New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reaches a very special milestone in the divisional duel against the Buffalo Bills, which no coach in the NFL has ever achieved before. His franchise, however, is under a lot of pressure in the process.

Munich/Foxborough – Bill Belichick has already reached many milestones in his career. First and foremost are a staggering eight Super Bowl victories.

On Sunday night, the 69-year-old will break another significant mark. In the home game against the Buffalo Bills, he will be on the sidelines for the 800th time as a coach in an NFL game. More often than anyone before.

His record is impressive. In the regular season he had 461 wins, 274 losses and only one tie – in the playoffs he had 43 wins and 20 losses.

Belichick breaks records in rows

His 799 games to date span a long period of time. In 1975, Belichick started as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts, followed by stints with the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncocs, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and the Patriots.

In the best football league in the world, there is no one who has coached more games. And there is no one who has been in the NFL for such a long time at a stretch.

47 consecutive years the 69-year-old has been active in the meantime, he has long since surpassed Dick LeBeau’s 45-year record. Otherwise, there is only one other coach who has worked in the league for more than four decades anyway. For example, current Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant coach Tom Moore has been active for 41 years.

Henry and Andrews rave

For his players, Belichick is an exceptional coach even at nearly 70 years old. “I remember watching an old Giants video last year. I think it’s cool, too, when he shows videos of older players who played here,” longtime Patriots captain David Andrews said recently.

“When he does that and guys get into the Hall of Fame or whatever, he shows their games and it’s fun to watch. You remember those games as a kid, but to see them from a different angle now is pretty amazing.”

Tight end Hunter Henry also went into raptures at the thought of his head coach. “I just feel ready every time I go out there – because of him. He holds us all to a high standard and has built a great culture here that we all have to live up to. “

Patriots under pressure against Bills

It’s not known whether Belichick, who of course is also the longest tenured NFL coach with the Patriots now 22 years old, will also show film from the past before the divisional duel against the Bills.

But the pressure is on in Foxborough. After the unexpected loss the previous week to the Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo is lurking close behind New England in the AFC East. If the Pats lose, both teams would have a record of 9-6, not an ideal starting position for a good spot in the playoffs.

All of this, of course, is known to Head Coach Belichick, who, despite his 800 NFL games, has some catching up to do in one category. In the list of head coaches with the most wins he ranks “only” third …