Crowe: The 2023 Season Week #9 - Belichick to Washington?

Crowe: The 2023 Season Week #9 - Belichick to Washington?

Back in 2000, it took a trade with the New York Jets to start the turnaround of the New England Patriots. Six Super Bowl trophies, a dynasty, and nearly a quarter of a century later, could it happen again?

According to various reports around the NFL, such as Mike Florio’s Pro Football Talk, the rumor mill is churning with talk of a Bill Belichick trade to Washington as part of a twist to bring new life to both organizations.

Washington owner Josh Harris is new to the league and not afraid to start over, much like he did in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, just recently trading star point guard James Harden to the Clippers. This week, as the leader of the Commanders, he traded away two of his team’s top defensive stars, Chase Young and Montez Sweat, signaling a rebuild is well underway. Ron Rivera, the current head coach, is seven games under .500 since taking over and the team has lost five of six games since starting 2-0 in 2023.

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Meanwhile, here in New England, we certainly know how bad things have gotten since Tom Brady left to win a seventh Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and retire two seasons later. Belichick has gone just 27-31 with one playoff season, a first-round loss, with quarterback Mac Jones regressing to this season’s 2-6 record. A move to Washington with a fresh start, a large contract with room to build and try to break Don Shula’s record for overall wins could be just what Belichick is looking for as a way out of Foxboro. Shula has 347 victories while Belichick currently has 331.

The question is would Robert Kraft pull the trigger and forever be known as the man who walked away from BOTH Brady and Belichick in pursuit of this franchise’s seventh championship? That’s something only he and his son Jonathan may fully know the answer to up at Gillette Stadium.

The precedent is there with Belichick, Jon Gruden, and most recently, Sean Payton going from New Orleans to Denver.

Ironically enough, the two teams meet this Foxboro with not much on the line but hope and a chance to keep their fleeting playoff hopes alive. But who knows, we may look back at this game as one that led to the start of changing the future.

 

NFL Week 9 Power Rankings:

 

10. Buffalo Bills (5-3, Last week not ranked)
It certainly wasn’t pretty and the Bills still aren’t quite right, but Buffalo is still where they want to be in the thick of the AFC playoff chase. A trade for cornerback Rasul Douglas should shore up the secondary but Buffalo still lacks a consistent run game that could provide some depth to Josh Allen’s explosive offense.

 

9. San Francisco 49ers (5-3, Last week ranked 3rd)
The week nine bye couldn’t come at a better time for the 49ers who seem to be off just a beat and now losers of three straight games. Quarterback Brock Purdy hasn’t looked the same since his concussion in Minnesota. San Francisco’s defense, already one of the NFL’s best, got better this week with a trade for Washington’s Chase Young, a former top 3 pick who’ll play opposite Nick Bosa.

 

8. Dallas Cowboys (5-2, Last week ranked 10th)
43 points coming off the bye against the Rams have the Cowboys feeling good about themselves again heading into week nine’s contest in Philly.

 

7. Seattle Seahawks (5-2, Last week ranked 8th)
With the 49ers losing three games in a row, Seattle suddenly finds itself in first place in the NFC West. They’ll be tested in week nine against AFC North-leading Baltimore.

 

6. Detroit Lions (6-2, Last week ranked 5th)
Like many in week eight, the Lions won but didn’t really impress with a Monday night victory over the Raiders. But that’s okay. Winning at this point of the season is all that matters. They won’t lose in week nine either as they have the week off.

 

5. Kansas City Chiefs (6-2, Last week ranked 2nd)
A win over Denver last Sunday was supposed to be a given, but the Broncos dominated the Chiefs and the flu-ridden Patrick Mahomes. Kansas City travels to Germany hoping to get “well” quickly against former Chiefs’ teammate Tyreke Hill. Mahomes isn’t having the year he’s accustomed to so far as he’s tied for the lead in the league for interceptions with eight.

 

4. Baltimore Ravens (6-2, Last week ranked 4th)
After a rather lackluster win at Arizona last Sunday, the Ravens start a three-game home streak by welcoming the now surprising first-place Seahawks to town. Lamar Jackson has completed nearly 71% of his passes through eight weeks. Add that to a running game that’s top 3 in the league (143 yards/game) and the Ravens are rolling.

 

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-2, Last week ranked 7th)
The Jaguars won five times in October and have week nine off for the bye.

 

2. Miami Dolphins (6-2, Last week ranked 6th)
Sunday’s first international trip to Frankfurt, Germany, is one in which Miami can show it can play with the big boys. The Chiefs, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes battling the flu, lost at Denver last week.  This is a revenge game for Tyreke Hill against his former team and he’s got the NFL’s top QB in Tua Tagovailoa feeding him (2,416 yards, 18 TDs). The return of cornerback Jalen Ramsey helps, too.

 

1. Philadelphia Eagles (7-1, Last week ranked 1st)
Wide receiver AJ Brown has put the offense on his back, catching at least seven passes for 127 yards in six consecutive games. Talk about backing up your words as Brown said he wasn’t involved enough during the first two weeks of the season with just 11 catches. A key NFC East showdown comes Sunday as Philly hosts Dallas.

 

Five games to watch in week nine:
Commanders at Patriots (Sunday 1 pm on FOX)
Dolphins vs Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany (9:30 am on NFL Network)
Seahawks at Ravens (Sunday 1 pm on CBS)
Cowboys at Eagles (Sunday 4:25 pm on FOX)
Bills at Bengals (Sunday 8:20 pm on NBC)