While I thought Belichick would go back to the Hot Jacket for Super Bowl 52, he instead chose to go with the 2013 Blue Hoodie cut.
At first glance this was an okay choice per the Hoodie Database since Belichick had won Super Bowl 49 in the ’13 Hoodie, and was 2-0 when the sleeves were cut. The only disclaimer on it? The 2014 loss in Kansas City, a nightmare 41-14 blowout that led to the first questions of the BB/TB Dynasty being donezo.
Lately this 2013 Bue Cut has been a practice/pregame workhorse. It’s only seen game action twice, in the 2013 opener against the Bills and six weeks later in a miraculous comeback win over the Saints. For four years it’s been behind the scenes, sometimes at training camp, press conferences, etc. That Belichick busted it out wasn’t a total shocker since it was in rotation, but it was kind of the grubbiest choice, if that makes sense?
But then I realized something… the sleeves…the sleeves haven’t been cut off in a Super Bowl since… uhhh…
That’s right folks, Belichick made a critical hoodie mistake for the third time — he cut off the sleeves in the big game. The last two times he cut, Super Bowls 42 and 46, the Patriots lost. And worst of all, this is the shortest he’s cut them off yet. Insult to injury. Do I need to start a rating scale for sleeve cut length? Perhaps.
The coaching was terrible in this game, as was the hoodie choice, and I can’t help but feel a bit responsible myself. I should’ve made the warning more clear that cut off sleeves were a non-starter. I let down Patriots nation that relies on me for hoodie insight. For that I take my part of the blame in a tough loss.