A down season or just another stroke of Bill Belichick genius?
Matt Light, an offensive lineman who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, is betting on the brain of his former boss.
“Five years from now, when we look back on this season, are we going to be talking about it?,” Light told WEEI on Tuesday. “Are we going to be comparing it? We win a Super Bowl back in the day and they compare it to a previous Super Bowl we won. ‘Oh, this one was so much bigger.’ And, ‘Remember that year?’ No one is going to look back on the 2020 season and compare it to anything other than, it was a joke. It was ridiculous.”
This season was always going to be different for the Patriots with Tom Brady bolting for the Buccaneers after two decades in New England. The coronavirus pandemic has altered the season countless times with games postponed and maneuvered to keep a 16-game season intact.
The Patriots are 2-5 and Belichick admitted this week that the team’s salary-cap crunch kept them from adding depth throughout the roster. Light said he believes, though, Belichick is not treating this season as seriously as the rest.
“I mean, Bill Belichick’s the greatest there is, man,” Light said. “Do you want to compete? Do you want to go after it at the highest level? Or do you want to do what they’re doing right now with all the uncertainty?
Bill Belichick and Matt Light in happier Patriots timesBoston Globe via Getty Images“This is not the game of football we all know. It’s something other than that. Bill recognized it early on. I firmly believe that. And I think he’s building for the time that we can play for a real championship, with real players getting after it, fully prepared, getting ready to go.”
