In six weeks, Bill Belichick has guided the New England Patriots from a 2-4 start to first place in the division and the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff picture.

Belichick, a three-time winner of the NFL's Coach of the Year honor, has not won the award since 2010. Oftentimes, Belichick is overlooked when it comes time to hand out the hardware because of the expectation of excellence in Foxborough.

Outside of last year, the team's first losing season since Bill's first campaign in charge in 2000, it was assumed the Patriots would have between 11-13 wins by the end of the regular season and be in pole position for a Super Bowl run.

That was not the case this year, especially with a rookie QB under center. The Pats were expected to take their lumps and hit a few speedbumps along the way. The first six weeks of the season went in line with that, but during the 6-game win-streak, there isn't a team in the NFL playing better football than Bill's squad.

While there's still more than one-quarter of the season remaining, and two crucial match-ups on the table with the Buffalo Bills to decide the fate of the AFC East, has Belichick put himself in position to be considered near the top of this year's ballot?

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