Revisiting the whole "The Game has Passed Belichick By" Argument

[Rob0729]

Ok, I am not going to address the validity of the argument because we all know now on the eve of another AFC Championship game that was just Chicken Little reactionary crap after a loss. I wanted to address this because I think Saturday may have proven that the rest of the league is just trying to play catch up with Belichick.

The slam dunk case for this begins and ends with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. This has become a TE driven league. The two receiver stars of this past weekend were Gronk and Vernon Davis. If the Saints would have won, it would have been Jimmy Graham over Davis.

The trend has been coming for a while now where the quality of TE play has gone up and safety play has gone down. Belichick was one of the few who saw this before the trend exploded this year and loaded up last year. Now teams will scramble to get two solid TEs to duplicate the Pats' success.

Also, teams have yet to figure out how to stop both Gronk and Hernandez. They have been able to shutdown on or the other on rare occassions this year, but never both at once.

 

[cavtroop]

Ok, I am not going to address the validity of the argument because we all know now on the eve of another AFC Championship game that was just Chicken Little reactionary crap after a loss. I wanted to address this because I think Saturday may have proven that the rest of the league is just trying to play catch up with Belichick.

The slam dunk case for this begins and ends with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. This has become a TE driven league. The two receiver stars of this past weekend were Gronk and Vernon Davis. If the Saints would have won, it would have been Jimmy Graham over Davis.

The trend has been coming for a while now where the quality of TE play has gone up and safety play has gone down. Belichick was one of the few who saw this before the trend exploded this year and loaded up last year. Now teams will scramble to get two solid TEs to duplicate the Pats' success.

I actually think he saw this development some 8 or 10 years ago. Think Graham and Watson, Crumpler and the other TE's he's brought in. It just took him a while to find the combo that he needed. But when he did, KAPOW! he hit paydirt.

 

[scout]

Each week BB breaks an NFL record of some sort. What is never mentioned is that he is doing it under the salary cap era. He has the same qb that won 3 Superbowls and is 2 games away from a fourth. The team has been rebuilt and reloaded since the last run and still has flexibility, not to mention a bevy of picks in the next draft and potentially a top rated qb sitting on the bench. Deven McCourty pans out at safety and there is not a "got to have" pick in the draft compared to the cries we have heard over the last few years. That being said, if we lose next week, there will be cries for his dismissal on this board.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Good luck to those teams on finding TWO TE's as good and a QB anywhere as good as Brady to run the offense.

 

[DarrylS]

Couple of years ago, on Labor Day Weekend, was coming back from a music event during a "hurricane" and was listening to Damon Liquidara(sp) on 98.5 and he was making the case that BB's time had passed, and he should move on and retire. Was comparing him to Joe Gibbs et al.

Pity the fool..

 

[Stilla]

I wouldn't cut your argument so short.

First things first. BB's tenure starts out as a defensive coordinator. For some odd reason, he makes the 199 pick for Brady on the assumption that he might be the one, and carries him with 3 other QBs on the roster.

In time TB develops the ability to run a no huddle. Over time, the no huddle becomes the offense. BB finds players who can fill various formations with the same personnel grouping, in hopes that NE can run the no huddle more efficiently.

In comes Gronk and Arron.

BB brings back Branch.

BB starts to bring together an o-line which can compliment the no huddle.

In comes Nate, and Cannon.

BB drafts 2 RB who fit the no huddle system, in that they are versatile.

I wouldn't say this offense just fell together, this was planed from the start. BB understood what kind of offense would ravage a defense, and he went out and built it.

Next year is the year that this offense start running full throttle.

BB missed on Ocho, that will be fixed this off season.

 

[Reckedtrek]

Couple of years ago, on Labor Day Weekend, was coming back from a music event during a "hurricane" and was listening to Damon Liquidara(sp) on 98.5 and he was making the case that BB's time had passed, and he should move on and retire. Was comparing him to Joe Gibbs et al.

Pity the fool..

Damon Amendolara? A the begiinning of the year (around preseason game #3?) he said the Pats have no depth on their roster. At a couple positions I could see the argument, but on the whole roster?!

 

[nabwong]

Good composers borrow, Great composers steal - Igor Stravinsky.

But BB is beyond stealing. He sets the pace for the rest of the NFL. He constantly finds the next loophole. Started with a strong D and punished WRs (including swapping Ty Law and Rodney to confuse Manning), then to a spread offense and now spread TE offense. He has already eliminated the FB position. Now it seems he is eliminating the traditional safety position. The line between DT/DE and DE/OLB is also blurred. Mark Anderson, many said was only a 4-3 DE played exceptionally well as a 3-4 OLB this weekend. Wilfork is now a 3-4 LDE with Love the NT. We are both 3-4 and 4-3 and whatever else BB can come up with in the same game.

BB is turning both offense and defense into a shape-shifting entity.

ps: I do think that we will draft another stud TE. Maybe not 1st round but I will bet my house on it.

 

[NEP4Life]

I think BB, like many head coaches, always seeks no-tip personnel and no-tip formations.

By "no-tip" I mean the personnel/formation reveals nothing about whether the play is a run or a pass; the personnel/formation are equally effective doing both.

In away, BB the offensive innovator is kind of driving all the way back to old-school, no-sub football -- we put our best 11 guys on the field, and they make plays running and passing, and you try to stop them. Regular use of the hurry-up is more evidence supporting that claim.

You look at coverage reads and option routes and the hurry-up and the offense starts to look more and more like a basketball or hockey or (dare I say) rugby team on offense in that the playbook becomes implicit rather than explicit, with everyone knowing what to do and making plays in their defined role.

I could go further and say the entire concept of formation-play could be deleted and the offensive personnel could read the defense themselves for formation/shift/motion/play/route options, but perhaps that's a few years off.