Congrats on 10K Ken! Many many more. Great toilet reading (take that as a sincere compliment!)
Gotta throw the flag on this one. The "talent" gap may not be big, but the coaching gap certainly is. It goes back to a discussion some of us were having before the Ravens game last season. It's like when some team play the Patriots, they **** themselves because of the aura, perceived or not, that the Patriots are unbeatable. Of course we know they aren't. But coaches coach as if they believe it. You mention the SB in the first half, but arguments can be made that Shanahan and Quinn made decisions that ultimately cost them the game. The Patriots made the plays, of course, but if these guys kept doing what they were doing, we are having a different outcome and thus, different conversations.
You cannot discount the affect and effect coaching has on players everyone thinks is talented. Look no further than the AFC North and the Steelers and Bengals. From Antonio Brown and his Facebook antics to the Bengals and their messes from players to head coach (LEWIS IS STILL THERE!). As long as NFL coaches continue to act this way and not realize the Patriots are mopping the floor with all of them, they can have all the on-field talent in the world if they want to.... they'll lose before they step onto the field.
Your post got me thinking about 2 facts that seem to contradict themselves. One is the fact that ALL these coaches have an amazing amount of football knowledge. I concider myself a knowledgeable football FAN, who knows more football than most, but I know I know about 5% of what a full time professional coach knows. So it is very hard for me to call an NFL coach stupid or inept, because I KNOW just how much more info he has than me. Guys who coach in the NFL have reached the top of their profession. They are all smart, motivated, hard working, organized and driven people who have worked their way up a hard ladder that take years and sometimes decades to acheive.
On the other hand, you have the undeniable fact that in most games that Pats play they have a better game plan on both sides of the ball than their opponents. So how is this happening. It can't be that Bill just knows that much more football than his peers. I think that is just too easy an answer, and quite frankly probably isn't true.
So it got me thinking about just why this keeps happening, and I've come up with a reason (just one of many), that probably deserves its own thread titled, "Why the Pats keep winning". But for now I offer this tidbit for discussion.
The first thing that occurred to me was what a huge advantage it is to be able to structure completely different offensive and defensive game plans based on who you are playing each and every week. PLUS have the ability to make adjustments so seamlessly and so fast. That advantage alone can account for why the Pats win so consistently. They always maximize matchup advantages. They counter what good things opposing teams are doing to them. They manage the game probable better than their opponent.
In a game where the margin of victory is as small as it is in the NFL, going into a game with that kind of advantage each week can be that slight edge that make the difference between winning and losing,
So why doesn't EVERY team do it that way. The reason is that they can't. It's just too hard to coach a different game plan each week. Unless it is ingrained into your system over years of development, it would create more mental mistakes than it would create matchup advantages.
Football players as well as coaches are creatures of habit. They thrive doing the same thing every week. The biggest enemy of good play is THINKING. Players play their best and fastest when they are just reacting without thought to something that they've seen over an over again. Asking them to be able to absorb a different game plan every week could create the over thinking that slows down their reaction time.
I believe it has taken years for BB to develop the language to teach his system. Develop how to teach his coaches to be able to teach this system, and finally and most importantly, identify the players who will be able to absorb this kind of system. Like we always say, it isn't for everyone.
The continuity it takes to create this kind of "system" is very rare in the NFL, where the lifespan of most HC's is about 5 years. So many moving parts have to come together in order for it to be effective. It is NOT something a new HC could come in and do in his first year.
Understandably this topic is stuff that books should be written about and MBA programs across the country should be studying for managment and communication lessons. And you know me, I'd LOVE to go on.....and on,
But unfortunately (or fortunately for some) responsibilities require me to stop here.
BTW- I'll leave it up to you AD, should I make this a separate thread, so it will get more looks discussion traction, as this thread has pretty much run its course?
