It's difficult to imagine Belichick keeping his job after this disastrous season. But, with the NFL career victories record on the line and other clubs potentially interested, Belichick and the Patriots have a lot riding on the last month of the season.

Not long ago, the prospect of Bill Belichick being fired as head coach of the New England Patriots seemed impossible.

Nonetheless, here we are. With a month left in the regular season, the Patriots are 2-10 and last in the AFC heading into Thursday's game against the Steelers. They are one of the poorest teams in the NFL in a season that began with postseason ambitions. Belichick had the worst setback of his head-coaching tenure in Week 4 when the Patriots were defeated by Dallas by a score of 35 points. The following week, this time at home, he suffered his second-worst defeat of his career, falling 34-0 to the Saints. Last month, his team failed to score a touchdown against the Colts in Germany, an important event for Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has made expanding the NFL's global reach a priority. The Chargers defeated Belichick's team 6-0, covering a 5.5-point margin. The over/under for New England's Thursday night game against a Steelers team powered by backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is 30.5 points, with Pittsburgh favored.

No other coach could have lasted this long with these outcomes, and the expression on Kraft's face each week as he hangs his head in the owner's box says that Belichick's time is up. In New England, the coach has avoided concerns about his job security, but veteran writers like Albert Breer, Mike Giardi, and Tom Curran, who have followed the franchise from its inception, see it as an unavoidable outcome.

It's difficult to look past the "if" to the "when" of firing a coach who has held the post for 24 years and won six Super Bowls. Only four coaches in NFL history have spent more time with their teams: Miami's Don Shula, Dallas' Tom Landry, Chicago's George Halas, and Green Bay's Curly Lambeau. Only Landry was fired from that group, a decision that the ordinarily obstinate Jerry Jones has stated he regrets.

Is it possible that Belichick will return to New England in his current role next season? The Patriots are now poised to choose second in the 2018 draft, giving them the opportunity to select one of the top quarterback prospects, Caleb Williams or Drake Maye, to replace Mac Jones. Belichick's defense has been playing well recently, and while all but one of their remaining opponents is currently.500 or higher, might a win or two down the line make things feel just a little less cataclysmic? Is that enough for a sentimental Kraft to give the most legendary coach in his team's history another chance, this time with a new quarterback?

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