Defending Bill Belichick’s winning and the “Patriot Way.”
Competitive advantage is not a dirty word, it never has been in the sport of football at least. I remember the first time that I was enticed to cheat during my short lived high school football career. It was in the middle of a conditioning drill our defensive line coach was administering, walking back and forth, up and down a line of exerted young men. “Hey I don’t mind if you cheat, if I’m turned around and I can’t see you slacking off. Don’t let me catch you though, you know if you’re not cheating you’re not trying.”
This is a quote that has stuck with me ever since I heard it and couldn’t be more relevant in the aftermath of Deflate Gate. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is nothing less than the ultimate tactician, who would expect anything less from the son of a Navy head football coach. We’ve all heard the stories of the young Bill sitting in the film room with his father, getting a football education that is beyond compare, like a young football savant.
One-hundred and ninety-nine wins later one can’t argue the overall success Belichick has six Super Bowl appearances, and three rings as a head coach. However in our ever emerging digital world the eye of scrutiny stares down on all public figures like Sauron’s gaze. Belichick hasn’t done himself any favors of course, after all he was penalized for filming other teams during the “spygate” fiasco and once again has had his tactics called into question with his unique formations during the AFC divisional round. The latter of course being much more within the rules than the most recent accusations that come along with “deflategate.” In coming days more details will find their way to the public surrounding exactly how those footballs became under-inflated. There can be no real doubt that something underhanded took place and the Patriots‘ football czar had something to do with it.
There was a time where dirty tactics and play were not so frowned upon in the NFL. Going back as far as the Raiders of the 1970s or the Houston Oilers of the 1980s teams have always looked for a competitive advantage through late hits. Or even players like Deacon Jones who would use the “head-slap” technique as he got off the line in the 1960s, before it was outlawed by the NFL.
The Raiders in particular were feared as well as respected throughout the league in the mid 1970s to the early 1980s and people always knew they were going to get a particular brand of football. This holds true today and when a team plays against the Pat’s they’ll also line up against the “Patriot way.” Which may mean something different depending on who you ask. Ultimately the “Patriot way” yields a product that all NFL teams fight for, wins. It was more apparent this season that the Patriots have one goal and their going to do everything in their ability to achieve that goal. Which is the reason that this may be the most interesting team the Patriots have put together.
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One has to look no further then the Patriots last two wins for a summary of their offensive gameplay this season against the Ravens the Patriots threw for 367 yards and ran for a measly 14 yards. While against the Colts the Patriots only threw for 267 yards will running for a tremendous 177 yards. The Patriots offense like it has all season has been molded upon their matchup, which yields situational football to the fullest extent. Every week this year we’ve seen a different variation of the Patriots’ offense based on the matchup. This strategy is contrarian to most NFL teams which primarily focus on one strength, but are always striving for balance. Everyone knows the Packers and Colts are strong passing teams while other teams like the Texans emphasis is running the ball, the Patriots as a whole this season have been without a real identity on offense other than that, yea, Tom Brady can still play and Rob Gronkowski maybe one of the greatest offensive weapons in football right now.
As the old adage goes “there are no rules in love and war” and coach Belichick likens his games more to battles and skirmishes in the fray. As football fans we couldn’t expect anything less from a man who got his education on football on the campus of Annapolis.
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