Brady's heirs spoil the Patriots' spectacle in Germany
Bill Belichick is the most successful coach in NFL history. But these days, the coaching legend is experiencing the most bitter time of his career. During his Patriots' game in Frankfurt, his own playmakers are making him desperate.
The six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots were unable to find a way out of their crisis during their NFL game in Frankfurt. The Patriots lost 6:10 (3:7) to the Indianapolis Colts in front of 50,144 spectators in the second part of the football double-header on the Main and conceded their eighth defeat in the tenth game of the season.
Bill Belichick, the most successful head coach in the history of the National Football League (NFL), must therefore increasingly fear for his job. The Patriots are facing their worst season since the 71-year-old has been in office - since 2000, after all.
In the stadium of the Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, the fans gave New England a real home game atmosphere with their large crowd, but they mainly saw dominant defensive lines - both teams achieved very little offensively. Jonathan Taylor scored the first and only touchdown of the game shortly before the end of the first quarter.
Coach legend Belichick was then badly let down by his playmakers in the final minutes of the game: starter Mac Jones simply threw away the potential lead a few yards from the Colts end zone and instead produced an interception with a badly underthrown pass. It was the ninth of the current season, compared to ten touchdown passes. A terrible record for the heir to the great Tom Brady, who brought six Super Bowls to New England in a Patriots uniform under Belichick and conjured up an endless number of NFL records in the history books.
For the last drive of the game, which could still have brought victory for the Patriots, Belichick benched his completely dismayed regular playmaker - and put the game in the hands of his deputy Bailey Zappe. But even the 24-year-old was no longer successful. On the contrary: Zappe finally decided the game in favor of the Indianpolis Colts with an interception.
A week earlier, Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs had won 21:14 against the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt. According to the NFL, well over three million tickets could have been sold for both games.
Last season, the NFL played the first game of a regular season on German soil. In Munich, quarterback icon Tom Brady, long successful with the Patriots, defeated the Seattle Seahawks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFL will return to Munich with a game next year and will be back on the Main in 2025.
Despite the impressive home crowd support, the struggling New England Patriots failed to capitalize on their offensive opportunities in the NFL game against the Indianapolis Colts. Bill Belichick's playmakers, including starter Mac Jones and backup Bailey Zappe, failed to deliver, resulting in costly interceptions and missed opportunities, further adding to the team's woes. In the rich history of the NFL, these missteps are particularly unfortunate for Belichick, known for his success with the Patriots and his legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who excelled in American Football at the NFL level.
Source: www.ntv.de
