IN BILL WE TRUST?

• Posted by Vincent LeVine on January 22, 2011 at 3:00pm
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Bill Belichick will turn 59 years old on April 16th. He began his NFL coaching career in 1975 at age 23 as a Special Assistant with the Baltimore Colts. He has been on coaching staffs for the Lions, Broncos, Giants, Browns, and the Jets. He has been a Head Coach in the NFL for 16 years, 11 with the New England Patriots where he has won 126 games, 3 Super Bowls and 4 AFC Championships. Despite “Spygate”, Belichick is considered, even by his harshest adversaries, as being one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time and destined for the Hall of Fame.

In recent years the failure of the Patriots to win playoff games has some wondering if Belichick’s methods are dated and his lack of delegation have hurt his team. In 2009 he lost to the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC wildcard game and in 2010 to the NY Jets in an AFC playoff game. The Patriots were favored to win both games.

In fact, the Patriots have lost their last three playoff games, the first coming in Super Bowl XLII in 2007. Some believe that loss, which ended what could have/should have been a record-breaking undefeated season, may have sucked the invincibility out of the Patriot’s organization and may be responsible for the vulnerability they’re currently experiencing.

In 2008 quarterback Tom Brady was hurt in the season opener, but his replacement Matt Cassel was good for 11 wins, which unfortunately was not good enough to qualify for a playoff spot that year.

In 2009, Brady and Belichick were back, but after a 10-5 regular season the Patriots took the field against the Ravens and gave up an 83 yard touchdown run up the middle to Ray Rice on the opening play from scrimmage that set the game’s tempo. Similarly, in 2010, after an incredible 14-2 regular season, they came out early and made costly mistakes, and were unable to stop the Jets offense quarterbacked by second year starter Mark Sanchez and mount a legitimate comeback.

Belichick is known for his defensive genius, but in recent years his 3-4 scheme has been unable to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, who with plenty of time in the pocket, have been able to find open receivers in a secondary made up of young players. Some have blamed the young inexperienced secondary while others praise them, blaming the lack of an effective pass rush and a blitz for the problem. An NFL quarterback under pressure is prone to making bad throws, and an NFL quarterback with 5-7 seconds to throw the ball usually finds an open receiver. Wide receivers are arguably the best athletes on the field.

Offensively, the 2010 Patriots made several changes. After 5 years in a Patriot’s uniform Ben Watson went to Cleveland to play for former Patriot's Assisistant Eric Mangini, and running back Laurence Maroney, who Belichick always credited with incredible talent, was traded to the Denver Broncos September 14, 2009 after 4 years of showing flashes of brilliance, but not much more. After only nine catches, future Hall of Famer Randy Moss was traded mid season to the Minnesota Vikings for a draft pick. 

Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis stepped into the lead running role without a glitch (1,008 rushing yards, 13 TDs) and newly acquired, former Jet Danny Woodhead was a great addition both running and catching the ball out of the backfield where an injured Kevin Faulk may have been missed. Tight ends Rob Gronkowski (10 TDs) and Aaron Hernandez (6 TDs) made Pats fans forget about Ben Watson. Deion Branch’s return (5 TDs) and his ability to run perfect pass routes had them forgetting about Randy Moss and the deep threat. And, with the accuracy with which Brady was throwing the ball in all directions, averaging just over 30 points a game during one stretch, the offense was more than capable of beating the New York Jets whom they had already beaten 45-3 as recently as December 6th.

So what went wrong? When the Patriots took the field on the opening kickoff it was announced that Wes Welker was being benched for an unspecified amount of time for his playful remarks about Jet’s head coach Rex Ryan during a press conference earlier in the week. There was a lot of trash talking leading up to the game by Jets players and the policy of the Patriots and Bill Belichick has been to remain tight-lipped. Belichick could not let Welker’s behavior go unpunished. After all, the Patriots organization under Belichick is about team… Right?

Bill Belichick has always traded his first round picks for picks in later rounds, not wanting to pay college super stars. He has continually let veterans leave if they demanded big contracts. His team has been about the “system” and not the players. The “system” produces great players, not the other way around… So who gets the credit when the “system” works? The head coach does and that’s Bill Belichick on the New England Patriots.

 

In 2004 the Boston Red Sox were nicknamed “The Idiots” for their loose behavior on and off the field. It was rumored that several players did a shot of whiskey before a post season game, and although that story was later denied, it was believable. That team was a loose bunch who had fun and found ways to win. Their New York rivals were business-like, maybe a bit more like “system” players. After falling behind 3-0 in the American League Championship to the New York Yankees, the Red Sox rallied back to win game 4 in the 12 innings, 5-4. The rest is baseball history. Could they have won a World Series if their coach had been a authoritarian a' la Bill Belichick?

The 2010 Patriots had a reputation for getting off to a fast start and then rolling through their opponents. They did not have to play too much come-from-behind football. Come-from-behind football requires a different set of skills. When you roll through your opponents early in the game it only reinforces the belief that the “system” works and wins games. When you fall behind early it appears that the “system” is not working and as a result moral is down. Tom Brady is as guilty as anyone in displaying body language that says “the system is not working”.

 

When Rex Ryan wins he gives all the credit to his players. He coaches loose and with the emotion we have not seen in Foxboro since Bill Parcells. On the Jet’s website Ryan lists his offensive and defensive “coordinators”. On the Patriot’s website Belichick does not list a “coordinator”. Ryan didn’t allow a sideline incident or an internet video of him and his wife to disrupt his team’s pursuit of excellence. He has taken the criticism in stride, answered to it, and is transparent in all of his interviews. He gives his players a longer leash and they reward him for his trust by playing inspired football. Ryan’s style is the exact opposite of Belichick’s. By getting his team into the AFC Championship game twice in his first two seasons as Jets head coach, Ryan has proven his “non-system” works. His players were ready to beat the Patriots last Sunday and they did…

After his last regular season game, a 38-7 win against the Buffalo Bills, Rex Ryan had this to say about winning the Super Bowl “I thought we'd win it last year. I think we're going to win it this year"… I wouldn’t bet against him-

VINCENT LEVINE is a free-lance writer and can be reached at: vincent.levine@rocketmail.com