It’s a combination of things really. Team building , dedication, attention to even the smallest details, a culture has been created apparently as this team uses players from practice squads and finds a way to win. Belichick is an incredible coach. Now, my patriot hating co workers always point out that he was not good in cleaveland. Ok whatever, that’s because no one. I mean no one at all could make cleaveland win. Mistake on the lake. Tom Brady is a big part of it all. We have a quarterback who loves playing. He takes less money to make the team be able to get players. We also have guys like Amendola who are willing to restructure contracts freeing up money to get more players. Sacrifice, work, study and not being greedy. No statistic whores. It goes on and on
Perhaps it can be boiled down to unselfishness and getting and coaching guys who are not in football just for money. B.B. seems to get rid of players who are like that
After all the stat wars, the culture remains:
A) People do what they're good at. (See B, C, D, below)
B) Kraft proceeds without tremendous ego. The good Mr. Wickersham's ravings aside, he rarely if ever interferes with "buying the groceries" or other football operations. Footnote: This is judging Kraft by the yardstick of his contribution to the dynasty, not his reaction to scandals. As much as we might have wanted him to be a fighter, he's not. He also didn't fight Belichick. He said "let me find football people I trust. I'm just a fan." The city of Washington, D.C. - and many other places - could do without their fantasy football player owners.
C) Belichick does his job. He understands the roles of hope (an on-field advantage when you're down) and planning (the majority of what he does is creating a plan for every situation, on or off the field.) He scopes the problem: Winning football games. That's why he looks grumpy at the podium. His job is to
build teams (famously, not to collect talent), and to put them in positions to win.
D) Constants: The Pats culture is transmitted through certain constants. Brady, the 16-season constant. Other players in the 4-5 year range. The veterans instill "The Patriot Way." We can list its values all we want... I'll just list a few.
E) Values:
- Whatever the score, a TD is still 6 points, a FG is still 3, etc. It's not whether you'll win, it's how. This principle gets a tremendous boost from Brady's on-field presence... but they've all drunk this Kool-Aid. You've seen them lose, you've seen them stink up the joint, but it's very,
very rare that they believe it's happening until the game is over. They don't allow for "plan B," which is ego-oriented: Finger-pointing, excuses, etc.
- Flexibility. We're so used to it, we take it for granted. Many NFL teams game-plan little wrinkles. We change the character of the team to better exploit matchups. We always know 1 week's opponent, and we plan for that week's opponent. And there are chess moves in reserve, the rejected hypothesis of how that opponent will work.
You can't overstate this advantage. Teams like Seattle say "we'll be who we are, we dare you to beat us." We all remember "We physical, they finesse." Well, if it's "finesse" to know your enemy, BB can join a long line of pansies going back through history to Sun Tzu. Know your enemy.
- Team, not individuals. Again, easier said than done. They've done it, successfully, year after year.
F) Miscellaneous: TFB is the greatest QB of all time. That helps - not just in adding his drive and talents, but in commanding the respect of a team and communicating the Pats' culture.
But I've said before - early on people called him a system QB. I don't think it's true, but he's not just Tom Brady. He's Tom Brady, in the universe in which he plays for Belichick's New England Patriots. "What ifs" cannot be solved. The point is, we could as easily credit the system
and culture to vault a great QB to "The Greatest."
Second miscellaneous: Balls. No, nothing to do with PSI. I mean the Pats aren't afraid to bring back (with a couple other teams) the 3-4, and play a 2-gap 3-4. (I realize this is last decade, but it's an example.) They'll gamble on-field when the gamble is the more rational move. They'll disregard the Kipers of the world and "reach" in the draft. They DGAF what gets written or said about them. And it works.
Third miscellaneous: Accurate analysis of how football flows. They've correctly identified the role of the territory between the 20s. They've correctly ascertained that the game turns on a few big plays. They work like hell to mitigate the risk of the big play against us, and they'll be opportunistic in creating the big play
for us.
I could babble on this subject all day, and substantiate what I mean in a couple places, but I gotta get going. Good thread.
