New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will get a second chance this weekend to become the third National Football League (NFL) coach ever to win 300 regular-season games. Attempt number 1 didn't go so well.
The Patriots suffered a 38-3 drubbing against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. The debacle in Dallas marked the worst defeat, in terms of point differential, in Belichick's 29 years as a head coach. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones turned the ball over three times, two of which the Dallas defense returned for touchdowns, and was benched in the second half.
New England, like Jones, will need to bounce back for Belichick to make history.
"Anybody that plays or coaches in this league has not so good performances along the line," Belichick said at a press conference this week. "It's part of the job, part of the situation. Every week's a new week. Mac's pretty mentally tough. So's everybody else around here. You have to be in this league. If it goes from bad to worse, you're not going to be around very long. We all get knocked down, got to get up and go back in the ring."
New England is 1-3 for the third consecutive season. But its opponent in Week 5 is a potential knockout candidate. The Patriots host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The 2-2 Saints have lost two straight games, including a 26-9 defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a week ago.
Belichick is 5-2 against the Saints as a head coach. Win number 6 against New Orleans would also mark regular-season win No. 300 for the 71-year-old coach.
Ahead of a potential milestone, here's how Belichick ranks all-time on the wins leaderboard.
Which NFL Coaches Have the Most Wins?
A win on Sunday would put Belichick in some elite company.
Only Hall of Famers Don Shula and George Halas have at least 300 wins in the regular season among every NFL head coach in the league's 100-plus year history.
The Saints-Patriots Week 5 matchup will mark Belichick's 455th game as a head coach. The future Hall-of-Famer has won 65.9 percent of his regular season games. Belichick has spent the last 24 years leading the Patriots, winning 263 regular-season contests in that time going into Sunday. Here's how Belichick fits into the top-10 winningest regular-season coaches list, according to Pro Football Reference:
1. Don Shula—328 wins
2. George Halas—318 wins
3. Belichick—299 wins
4. Andy Reid—250 wins
5. Tom Landry—250 wins
6. Curly Lambeau—226 wins
7. Paul Brown—213 wins
8. Marty Schottenheimer—200 wins
9. Chuck Noll—193 wins
10. Dan Reeves—190 wins
Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl champion as a head coach, is already the NFL's leader in postseason victories with 31. Reid, Kansas City Chiefs' head coach, is second on that list (22), while Landry, former Cowboys icon, is in third (20).
When combining regular-season and postseason victories, Belichick is number 2 all-time. Shula is first at 347, with Belichick (330), Halas (324), Reid (272), and Landry (270) rounding out the top five heading into Sunday.
NFL Head Coach Active Win Leaders
Belichick and Reid are the only active coaches in the top-10 career leaderboard for regular-season wins. Four others are currently in the top-25 all-time entering Week 5.
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is in 16th (165), just ahead of Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll (164). Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is in 20th (158), while Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh just won his 150th game and ranks 24th. The leaderboard, however, will continue to shake up over the season as coaches continue to win games.
The Patriots host the Saints at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. The game will air on CBS.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Robert Read is a Newsweek writer and reporter based in Florida. His focus is reporting on trending sports stories. Robert joined Newsweek in 2023. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa. You can get in touch with Robert by emailing r.read@newsweek.com. Languages: English.
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