Skip Bayless Goes Scorched Earth On Bill Belichick For Mishandling QB Situation

Virtually everyone on the planet knew Bill Belichick and the Patriots were going to have to deal with some growing pains when Tom Brady announced his decision to take his talents to Tampa Bay after spending the previous 20 seasons in New England, and all eyes were on the man who served as the head coach during every one of those campaigns to see if he’d be able to continue his success without the help of one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.

It’s safe to say that hasn’t been the case. Belichick posted a record of 219-64 in games where Brady played, but following Monday’s loss to the Bears, the skipper is now 20-20 in the Post Brady Era and is dealing with a bit of a headache thanks to the succession battle that’s become harder to ignore with every week that passes.

Mac Jones may have headed into the season as the starter in New England, but Bailey Zappe seized on the chance to make his case after the team’s QB1 was sidelined with an injury and subsequently threw a bit of a hitch into what most people assumed was Belichick’s master plan at the start of the year.

That reality was highlighted when Zappe was tapped to replace a struggling Jones in the second quarter of the Patriots’ 33-14 loss to Chicago—a decision that has seemingly resulted in some internal friction and led to one talking head tearing into Belichick for how he’s handling things.

Skip Bayless had some harsh words for Bill Belichick after the head coach had Bailey Zappe take over for Mac Jones against the Bears

On Tuesday, Bayless discussed what went down with Shannon Sharpe on Undisputed, and it’s safe to say he did not agree with the approach Belichick took.

Here’s what he had to say:

“History would scream at Coach Belichick. He does know football history because he wants to dominate it. He wants to pass Papa Bear George Halas, and he thought that was going to happen last night and it did not, so they remain tied in victories as he pursues Coach Shula’s all-time victory record.

But what do we all know? If you have two quarterbacks, you have none. That is the oldest cliché in all of football at any level down to high school or Pop Warner: if you have two, you have none. It’s the hardest position to play in any sport, and it’s all about faith in and confidence-building in that quarterback.

What he did to Mac Jones last night was career-threatening. It’s just hard to bounce back…This was the classic case of Bill Belichick—on the Monday Night Football stage—saying, ‘Let me repolish my ‘genius,’ Let me reprove it. Let me show you I’m not just the smartest man in my room; I’m the smartest man in the history of this league. I can get away with this because I’m Bill Belichick and you’re not’…

I’m not buying that Bill Belichick had a plan in place to play both quarterbacks. You cannot tell me that if Mac Jones had taken the ball the first two times he had it and gone down and scored touchdowns and it was 14-0, he’s not going to go to Bailey Zappe. He’s not going to do it. He would look like an even bigger fool than he looked last night. 

The point is he saw the opening and he said, ‘I’m going to the kid because the kid’s got some magic about him. It’s gonna be Zappe Hour and I’m gonna get them all excited’… Then he started to get exposed and bad went to worse and they suffered one of the most ignominious defeats that they’ve ever suffered on Monday Night Football.”

Damn, Skip. Tell us how you really feel.