FOXBOROUGH, Mass — The forecast calls for snow to fall on a 71-year-old man wearing a hoodie, who for the New York Jets has been the Abominable Snowman.
For the Jets, for their fans, comes this plea to the all-too cruel football gods:
Let it snow on Bill Belichick’s Foxborough Farewell parade.
And no Tuck-Rule escape this time, please. No snow-plow help this time, please.
This one, if in fact it is the last one for Bill Belichick as HC of the NEP, wouldn’t in any universe make up for watching him win six Super Bowls. For failing to do anything to keep him from winning 11 consecutive AFC East titles, and 16 of 17.
For losing 15 consecutive games to him.
***** Fifteen! *****
For all the head coaches the Jets hired who kissed or didn’t kiss his rings.
For being trapped inside the Evil Empire dynasty that he and Tom Brady ruled.
For the chutzpah of Spygate in your backyard.
For being the head coach who was supposed to succeed Bill Parcells as HC of the NYJ for longer than 24 hours.
This one won’t knock him out of the playoffs. He’ll be watching them again … just like you and your Jets will be for the 13th straight season.
***** Thirteenth! *****
All it would be, if in fact this is his Foxborough Farewell, is a parting “good riddance” to a man who took great delight from beneath that hoodie in watching your owner change coaches and general managers, and your revolving door of quarterbacks see ghosts.
This one would hand him a 178th loss that would tie him with Tom Landry for most all-time losses, which only means that he has lasted this long because he is the GOAT.
For many Jets fans, finally beating Belichick and merely improving to 7-10 would not be worth possibly boosting the Patriots’ draft position and gifting whomever will be coaching them next season a shot at either Caleb Williams, should the Bears roll with Justin Fields, or Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels.
The Patriots enter Sunday with the third-overall pick of the draft, with the second pick still in play. If whomever is doing the picking picks the right quarterback this time, he will be haunting the Jets a whole lot longer than Aaron Rodgers will be haunting the Patriots, that’s for sure.
Nevertheless, the thought of losing for the 16th straight time to Belichick should be anathema to Jets players. None of them should or will care about next season and the next Patriots quarterback.
Of course, the Jets have played so woefully across too much of the season that it would be virtually impossible for Roger Goodell to determine whether any of them might be tanking.
Perhaps watching Brady win his seventh Super Bowl at Tampa Bay after leaving Belichick gave you some measure of satisfaction. Unless, of course, Brady was every bit the Hatetriot to you that Darth Belichick was once their reign of terror together began 22 long years ago.
Asking for a friend of a long-suffering Jets fan: If Belichick had stayed as HC of the NYJ, and drafted Brady in 2000, how many times would Joe Namath have offered to have his No. 12 jersey unretired once Brady — the Patriots retired his iconic No. 12 in September — began accumulating Lombardi Trophies?
How many times has Robert Saleh’s text partner Joe Benigno cried, “Oh the pain!” because of Belichick?
Belichick has never been more vulnerable than he will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. at wintry Gillette Stadium, with backup quarterback Bailey Zappe directing an offense every bit as impotent as the one Trevor Siemian will be bringing for fans braving the snow or rain to thank Belichick for the memories.
He is three months from his 72nd birthday. His general manager has picked the wrong players, the wrong quarterback. All those years he implored his players to “Do your job” seems to have fallen on his general manager’s deaf ears. Only, he is the general manager.
There was no hint of the hell Belichick would unleash on Woody Johnson and the Jets in 2000, when he ran into Robert Kraft’s warm embrace, and Parcells turned to Al Groh, who lasted one year instead of one day.
“One of the great moments of my career,” Belichick would call it in 2020. “That wasn’t a good situation for me, and I didn’t want to be a part of it, so I wasn’t.”
Belichick’s record since Brady left: 29-37, with one playoff loss.
The Jets’ record since Brady left Belichick: 19-47.
Remorse for opportunity lost.
None of these Jets has suffered all of these 15 consecutive losses to Belichick. C.J.Mosley came to the Jets in 2019. He played two games that season before a groin injury ended his season. He opted out in 2020 because of COVID. He played two games as a Raven against Belichick and lost them. The 2015 divisional playoff game stings the most. The Joe Flacco Ravens blew a pair of 14-point leads.
“[Placekicker] Justin Tucker was talking about like how he felt the ball was flat before the game,” Mosley told The Post. The following week the Patriots routed the Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship game. ***** Deflategate! ***** Brady was suspended four games to start the 2016 season. He and Belichick would win three more Super Bowls together anyway.
This one, if in fact it is the last one for him as HC of the NEP, is your last chance. The last team he will want to beat him on his way out is the NYJ. So beat him. Show him that on this given Sunday, finally, you had more than a snowball’s chance in hell.
Beat Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft on Monday might be telling him: “You couldn’t even beat the damn Jets!”
No, it isn’t the Super Bowl. If it does turn out to be the Snow Bowl, think about how good it would feel sending your Abominable Snowman out into the cold a loser. For once. And forever.