Wisdom of Solomon: There’s no room to second-guess Belichick

[JSn]

Let me first say that I have really enjoyed Wilcots calling the games. He doesn't go all nutty on TD's and such, but I love his approach.

Moreover, he makes a lot of good points in his NFL blog entry, quoted in part below. I have a lot of thoughts on how today's game went, but with the reactionary execution of the team and coaches going on here, I'll keep them to myself.

NFL.com Blogs Blog Archive There’s no room to second-guess Belichick

To play or not to play was never a dilemma for Belichick. He told me that he had told his players to plan on playing 60 minutes of football against the Texans. Welker was hurt on the Patriots’ first possession without receiving any contact from an opposing player. He simply planted his left foot in the ground and his left knee gave way.

It is not Belichick’s fault. It is not Welker’s fault. More importantly, there is no one to blame.

If you play this game long enough, eventually major injuries will seek you out and find you, whether it’s in a meaningless 16th game of the regular season or a playoff game. Players have to play. With playing comes risk.

Championship coaches and players do not flinch at the thought of failure or injury. They don’t play the “what if” game, either. That’s what separates them from others. Belichick and Brady do things differently than you and I might. That’s why they have the Super Bowl Titles and countless memories of conquest, and others simply do not.

 

[holyredeemer]

I remember him saying something to this effect during the game, and I fully agree. Just ****ty luck is all it is. I hope Welker has a speedy and healthy recovery. He has easily become one of my favorite Pats, if not my favorite, since the day he came to this club.

Im just broken hearted having to always watch our D get absolutely lit up by good passing teams. It really hurts my soul.

 

[DarrylS]

My issue with Wilcots is that he talks too damned much, and in each sentence he contradicts the one previous... do not care for him at all, find that after the top tier of announcers the talent falls off dramatically...

I found him maddening yesterday....

 

[Nikolai]

As did I. He made some nice points here and there, but sometimes I found myself thinking "what the hell are you saying?" I'm not usually overly critical of game announcers because I usually tune them out, but for some reason he caught my ear and not necessarily in a positive way.

 

[DarrylS]

As did I. He made some nice points here and there, but sometimes I found myself thinking "what the hell are you saying?" I'm not usually overly critical of game announcers because I usually tune them out, but for some reason he caught my ear and not necessarily in a positive way.

Maybe it had something to do with how freaking aggravated I was yesterday, am recovering from knee surgery.. and set a goal to get out yesterday for the first time, needless to say..... Kevin Harlan does not help.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Matt Cassel lead this team to a better record last year.
This team last won a Super Bowl in 2004. Spare me the endless "history" lesson on BB's resume. Don't care!!!
I do NOT blame Belichick for Welker's injury. I do blame Belichick for risking and already injured Brady, for not having an even remotely coherent game plan against the Texans and for not hiring a quality O coordinator.
PLENTY of room and plenty of reason to second guess Bill Belichick.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Matt Cassel lead this team to a better record last year.
This team last won a Super Bowl in 2004. Spare me the endless "history" lesson on BB's resume. Don't care!!!
I do NOT blame Belichick for Welker's injury. I do blame Belichick for risking and already injured Brady, for not having an even remotely coherent game plan against the Texans and for not hiring a quality O coordinator.
PLENTY of room and plenty of reason to second guess Bill Belichick.

second guess away. you just can't second guess him on playing welker. that idiot commissioner just reiterated his stance on the integrity of games. besides, that's football. players play. coaches coach, pats get hurt, i drink. it has a certain feng shui to it. it sure would have been nice to have edelman and welker, though.

what pisses me off the most is the other afc playoff teams and fans are inwardly cheering. that really chaps me.

 

[ausbacker]

Matt Cassel lead this team to a better record last year.
This team last won a Super Bowl in 2004. Spare me the endless "history" lesson on BB's resume. Don't care!!!
I do NOT blame Belichick for Welker's injury. I do blame Belichick for risking and already injured Brady, for not having an even remotely coherent game plan against the Texans and for not hiring a quality O coordinator.
PLENTY of room and plenty of reason to second guess Bill Belichick.

Well I blame simple types like yourself who lack the foresight to see the Patriots were experimenting on both sides of the ball yesterday in a dead rubber for the Patriots. The fourth quarter defensive collapse didn't bother me one iota. I had the feeling we had the Texans measure and really could have put them away had we really wanted too.

Welker could have done his knee at training in the same manner. It wasn't a footballing injury, it was a horrendous luck injury. It happens in Australia in our native football game to players all the time.

Deal with it and move on.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Matt Cassel lead this team to a better record last year.
This team last won a Super Bowl in 2004. Spare me the endless "history" lesson on BB's resume. Don't care!!!
I do NOT blame Belichick for Welker's injury. I do blame Belichick for risking and already injured Brady, for not having an even remotely coherent game plan against the Texans and for not hiring a quality O coordinator.
PLENTY of room and plenty of reason to second guess Bill Belichick.

Football in the NFL is full of risks, starting on the practice field. You evaluate a Coach by how he manages those risks over time, as one game or even one season is impacted by far too many variables. Belichick's track record shows that he has managed those risks quite well over time.

I have no idea what your "2004" comment even means, since of 32 NFL franchises, only 17 have ever even won a Super Bowl and six of those 17 only did so once; Belichick's Patriots have won three. So, that statement just shows a lack of understanding of the league and how hard it is to win consistently in it. A little more NFL history for you, only two HC's have taken teams to more SB's than has Belichick (Landry and Shula) and only one has won more (Chuck Noll). Like Belichick will one day be, they are all in the HOF, a place where no other HC actively coaching this season will reside unless they accomplish remarkable things in the next few years (exception, perhaps, of Andy Reid if he ever wins a SB).

Second guessing one game or single season decisions is easy.

Personally, I think he did the right thing in playing Brady but would tend to agree with you on the need for an Offensive Coordinator, which I suspect he will remedy in the offseason. But that doesn't change the trajectory of his accomplishments.

As for yesterday's "game plan," I think it went out the window after Welker's injury and that, once he knew the extent of the Welker injury, he wisely brought Brady back to give him time with the receiver corps with which he'll have to work next week.

 

[Bella*chick]

Matt Cassel lead this team to a better record last year.

And what was the schedule like last year? As I recall that record meant JACK because they were sitting at home watching the playoffs as opposed to being the 3 seed.

 

[MillCityPatFan]

As bad as it is to lose Welker, what if this had happened in the first possession against the Ravens???

I guess i'm looking for the silver lining, but at least we have a week to prepare a new-look offense...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Excellent observations from Wilcots. I find that when broadcasters have access to Brady and Belichick it often changes their perception at least for a time, until they are removed from it and exposed to the drivel of their peers once again. It's like with enlightenment comes understanding or at least appreciation for what it all entails here.

The 2004 cry is the equivalent of 86 years here...but that's just the nature of the beast. There is not only no room to second guess Belichick, there is nothing to be gained in it. He gave us things we hardly dared to dream of over and over, and now we expect him to all the time. And if he doesn't then it sucks and he sucks and it's clear to anyone in range of a microphone or keyboard why...

Yesterday afternoon a team (and a HC and a QB) from Philly who has NEVER won a damn thing was the darlings of the sports mediots. Then they got biatch slapped from the second seed to the sixth seed in their own house and set themselves up for a road game with the team that biatch slapped them next weekend. Want to trade places?? Anyone think the Bungles aren't the same team they've always been in the end in Palmer and Ocho Stinko and Marvin Lewis' tenures? The JETS made the playoffs at 8-8 behind a virtual HCing moron and the second coming of every scatter brained rookie gunslinger you've ever lambasted and we all know how that will end because it's ended in despair for 45 years and counting... Would you like to trade with Indy where fans are now queing up to eviscerate management if they don't win it all because of the gutless mentality their FO displayed to a nation last week and because they know not only if but when Manning goes they will be right back where they were in 1997...playoffs...playoffs???

Yesterday Belichick was taking advantage of one last opportunity to take the measure of his team heading into the post season so he could best position them to meet the challenge that lay ahead. That is who he is and what he does and why he's headed for Canton. He won't win every championship, but then neither did the guy they named the trophy after. His goal remains to put his team in position to compete to. You may think there were two of three things he should have done differently that would have insured that. He may agree or disagree with your assessment, but he did what he did for a reason as he always has and always will whether fans and mediots choose to appreciate that or not. The decision to bench Kosar didn't work out, but it was still the right decision. That team wasn't going to win for reasons beyond the HC's control...which is more often than not the case save for teams whose HC's can't carry Bill's jock.

 

[zeke mowatt]

Excellent observations from Wilcots. I find that when broadcasters have access to Brady and Belichick it often changes their perception at least for a time, until they are removed from it and exposed to the drivel of their peers once again. It's like with enlightenment comes understanding or at least appreciation for what it all entails here.

The 2004 cry is the equivalent of 86 years here...but that's just the nature of the beast. There is not only no room to second guess Belichick, there is nothing to be gained in it. He gave us things we hardly dared to dream of over and over, and now we expect him to all the time. And if he doesn't then it sucks and he sucks and it's clear to anyone in range of a microphone or keyboard why...

Yesterday afternoon a team (and a HC and a QB) from Philly who has NEVER won a damn thing was the darlings of the sports mediots. Then they got biatch slapped from the second seed to the sixth seed in their own house and set themselves up for a road game with the team that biatch slapped them next weekend. Want to trade places?? Anyone think the Bungles aren't the same team they've always been in the end in Palmer and Ocho Stinko and Marvin Lewis' tenures? The JETS made the playoffs at 8-8 behind a virtual HCing moron and the second coming of every scatter brained rookie gunslinger you've ever lambasted and we all know how that will end because it's ended in despair for 45 years and counting... Would you like to trade with Indy where fans are now queing up to eviscerate management if they don't win it all because of the gutless mentality their FO displayed to a nation last week and because they know not only if but when Manning goes they will be right back where they were in 1997...playoffs...playoffs???

Yesterday Belichick was taking advantage of one last opportunity to take the measure of his team heading into the post season so he could best position them to meet the challenge that lay ahead. That is who he is and what he does and why he's headed for Canton. He won't win every championship, but then neither did the guy they named the trophy after. His goal remains to put his team in position to compete to. You may think there were two of three things he should have done differently that would have insured that. He may agree or disagree with your assessment, but he did what he did for a reason as he always has and always will whether fans and mediots choose to appreciate that or not. The decision to bench Kosar didn't work out, but it was still the right decision. That team wasn't going to win for reasons beyond the HC's control...which is more often than not the case save for teams whose HC's can't carry Bill's jock.

I'm shocked you could get all that out given what Bellyache has stuffed down your throat. Keep slurpin fanboi. Like a good little dun-dun.

Neither Belichick or Brady are above questioning/criticism.
You should change your $hitty pseudo too. Slap in the face to patriot fans everywhere.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'm shocked you could get all that out given what Bellyache has stuffed down your throat. Keep slurpin fanboi. Like a good little dun-dun.

Neither Belichick or Brady are above questioning/criticism.
You should change your $hitty pseudo too. Slap in the face to patriot fans everywhere.

Bite me *******...

Even the anti christ of Patriots football who has never slurped BB gets this and only dimwit pseudo football fans will perpetually fail to.

Love him or hate him this morning, that’s who Bill Belichick was yesterday and that’s who his team was. They were who you thought they were, and they were who they think they are. They are a team that plays to win.

There are no absolutes in sports, so one can find the exception or two that proves the rule. But they have been few and far between in New England the last decade, regardless of the situation, and that is why they did what they did yesterday.

They did what they believe in, which is to win the game and worry about the consequences later.

When Wes Welker blew out his left knee to end his season on the first drive of the day, many in New England kicked their TVs and hollered, “What the hell was he doing in the game? It’s meaningless.”

If you are a competitor, there is no such thing. If you are playing, you are playing to win. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s important. They believe it’s important, which is why they’ve won so often for so long.

There are many things to criticize Bill Belichick for, including the childish way he acts after a loss like yesterday’s, but trying to win Sunday is not one of them. What he was doing, and what Welker was doing, is what they’re paid to do. It’s what the Indianapolis Colts were paid to do a week ago but didn’t.

The Patriots [team stats]’ starters were playing football, which, as Belichick’s mentor Bill Parcells used to say, football players do in football season.

That is what they tried to do, and unless you’ve always had a problem with that, there’s no reason to start hollering about it now.

That is who the Patriots are. They come to win every game.

It is how they won three Super Bowls. It’s how they won 21 straight regular season games. It’s who they are and who their coach is, and at this time of year the wise course is to remember who you are and act like it.

Right way to play it - BostonHerald.com

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Matt Cassel lead this team to a better record last year.
This team last won a Super Bowl in 2004. Spare me the endless "history" lesson on BB's resume. Don't care!!!
I do NOT blame Belichick for Welker's injury. I do blame Belichick for risking and already injured Brady, for not having an even remotely coherent game plan against the Texans and for not hiring a quality O coordinator.
PLENTY of room and plenty of reason to second guess Bill Belichick.

If we are going to play the blame game, I blame RhodyPatroit for clogging this site with asinine posts and thoughts.

I blame him for stupidity in claiming the Pats needed a " remotely coherent game plan" in a meaningless game. Furthermore, RhodyPatroit is so clueless he can't fathom that the "gameplan" was to get experience for some players while resting key players for the playoffs.

I hereby submit that RhodyPatroit does not have the intelligence and insight to be a member of the Patroits fanbase.

 

[BadMoFo]

I'm shocked you could get all that out given what Bellyache has stuffed down your throat. Keep slurpin fanboi. Like a good little dun-dun.

Neither Belichick or Brady are above questioning/criticism.
You should change your $hitty pseudo too. Slap in the face to patriot fans everywhere.

Apparently, it's OK to criticize anyone on the team, except those two, and especially not here.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Apparently, it's OK to criticize anyone on the team, except those two, and especially not here.

Not true, but that is the classic loser response when criticism doesn't stand up under contextual scrutiny.

 

[MassPats38]

I'm shocked you could get all that out given what Bellyache has stuffed down your throat. Keep slurpin fanboi. Like a good little dun-dun.

Neither Belichick or Brady are above questioning/criticism.

I agree that Belichick and Brady are not above criticism, but why don't you offer some actual intelligent criticism rather than spewing that ridiculous garbage.

If you are going to take the position that mistakes were made, why don't you demonstrate how decisions cannot be supported as playoff preparation.

Given the inactives, the use of Hoyer at different parts of the game and some odd substitutions (the defensive packages used against obvious runs), there may be some method to the madness. I don't claim that will ultimately turn out to help the team against Baltimore, but as there was a chance of Houston playing the Pats next week, 2007 and the Giants may have had some bearing on the game plan used. Either that, or Brady and Belichick are as lame as your Einsteinian football brain appears to perceive them to be. Don't get all hung up on past success and track records. Go with your gut.

As the OP was likely referring in large part to Welker's injury and Wilcott's response to potential critics second guessing the fact he played in the game, explain how the same injury could not have taken place against Jacksonville or Baltimore next week? If you cannot articulate a fact-based response, then telling a poster he is wrong sounds like unintelligent grousing due to dissatisfaction with the outcome, which tends to represent the din here after every loss.

 

[ATippett56]

Blue vs Gray. It is civil war on the PatsFans.com website!

 

[Deus Irae]

Well I blame simple types like yourself who lack the foresight to see the Patriots were experimenting on both sides of the ball yesterday in a dead rubber for the Patriots. The fourth quarter defensive collapse didn't bother me one iota. I had the feeling we had the Texans measure and really could have put them away had we really wanted too.

Welker could have done his knee at training in the same manner. It wasn't a footballing injury, it was a horrendous luck injury. It happens in Australia in our native football game to players all the time.

Deal with it and move on.

Welker's injury was a football injury. It happened because he was playing football and making a play. The so-called "fluke" injury is one of the reasons you rest players during 'meaningless' games.