When the Patriots fired Bill Belichick two years ago, most assumed he’d land on his feet with another NFL team.
In the third hiring cycle since his firing by the Patriots, Belichick has been publicly linked to only one job (the Falcons, in 2024).
This year, with 10 total openings, Belichick’s name has not come up. Except, of course, when he brought it up on his own.
In November 2025, Belichick issued a statement declaring he won’t pursue the opening with the Giants “despite circulating rumors.” (None were circulating.) The Giants, as we hear it, weren’t pleased with the pre-emptive announcement, since they had no intention of pursuing him.
If any other team has even kicked the tires on the Tar Heels coach, the interest has been kept tightly under wraps. Nothing has leaked about any inquiries or conversations or even basic background work (like, for example, figuring out the depth of and basis for his lingering animosity toward his former NFL employer) associated with making a potential hire.
The Buffalo job would be the one to watch, given the presence of quarterback Josh Allen and the ongoing rivalry with the Patriots. Belichick is regarded as the greatest game-day coach in league history. Yes, other factors have potentially complicated things, to say the least. Still, given the craziness of the past few weeks in the NFL, it would be foolish to completely rule out anything.
For now, though, the key word as it relates to Belichick’s NFL prospects is “nothing.” In three cycles, he’s had one announced interview. And while he has said he doesn’t want to return to the NFL, few in NFL circles believe it. The more reasonable interpretation would seem to be that it’s his way of dealing with the fact that no NFL team wants him.
Patriots Clips
There’s a chance the Patriots could get a boost offensively for Sunday’s upcoming AFC Championship Game.
Receiver Mack Hollins is eligible to come off injured reserve this week after being placed on the list with an abdominal issue in late December.
But at this point, the Patriots have not determined whether or not he’ll practice this week.
“I can’t be certain right now,” head coach Mike Vrabel said of Hollins in his Monday press conference, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. “Still working through everything with some of those guys that could be back.”
Hollins was a key offensive factor for New England in 2025, catching 46 passes for 550 yards with two touchdowns in 15 games. He was third on the team in receptions behind Stefon Diggs and Hunter Henry and fourth in receiving yards behind Diggs, Henry, and Kayshon Boutte.
Vrabel also noted the team hasn’t determined whether or not defensive tackle Joshua Farmer (hamstring) will begin practicing this week.
New England’s first injury report of the week will be released on Wednesday.
The Patriots have an MVP candidate in quarterback Drake Maye and his rise in his second NFL season has been a dominant storyline of the team’s run to the AFC title game.
Sunday’s win over the Texans offered a reminder that Maye has had plenty of company in getting the team to this point. The Patriots defense forced five turnovers while sacking C.J. Stroud three times and holding Houston to 48 rushing yards in a 28-16 win that featured three Maye turnovers.
After the game, defensive tackle Milton Williams said he feels that people have not paid enough attention to the team’s defensive performance.
“It definitely fueled the whole defense. Nobody has been talking about our defense all year. We’ll see what they say today,” Williams said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “Every week, we’re trying to come out and dominate, knowing that they do have a great defense, but in our minds, it was our defense versus their defense. See who could make more plays, create more turnovers, stop the run and get the ball back to our offense.”
With Jarrett Stidham set to start at quarterback for the Broncos in the AFC title game, there will be plenty of focus on the Patriots defense’s opportunity to propel the team into the Super Bowl by stifling Denver’s offensive hopes on January 25.
When the Chiefs missed the playoffs this season, there was a lot of talk about the chance for a changing of the guard in the AFC.
There’s still more to play out in the conference, but meeting the new boss is looking a lot like the old boss in one respect. The Patriots are back in the title game after beating the Texans on Sunday and that continues a long run that’s seen either New England or Kansas City involved in deciding the AFC champion.
Next Sunday’s game in Denver will be the 15th straight conference title game involving either the Patriots or the Chiefs. The Patriots made it after the 2011-2018 seasons and beat the Chiefs in their final appearance. Patrick Mahomes would lead the Chiefs to a win the next year and they would make six more appearances before things went south for them this year.
Those Patriot teams were quarterbacked by Tom Brady rather than Drake Maye, but the 2024 first-round pick’s rapid rise to MVP contention has raised hopes that another prolonged run of success is already underway in New England.
During last Monday night’s wild-card win over the Steelers, Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair wore eye black strips with a message written on them: “stop the genocide.”
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, the NFL fined Al-Shaair $11,593 for violating the league’s rule against personal messages.
The fine was not listed among the various fines from the six wild-card games, which were posted by the league on Saturday. The weekly fines announced by the league relate only to situations involving on-field playing rules.
Al-Shaair wore the message prior to Sunday’s division-round against the Patriots, but not during it.
The “stop the genocide” message relates to the Israeli military operations in Gaza, following the October 2023 terror attack. Israel has denied allegations that it has engaged in genocide in response to the October 2023 incident. In recent years, Al-Shaair has supported Palestinian causes via the “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign.
“If my platform can bring even a little hope to families in Palestine, then that is what I want to use it for,” Al-Shaair said during the 2025 regular season.
After Sunday’s game, Al-Shaair said he knew he’d be fined for the message. He added that he was told he’d be removed from the contest against the Patriots, if he wore the message again.
“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than me,” Al-Shaair told reporters after the game. “But things that are going on makes people uncomfortable. Imagine how those people feel. I think that’s the biggest thing. I have no affiliation, no connection to these people, other than the fact that I’m a human being.”
He also raised the question of why other players (he specifically mentioned current Patriots and former Texans receiver Stefon Diggs) have been permitted to play despite repeatedly wearing messages on their eye black. It does indeed seem that more players now do it. At one point, the NFL had a very strict policy against it — to the point where such messages (whatever the content) rarely if ever could be seen during games.
In 2024, the league fined 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa $11,255 for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat on the field after an October 27 game. The league announced the fine after the election.
The official rules contemplate a certain amount of leeway when it comes to personal messages. From Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8 of the NFL rulebook: “Throughout the period on game day that a player is visible to the stadium and television audience (including in pregame warm-ups, in the bench area, and during postgame interviews in the locker room or on the field), players are prohibited from wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages either in writing or illustration, unless such message has been approved in advance by the League office. Items to celebrate anniversaries or memorable events, or to honor or commemorate individuals, such as helmet decals, and arm bands and jersey patches on players’ uniforms, are prohibited unless approved in advance by the League office. All such items approved by the League office, if any, must relate to team or League events or personages. The League will not grant permission for any club or player to wear, display, or otherwise convey messages, through helmet decals, arm bands, jersey patches, mouthpieces, or other items affixed to game uniforms or equipment, which relate to political activities or causes, other non-football events, causes or campaigns, or charitable causes or campaigns. Further, any such approved items must be modest in size, tasteful, non-commercial, and non-controversial; must not be worn for more than one football season; and if approved for use by a specific team, must not be worn by players on other teams in the League.”
Based on the language of the rule, Al-Shaair likely faces another fine for wearing the message during pregame warmups on Sunday, since he was seen on the TV coverage with the message on the eye black strips.
Because the fines are not usually announced, it’s generally not known which players have been disciplined. It’s also unknown which specific players have received permission to display personal messages.
The rule has been around for years. In the 1985 playoffs, Bears quarterback Jim McMahon was fined $5,000 for wearing an Adidas headband. The next week, in the NFC Championship against the Rams, McMahon wore a headband with the last name of then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle written on it.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad first half Sunday. It was one of the worst first halves of a playoff game ever, as Stroud threw four interceptions, including a pick-six.
The Texans had Davis Mills sitting on the bench.
Mills was 3-0 as a starter in place of an injured Stroud this season, throwing five touchdowns and an interception.
Yet, DeMeco Ryans said he never considered making a change at quarterback.
“C.J. is our guy,” Ryans said, via a postgame transcript. “I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he could play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better. We had some positive drives in the second half. I believed that he would do that, and he did that. As I always tell our guys at halftime: It doesn’t matter what happened in the first half. You have to flush it, remove it, and you just have to go out and finish the right way.”
Stroud didn’t have any turnovers in the second half, but he was only 10-of-21 for 88 yards. It wasn’t good enough for the Texans to overcome the 21-10 halftime deficit because of Stroud’s play.
The Texans now have a decision about Stroud’s future: Is he their franchise quarterback? The first decision is whether to exercise his fifth-year option for 2027, and then, at some point, they’ll have to decide on his long-term future. Stroud is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but seven turnovers in two playoff games should give the Texans pause.
As ESPN analyst Troy Aikman said during the broadcast, “CJ Stroud has been chasing his rookie success for the last two years. He’s not been the same player. We’ve not seen the development from him. There’s a reason for that, and it has to be addressed.”
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had a disastrous day in New England, with four first-half interceptions in a 28-16 loss. But he wasn’t the first quarterback to have that stat line through two quarters of a postseason game.
In 2022, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence had four interceptions in the first half of a wild-card game against the Chargers. The Jaguars came back to win the game.
Stroud and Lawrence are the only two quarterbacks with four first-half interceptions in a playoff game since 2000.
Lawrence was the first to throw four interceptions in the first half of a postseason game since Lions quarterback Gary Danielson in the 1982 playoffs against Washington.
Others have had rough days in the postseason. In the 2015 postseason, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer had four interceptions and two lost fumbles in a playoff loss to the Panthers. In the 2011 playoffs, Packers quarterback Brett Favre threw six interceptions in a blowout loss to the Rams.
And in Super Bowl XIII, Broncos quarterback Craig Morton had four first-half interceptions against the Cowboys.
For Stroud, who had three turnovers in a wild-card win over the Steelers, his most recent two games put a cloud over the Texans’ offseason. He’ll have plenty of pressure on him in 2026, unless the Texans sign him to an extension in the offseason.
The Broncos won’t have quarterback Bo Nix next weekend or, if they beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship, the Super Bowl.
Although they seem to be fully content to ride with Jarrett Stidham, who has four career starts, many have asked about various potential free-agent options.
The key is that the player has to be a true free agent, right now. Any player who finished his season with an expiring contract remains under contract until the first day of the league year, in March. That prevents the Broncos from pursuing someone like Aaron Rodgers or Philip Rivers.
If, of course, the Colts had released Rivers after Week 17 (he was the emergency third-string quarterback for a meaningless Week 18 game against the Texans), he would have been available — if he had cleared waivers. Any quarterback that finished his team’s season on the roster is not available.
Also not available is any quarterback on his team’s reserve/retired list, like Saints quarterback Derek Carr. And Tom Brady isn’t an option, because he owns a piece of the Raiders.
That leaves a small universe of true free agents. Taylor Heinicke is one of them. Ryan Tannehill, who last played during the 2023 season, also is available. Others who could be signed immediately include Nick Foles and Robert Griffin III. Ditto for Cam Newton, who wasn’t pleased when the Colts signed Rivers in December without calling Newton.
Then there’s Drew Brees. Like Rivers (before he unretired to rejoin the Colts), Brees last played in 2020. Unlike Rivers, Brees spent more than a decade with Broncos coach Sean Payton.
Still, Stidham has been on the Denver roster since Payton arrived in 2023. Stidham knows the offense. He’s ready to go.
That said, who would have dreamed that the Colts would sign Rivers? Brees is in play, if he’s ready and willing to play — and if the Broncos are willing to pivot to the imminent Hall of Famer, who’d reset the clock on his five-year waiting period if he would return to play.
The Patriots will be road favorites in Denver in next weekend’s AFC Championship Game.
The point spread has been released, and the Patriots are 4.5-point favorites at the Broncos.
That’s a reflection of the injury suffered by Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix, who has been ruled out for the playoffs and will be replaced by Jarrett Stidham. Prior to this weekend’s action, when it was assumed that Nix would start if the Broncos reached the AFC Championship Game, the Broncos were one-point favorites over the Patriots in the look-ahead line.
The over-under is set at 41.5 points.
The Patriots are moving on to the AFC Championship.
Led by a strong defensive performance, New England defeated Houston 28-16 to reach the club’s first conference championship game since the 2018 season.
New England’s defense picked off Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud four times — all in the first half — and ended up inducing five total turnovers, as running back Woody Marks fumbled early in the third quarter.
Stroud performed so poorly in the first half, it seemed like there should be some question as to whether or not he would be replaced by backup Davis Mills. But Stroud finished the game at QB, completing 20-of-47 passes for 212 yards with one touchdown and his four interceptions.
Part of the issue for Stroud was that the Texans didn’t have any semblance of a run game. Marks had just 17 yards on 14 carries while Nick Chubb ran for 14 on four attempts.
With the five takeaways, the Patriots didn’t have to do as much offensively. But even as Drake Maye was strip-sacked three times, he only lost one fumble on them. He lost another on a run play in the first half.
Maye finished the contest 16-of-27 for 179 yards with three touchdowns and an interception that came on a Hail Mary to end the second quarter.
Kayshon Boutte helped put the game away with his 32-yard, one-handed touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter to put the Patriots up by 12 points with 12:58 left in the contest. He finished the game with three catches for 75 yards.
Rhamondre Stevenson led with 70 yards on 16 carries while TreVeyon Henderson had 25 yards on 12 carries.
The Patriots will be on the road next weekend to play the Broncos for the right to advance to Super Bowl LX. Given Bo Nix’s ankle injury suffered at the end of Saturday’s win, New England is likely to be favored for the game.
