Bill Belichick's garbage 2023 continued as the biggest betting underdog of his Patriots career

Sometimes it’s worth remembering Bill Belichick wasn’t always the surefire Hall of Fame coach he’s become. He’s paid his dues with a bunch of horrible teams — mostly in Cleveland, where his Browns teams finished under .500 in four of five seasons there.

Belichick’s even had bad teams since turning the Patriots into a dynasty. But Sunday’s Week 17 matchup against the Bills sunk his New England tenure to a new low.

The Patriots closed as 14.5-underdogs to their AFC East rival, marking the biggest betting underdog of the Belichick era.

It’s both surprising and amazing.

Underdogs of two-plus touchdowns aren’t rare in the NFL these days, but you hardly see a Belichick-coached team held to such low expectations.

The New England Patriots are consensus 14.5-point underdogs against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17.

That's the biggest underdog Bill Belichick has EVER been as New England's coach

— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) December 31, 2023

Buffalo entered Week 17 with a  6-8-1 record against the spread, so it’s not like that Patriots line isn’t enticing, but really it would have to be for anyone to trust a New England squad that ranks last in points per game (14.1).

What a wild fall from a coach who was previously undoubtable week in and week out.