What will it take for Bill Belichick to lose?

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick press conference
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The 2-0 Houston Texans came into Thursday night’s matchup against Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots heavily favored to win.

With Tom Brady still suspended and Jimmy Garoppolo still on the mend, rookie Jacoby Brissett was set to start his first ever NFL game. Gronkowski was active but not quite himself. Both the Texans’ defense and fan base were licking their chops, gearing up for a dominating performance from the defense. I think most of us envisioned J.J. Watt giving Brissett a rough welcome to the NFL.

In tonight’s pre-game, three of the five members of the NFL Game Day crew predicted the Texans to win, and they all predicted it would be a pretty close game.

The final score wasn’t even close. The Texans didn’t even make it onto the scoreboard. Houston fumbled the ball away twice on kickoffs, and Osweiler threw a 2nd quarter interception to Jamie Collins. The Texans were flagged six times for 43 yards, including two costly pass interference penalties that ultimately led to a LeGarrette Blount touchdown.

The Texans’ problem wasn’t just the penalties or the turnovers though. And the majority of our voters agree. Bill Belichick was the real problem.

Now people like to laugh at the fact that Belichick doesn’t–well–laugh. Or smile, or give actual answers in interviews, or wear anything other than his grey hoodie. But there is one thing that even the most adamant Patriots haters have to acknowledge. Bill Belichick is in a class of his own.

Over the first two weeks of the season, Belichick’s game plans made Jimmy Garoppolo look like a great NFL quarterback. Tonight, with Jacoby Brissett at the helm, Belichick (credit to Josh McDaniels too) scripted up a masterful game plan that didn’t ask too much from the rookie and put him in position to succeed. There was a big serving of LeGarrette Blount and a good dose of jet sweeps, misdirection and gadget plays.

The Texans’ defense became hesitant and had to respect every kind of fake or misdirection. With Belichick’s help, Jacoby Brissett clearly looked like the better quarterback on the field.

Here’s Brissett’s first career touchdown:

Brock Osweiler looked rattled and, while his receivers had some big drops, he was off-point on a good share of his throws. The coaching didn’t help as the Texans called some strange timeouts and called some questionable plays at pivotal points of the game, including on crucial third and fourth downs. Now there’s a lot that the Texans need to work on. But don’t undersell the Texans. As bad as they looked tonight, they are a good team. And Bill O’Brien is a good coach.

But Bill Belichick’s ability to adjust his game plans and play-calling based on his personnel is unmatched. Regardless of the team he fields or the injuries that hit his roster, Belichick seems to find a way to win. His ability to morph his team to cater to their strengths and an opponent’s weaknesses makes it difficult for other coaches to really be prepared for games against the Patriots. Tonight was proof of that.

As much as it pains so many football fans outside of New England, Bill Belichick reminded us tonight that we should never underestimate a team he puts on the gridiron. Next time we need a reminder, maybe we should rewatch this game tape along with what LeGarrette Blount had to say after tonight’s game:

(Photo credit: WEBN-TV via Visual hunt / CC BY-ND)

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