Bill Belichick's exploits with the New England Patriots will never be replicated and mark him out as the best coach in NFL history, according to the team's former safety Duron Harmon.
Last week, team owner Robert Kraft announced the end of Belichick's remarkable 24-year stint in charge of the Patriots, who he led to six Super Bowl titles – the most of any coach in the league's history.
Belichick led New England to 18 playoff trips after taking charge in 2000, but the team missed the postseason in three of his final four campaigns at the helm.
Their 4-13 record throughout the 2023 season was their worst under Belichick, whose last playoff win came back in 2019 as the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams at Super Bowl LIII.
Despite a less-than-stellar end to his distinguished run in New England, Harmon – who won three Super Bowls throughout a six-year stint with the team between 2013 and 2019 – says Belichick's place in the history books is secure.
Asked what Belichick's Patriots legacy amounted to, Harmon told Stats Perform: "In my opinion, he's just the best coach who ever graced the NFL.
"What he was able to accomplish over those 20-plus years as a Patriots coach, we've never seen it before. It will never be duplicated.
"He set the standard extremely high for when people try to talk about dynasties. I'm just forever grateful that he chose me to be a part of his team and to be a part of his legacy."
While Belichick will turn 72 in April, it has been suggested that he may stay in the league as he chases down Don Shula's all-time record of 347 wins (regular season and playoffs), a tally he is currently 14 shy of.
The Los Angeles Chargers have been touted as a potential destination for Belichick, but Harmon cannot see the Patriots legend coaching elsewhere.
"I just can't see it," he said. "He and Tom Brady are the Patriots. They're what the Patriots stand for, to do your job, hard-nosed gritty football, those two together built the Patriots organisation.
"So to see him go somewhere else... me personally, I can't see it, but the beauty about sports is you just never know. In due time, we will figure out whether he'll be somewhere else."
For the Patriots, attention quickly turned to the search for Belichick's successor, and 37-year-old former linebackers coach Jerod Mayo became the league's youngest head coach when his promotion was made official on Friday.
Having shared a locker room with Mayo throughout his first three seasons with the Patriots, Harmon believes he has all the attributes required to be a success.
"My time there with him… he's a tremendous, tremendous leader. A leader of men, an intelligent person," Harmon said of Mayo.
"Most people say he's just a smart football player, but he's just an intelligent person. Straight out of retirement, he went and worked for a company, a big Fortune 500 company.
"It shows who he is as a person and as a leader, that as soon as he gets done playing, somebody wants to hire him to lead this division of their company.
"If I had to put my hat on or give my blessing to anybody, it would be Jerod Mayo."
Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers
Kirk Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.
Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.
Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime, one week after he made a 58-yarder with 2 seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.
The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again. Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing one over the middle to Hodge, who split the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.
Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.
Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.
The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.
Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.
The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.
Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.
His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.
It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.
No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.
The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.
Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.
'It was a good day' - Goff proud of setting new NFL record
Jared Goff was proud of making history, as he set an NFL single-game record by completing all 18 of his pass attempts to help the Detroit Lions to victory.
The Lions beat the previously unbeaten Seattle Seahawks 42-29 on Monday, with Goff eclipsing Hall of Famer Kurt Warner's 10-for-10 performance in 2005, the previous standard for most passes in a game without an incompletion.
The quarterback threw for 292 yards, including touchdown passes to Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown on his perfect evening, while also hauling in the latter's 7-yard toss for a touchdown in the third quarter.
That made him the first quarterback with a receiving touchdown since Zach Wilson in 2022, while he also became the first QB in NFL history with 15 or more pass attempts with no incompletions in a game.
Goff was aware that he was closing in on a perfect game, even if he had doubts at one point.
"I knew I did it in the first half last week, so I was aware of it then, and I was kind of aware of it today in the middle of the third quarter," he said.
"I couldn't think of one [incompletion], but then I threw the one out of bounds that ended up being offensive pass interference, and I was like, 'Does that count?' I didn't know if that counted or not.
"But yeah, it was a good day."
On his touchdown reception, he added: "No, I think that's my first one, too. Ever.
"And I'm saying all the way back to 7 years old, I think that's my first one."
Lions coach Dan Campbell did not realise how impressive Goff's performance had been after the game, choosing to give the game ball to Williams and safety Kerby Joseph for their strong play.
"I just gave the game ball to somebody else," Campbell laughed. "So, I feel awful right now.
"I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18 for 18.
"I thought what really kick-started him was that he had to move a little in the pocket, got spun around and hung with Jamo [Williams] and hit him on the hook for the first down, that was big because he was rolling after that."
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