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Week 18 of the 2023 NFL season kicks off Saturday and wraps up Sunday night with a winner-take-all battle for the AFC East crown between the 10-6 Buffalo Bills and the 11-5 Miami Dolphins.
Given the unpredictable nature of the NFL — which last week saw the Mason Rudolph-led Steelers upset the Seahawks, the Ravens drop 56 points on the second-seeded Dolphins and the Eagles fumble away the NFC’s No. 2 seed with a home loss to the Cardinals — anything could happen in Week 18.
So, what’s next, you ask? Well, here are five bold predictions for the Week 18 slate, which features two games on Saturday — Steelers-Ravens and Texans-Colts — and the rest on Sunday.
Patriots win, then part ways with coach who led them to six Super Bowl titles
The New England Patriots are going to defeat the New York Jets on Sunday. That’s not the bold part of this prediction. The Patriots have won 15 in a row against Gang Green, with their last defeat against their AFC East rivals back in 2015.
However with the Patriots averaging an NFL-worst 14.6 points per game this season and sitting with a 4-12 record, the most losses of Bill Belichick’s head-coaching career, they are going to “mutually part ways” — essentially fire — their six-time Super Bowl champion head coach.
Both their amount of losses (12) and points per game (14.6) are their worst since the 1992 season, when they went 2-14. The following season, New England fired head coach Dick MacPherson and hired Bill Parcells.
Earlier this season, New England became the first team to lose three consecutive games with 10 or fewer points allowed since the 1938 Chicago Cardinals did so nearly 100 years ago. During the Tom Brady era, the Patriots were shut out twice in 20 seasons, including the postseason.
Given that Belichick won an NFL-record six Super Bowls for New England, he has had some leeway in the post-Brady era, but outside of…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-18-bold-predictions-bill-belichick-era-with-patriots-ends-after-win-over-jets-titans-stun-jaguars/
Author : Garrett Podell
Publish date : 2024-01-05 16:50:26
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