Dallas Morning News: A win Sunday moves BB ahead of other Super legends

[MoLewisrocks]

Some excerpts:

PHOENIX – Bill Belichick does not articulate what is at stake here Sunday night in Super Bowl XLII. But he knows. He has to know.

If the New England Patriots complete their mission to achieve the first perfect record since the NFL went to the 16-game schedule, then Belichick's place in history is secure.

He moves ahead of Bill Walsh, ahead of Chuck Noll, ahead of Tom Landry, ahead of Joe Gibbs, ahead of Don Shula.

If the Patriots defeat the New York Giants as they are heavily favored to do, then the discussion of great NFL coaches begins with Vince Lombardi, continues with Belichick and then goes down from there.

There simply is no other fair way to look at it...

His colorlessness in news conferences does not obscure his greatness. Neither does the charge of cheating that was labeled against the Patriots after the season opener for filming opponents' coaching signals from a forbidden spot in the stadium.

Belichick, Tom Brady and this incredible collection of Patriots don't win because they have stolen signals. They win because they are the most incredibly prepared team of all time.

Anyone remember the Rams and "The Greatest Show on Turf?" Belichick was the architect of the defense that slowed it down just enough for the Patriots to capture their first Super Bowl, 20-17.

In the wake of that game, I don't remember anyone talking about the beginnings of a dynasty. Most of us still viewed the Rams as the superior team and felt that the Patriots had simply enjoyed a perfect night.

Well, they have gotten more perfect through the years. If the Patriots go 19-0, then Belichick will always be the first to have done that.

Lombardi with his five championships – three NFL titles before the merger and then the first two Super Bowls – will always be the man with his name on the trophy.

But he coached in a vastly different era. To win his first two championships, Lombardi had to win only one playoff game. The next two titles required two playoff wins, and the final one required three.

Belichick's postseason record of 15-3 is second in winning percentage only to Lombardi's 9-1.

But you didn't get to this special place by dwelling publicly on the level of your genius or the magnitude of your achievements. That's why all you got from Belichick on Monday and all you are going to get from him all week was stuff like this:

"Our objective is to move the ball and score points. If we can move the ball and score points and not turn the ball over, we feel we have a chance. That's how we do it.

Bill Belichick is out here to coach a football game and no one ever has coached better in Super Bowls than he has.

If that doesn't change, then his status as one of the best coaches of the last 30 years does.

Like him or not, the facts will say that he is the best. "


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...nfl/stories/012908dnspocowlishaw.2d7fa13.html

 

[PatsFanSince74]

great piece and thanks for the link. you should also have mentioned that it is written by tim cowlishaw, who has not been reluctant to criticize the patriots this year. he is also taken seriously enough by his colleagues that those who disagree will have to take him on point by point.

 

[mosi]

The playoff count is a big deal. Back then, there were good teams, and there were very, bad teams. The difference was huge. Now, everybody is much closer and the pressure is much greater.

 

[363839]

Paul Brown isn't counted among football's best coaches?

Better not tell BB.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Paul Brown isn't counted among football's best coaches?

Better not tell BB.

Well, he was certainly an innovator - father of the modern passing offense who spawned Bill Walsh (who didn't have much nice to say about him as a person). But he coached in a different time, and largely in a different league, and while he coached briefly in the Superbowl era, he didn't win one.

It's kind of comical but he too got fired by Art Modell in Cleveland...

 

[Bella*chick]

You know, way back at the beginning of the year, when all the crap was hitting the fan, there were some panic stricken fans who suggested BB should go. I said we should stop overreacting and wait until the end of the year. Turns out we didn't even have to wait that long. It's nice to see that the tide of negativity that was making some people freak out has turned around nicely. Kind of like some of us knew it would.

 

[Terry Glenn is a cowgirl]

It's kind of comical but he too got fired by Art Modell in Cleveland...

Art is very astute... joking.

 

[NEPatriot]

I will never understand people who FIRED BB.? When these people look back, they will see how dumb they were.

 

[billikens]

I remember when he first came to the Pats after the Carroll termination, and how a lot of people (including on the predecessor to this board) were down on him. I thought he was a good pick-up. He was 11-5 the year before Modell announced he would move the team (and the Brown's losing record that year cannot be blamed on BB) and Bledsoe's loss in his playoff debut still smarted. Also, he came to the Pats in 1996 as defensive coordinator and help get us to the Super Bowl.

But then his losing 2000 season, and people were really down on him. The problem was two-fold - talent (Bobby Grier didn't do Carroll any favors) and Bledsoe. Shaugnessy has a great piece he wrote last year about how Mo Lewis changed Pats (and NFL) history when he knocked Beldsoe out of the game. He said Belichick had become increasingly furstrated with Bledsoe, but probably couldn't have easily replaced him after the Kosar affair and a recent multi-million dollar contract. But history has shown that Bledsoe was a big part of the problem that Belichick was stuck with, and once removed, he moved his guy Brady and a bunch of other players he picked up (Hamilton, Phifer, Vrabel, etc.) into place.

It's funny, I heard a radio caller the other week call and say Belichick isn't so great, it's the team around him - all those great players. Well, only 3 players pre-date Belichick (Bruschi, Faulk and T. Brown). Personnel is one of Belichick's great strengths, and along with his game planning, preparation and focus is what makes him one of the greatest coaches ever.