Bill Belichick Passes Curly Lambeau for 4th on NFL's All-Time Wins List

Bill Belichick further solidified his place in history Sunday, winning his 227th career regular-season game and passing Curly Lambeau for fourth on the NFL's all-time wins list.

The New England Patriots defeated the Cleveland Browns 33-13 in their first game with a nearly full complement of players. Quarterback Tom Brady made his return and threw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns, all going to Martellus Bennett.   

Rob Gronkowski posted his first 100-yard game of the season as well, appearing back in full strength after recording just one catch through the first four weeks.

Belichick led the Patriots to a 3-1 record during Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension with a patchwork roster. Backups Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett both suffered injuries, the team suffered its first shutout at Gillette Stadium last week and the game plan seemingly changed from week to week. 

Rank	Coach	Wins
1	Don Shula	328
2	George Halas	318
3	Tom Landry	250
4	Bill Belichick	227
5	Curly Lambeau	226
6	Paul Brown	213
7	Marty Schottenheimer	200
8	Chuck Noll	193
9	Dan Reeves	190
10	Chuck Knox	186

"This is about our team," Belichick told reporters after tying Lambeau in Week 3. "It’s about our players, about our assistant coaches, about the job that they did. I wouldn’t really want anything to deflect the credit that they deserve for what they accomplished."

Only Don Shula (328), George Halas (318) and Tom Landry (250) have had more wins as an NFL head coach. Passing Landry feels preordained. Assuming the Patriots continue to rank among the league's best teams, Belichick should only need to coach two more years after 2016 to move into third place. Halas and Shula are likely unattainable goals for the 64-year-old, though, unless he wants to coach another decade.

"Take away those Super Bowl losses to the Giants, or add one or two more in the next few years, and the debate about his legacy is easy: You have to start seriously thinking about renaming the Lombardi trophy after this dude," former NFL linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said, per David Fleming of ESPN.com.

Unquestionably the best coach of his generation, Belichick's most eye-opening quality has been the Patriots' sustained greatness. The team has won at least 10 games in each of the last 13 seasons, taking 12 division championships in the process. The lone exception was an 11-5 season in which Brady suffered an ACL tear.

With the Patriots sitting at 4-1 and already boasting a division lead, it's hard to imagine that streak ending now. They've already survived the rockiest part of their season; anything short of contending for another championship would be a disappointment.   

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