TX_Patriot

Just curious, what do you all think. On the surface, BB will say all the same stuff we've heard him say a million times. I'm sure he'll keep this team's focus set, but we are already seeing some of the players express that they feel this game is different. Not different as in it's the Super Bowl, but it's more than that.

Junior said in his post AFCC game presser, that they have one more game to be part of history...forever. Not SB Champs, but possibly, the greatest team to ever play professional football.

With BB being such a historian and a student of the game, do you think even BB will have Butterflies for this this game?

BelichickFan

I don't think so, he always will feel the pressure especially in a Super Bowl. A little more this time ? Maybe but not much more. I am sure Belichick feels that if he has a prepared team that the performance will take care of itself. Pressure would be a banged up team (like last year) trying to hang on. This year, just solid preparation should remove pressure for him, I think.

Clonamery

To BB these 2 weeks are probably more like a 5 year old child's anticipation and imagination on Christmas Eve...

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Watson's IQ

No way. If there's one perfect way to describe Belichick, it's "cool under pressure". The guy already has a fi(Please be quiet - edited)l of rings, he's been there before and probably will be again. Him feeling the pressure ranks on my list of concerns somewhere below Tom Brady's foot and which media "experts" will pick the Giants.

TX_Patriot

That is an interesting statement. I guess this is where the "Genius" on Belichick comes in. His ability to break down every little piece of film into its most elementary pieces, then build a game plan that fits, and most importantly teach it to his players in a way that does not feel overwhelming.

I've spent a fair amount of my life in college and have a number of advanced degrees to show for it, all along meeting some very smart...dare I say genius people. The one think I've always noticed in that time was that the really smart people, the people that you're just amazed by how they think, all have the ability explain a problem in a way that the average Joe understands. This is probably what separates BB for everyone else in the game today.

aluminum seats

He's human, so of course there's pressure. But I do think he's able to handle it fairly easily through his incredible attention to detail and organization.

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TX_Patriot

See, I agree that he can handle the pressure, but handling and feeling it is different. I would say, he's always felt pressure in these type games, but this one takes on a different feel. With this one game, BB goes from a HOF coach to unarguably the GOAT coach. This one game make the Patriots, not just another Dynasty, but the Uber Dynasty of the SB era. Even those great Steeler teams had losses in all the SB seasons.

Watson's IQ

I highly doubt that if they should lose the Super Bowl, BB's own legacy as a great coach would be tarnished. I don't think anything could lose him the mantle of HOF coach. What a 19-0 season would do is move him up from HOF Coach to very serious consideration for "best coach ever" (While there are those of us who already think he is, there are a greater number of other fans who will call him Bellicheat forever, not that it should bother us)

TX_Patriot

My bad, GOAT = Greatest of all time. I agree he's HOF ether way, but this would be a huge step towards Greatest ever.

PatsFanSince74

I think that one of the reasons that the 19--0 and 17--0 are such big deals is the pressure buildup. we can pull out all the stats we want about how much tougher our schedule was than Miami's in 1972, about accomplishing this in the cap and FA era, but the truth is that the pressure built on the dolphins in 72 as well.

so, yes, he has to feel the pressure, as do the players. it's the pressure in part that makes the accomplishment so great. the upside of winning next sunday is so high, that it makes sense that the cost of achieving it will be very high as well.

winning this game has implications that are off the charts; greatest team of all time? greatest single game victory of all time? greatest coaching achievement of all time? from 2001--2007, the greatest franchise of all time? or, as Junior Seau put it (and I wish he hadn't said it, becuase it just ratchets the pressure up even more) "Becoming part of 'forever.'" Should the Pats win, as long as there is an NFL, as long as Sports are played, people will remember and they will talk about next Sunday's game.

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