Is it time for Bill Belichick to leave New England Patriots?

Sometimes second guessing sucks, but the line between winning and losing is so small in the NFL, I could not help but think as the New England Patriots lost 21-17 to the New York Giants in Superbowl XLVI, it was solely because of Bill Belichick’s ego.  The glaring weakness of the 2011-2012 Pats in the Superbowl was poor run defense by not having Albert Haynesworth and not having Randy Moss.

The Pats were certainly big in their front seven on defense, but there is a lot less likelihood that the G-Men rush 28 times for 112 yards with Albert Haynesworth on the field.  I think on the biggest stage he would have found a way to get a sack; however, Bill just could not motivate or work with a player that could have been a huge difference maker in the biggest game of the season. 

When you compare the ability of Tom Coughlin to work with a difficult Osi Umenyiora throughout this season, it is clear that Belichick failed miserably with the Haynesworth situation.

Let’s take things a step further, part of the Pats’ offensive philosophy has been about having small receivers and today Tom Brady is being ripped by the media for not making one accurate throw to Wes Welker, but that same ball would have been an easy catch for Randy Moss.

Yes, I know Rob Gronkowski was hurt, but Moss indicated he wanted to be on this team and he should have been.  The ‘Patriots Way’ as it has coined is about performance on the field and why no one wants to be insensitive to some of the off the field issues that Chad Ochocinco went through this season; the fact is that everybody goes through things in life. Unfortunately, Ochocinco should have probably been waived  at some point this season and the organization should have done more to add Moss to this team. 

It seems like Bill Belichick, Bill O’Brien and Josh McDaniels went out of their way to get Ochocinco a catch in the biggest game, when he just did not earn it on the field throughout this season. Don’t get me wrong, Ochocinco worked hard, but his performance was not good enough. Randy Moss would have been the difference in this game because the Pats needed more explosive plays in the biggest game of the season and it is clear that Bill let his ego stand in the way of beating the G-Men this season.

Belichick should be getting ripped by the media because he needed to put some of his ego aside and find a way to work with Moss.  That’s part of his job as the head man in Beantown.  After all you can’t sell the team or the world humble pie, when you clearly have lost your appetite or taste for humility. That’s something Belichick will have to think long and hard about this off-season.