at least another year.”
The disappointing season has sparked concerns that it’s not going to work for Belichick at the college level. However, a quick scuttling of the experiment would spark a total buyout in the range of $30 million.
Not everyone agrees. Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer makes the case for writing the checks and ending it now.
“He was always a bad fit as a college coach, a role where, unlike the NFL, your public demeanor is a big part of the job,” DeCock wrote.
“What’s it going to cost North Carolina to move on? What’s it going to take for Belichick to save face? What’s the price of a reset button? Whatever it costs, it’s time to pay it. Whatever has to happen behind the scenes, it’s time to do it. They broke it. Now they’ll have to buy it.”
Or to continue to tolerate it, hopeful there’s a light switch Belichick and his consigliere, Mike Lombardi, can accidentally find in the darkness. Lombo’s plan to bloat the roster with freshmen is a bold choice. They need better players. That means finding the right ones, picking the right ones, and recruiting the right ones.
At the college level, it’s about quality of players. North Carolina was unable under Belichick and Lombardi to get enough good ones for 2025. They’ll get another chance to do it in 2026, apparently. (That said, an argument could be made to require Belichick to find a new G.M. for the second try.)
If it doesn’t work 2026, why would anyone want to see whether 2027 will be any different? Currently, some have seen enough to conclude it won’t work in 2026.
Before Week 13, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was the betting favorite for MVP. After Week 13, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has reclaimed that status.
Regardless of where the odds go as to the two of them, it has become for now a two-man race.
Maye currently has -135 odds to win the MVP award. Stafford, previously the only player in negative territory, is +135.
The next player on the list is Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, at +1500. (Packers quarterback Jordan Love is next, at +1900.)
The odds can change. The odds will change. Ultimately, it comes down to the ballots cast by the 50 Associated Press voters, only days after the conclusion of the 2025 regular season.
If the Patriots end up with the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Maye’s case gets much stronger. If the Rams also end up with the No. 1 seed in the NFC, things get complicated.
Stafford’s case could be influenced by the fact that he’s been playing since 2009, and that he’s never been a serious contender for the MVP award. That shouldn’t matter, but any process determined by voting choices made by a collection of human beings can be swayed by other factors.
Maye will have many more years to be the MVP, one or more times. Stafford is far closer to the end of the road. If not now, he may never win it.
Again, that shouldn’t matter. It’s impossible to know with any certainty whether it will. Even after the AP posts the full ballots from all voters, after the awards are announced.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye came into Monday night as a leading contender to be named the NFL’s MVP and his bid was even stronger after beating the Giants 33-15.
Maye was 24-of-31 for 282 yards and two touchdowns to push the Patriots to 11-2 as they head into their bye week. Maye’s performance came behind an offensive line that was missing both of its starters on the left side, but he didn’t miss a beat and head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game that the performance showed how Maye has grown into the responsibilities that come with the position.
“I think he’s realizing what he can be and what the impact that he makes on this offense and being the conductor,” Vrabel said, via a transcript from the team. “He’s hard on himself. I think that he challenges himself as well as his coaches. He means a great deal to this football team.”
When told what Vrabel said, Maye said that he is “just trying to be the face” of the franchise. It’s fair to say that he’s already accomplished that goal and that everyone in New England is excited about what the team will be able to accomplish as long as he is in that role.
Patriots punt returner Marcus Jones broke an NFL record on Monday night that had stood for 75 years.
The record for the most yards per punt return had belonged to former Bears punt returner George McAfee, who played from 1940 to 1950 and averaged 12.78 yards returning punts in his career. To qualify for that record, a player needs at least 75 career punt returns.
On Monday night, Jones made a spectacular play on the 75th punt return of his career, taking it back 94 yards for a touchdown. Jones ended the night with three punt returns for 124 yards, which gives him 77 punt returns for 1,127 yards in his career. That gives him a career average of 14.64 yards per punt return, breaking McAfee’s record by nearly two full yards.
After the game, Jones credited his father and his blockers.
“Whenever my dad had me in a parking lot when I was like 4 years old, he used to throw the ball in the air and be like, ‘Track it.’ That was the first thing I thought about,” Jones said. “It’s a long journey with punt returns. Everyone doesn’t want to do it. I find a lot of joy when it comes down to it. At the end of the day, ever since I got in the league, I would say the guys that have been blocking for me, I commend them 24/7. Without them I would not be able to get any yards.”
Jones knows that opposing punters often give him high and short punts because they want to limit returns, and he says he needs to balance being aggressive with being smart.
“The main thing is decision making,” Jones said. “Of course I want to be aggressive, but I also have to be smart at the same time. Whenever there are punts up there I got to go ahead and fair catch, but I try to take advantage of every opportunity I get, so whenever I get time I try to make a play.”
Jones has made a lot of plays in his NFL career.
The Patriots won a 10th consecutive game in dominating fashion, moving their NFL-best record to 11-2.
New England beat up on the Giants 33-15 on Monday Night Football.
The Patriots outgained the Giants 395 to 239, with Drake Maye continuing to make an MVP case. He went 24-of-31 for 282 yards and two touchdowns.
Maye completed passes to eight different receivers, with Hunter Henry catching four for 73. Kyle Williams had a 33-yard touchdown reception, and Kayshon Boutte scored on a 3-yard catch.
The Patriots dominated in all three phases, but three miscues by the Giants special teams allowed New England to run away with it.
Marcus Jones returned a Jamie Gillan punt 94 yards for a touchdown for an early 10-0 lead. The Patriots returner now holds the NFL record for career punt return average.
Giants kicker Younghoe Koo’s kicking foot stuck in the turf as he approached the ball for a 47-yard field-goal try. Instead of the Giants cutting the Patriots’ lead to 17-7, Giants holder Jamie Gillan was sacked for a 13-yard loss by Jeremiah Pharms.
Late in the first half, Giants returner Gunner Olszewski took a vicious helmet-to-helmet delivered by Christian Elliss, who also had a hard — but legal — hit on Jaxson Dart along the sideline in the first quarter. Olszewski went directly to the sideline medical tent after losing the ball with 3:23 remaining in the half, and he was ruled out with a concussion.
The Patriots used that for a 30-yard field goal from Andy Borregales with 1:48 remaining in the half. Borregales kicked a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the first half for a 30-7 halftime lead.
Borregales went 4-for-5, with a miss from 45 yards, as the Patriots went only 1-of-5 in the red zone.
In nine possessions, the Giants had four punts and turned it over on downs three times. Dart was 17-of-24 for 139 yards and a touchdown. Devin Singletary had 12 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown, and Darius Slayton caught two passes for 41 yards and a touchdown.
The Giants are 2-11.
