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At the end of what might be the most offensive-oriented season in NFL history, three of the four teams still playing -- NFC finalists New York and San Francisco, and AFC rival Baltimore, which visits New England -- survived on the strength of their defenses. Belichick long ago established his credentials as one of the finest defensive minds in the league. But as the rules gradually shifted over the last few years to open up play and protect glamour-boy quarterbacks like Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, he jumped ahead of the curve with a spread offense. The Patriots' current set is built around a pair of versatile tight ends who can run and catch like wide receivers, but are also big and tough enough to shake off defensive backs determined to bump them off routes.
The spread offense isn't revolutionary; it's a variation on the scheme some college coaches have been employing for a decade or so. Belichick cut out the option portion of the scheme, but likely because he was convinced it wouldn't work in the NFL rather than spare Brady the hits. After all, he's had his QB still playing at the end of blowouts, and unlike some coaches who lost their jobs when their star got hurt -- Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell got fired Tuesday, another victim of Peyton Manning's lost season -- Belichick worries only so much about devising contingency plans. It's worth noting that when Brady was lost for the 2008 season in the first game, the Patriots still managed to finish 11-5. It's also worth noting that Brady got his start when Drew Bledsoe, New England's veteran All-Pro quarterback, went down with a chest injury and Belichick refused to change starters even after he came back.
Decisions like that tear some teams apart, but Belichick maintains such a tight grip on his that any dissension rarely finds its way outside the New England locker room. His players have learned to mimic his non-answer answers, to say little when they win and less when they lose. He likes swollen heads inside helmets, but once the helmets come off, not so much.
You can argue whether insecurity is the right tone to set for an entire organization, but not about who sets it or the results Belichick has produced. Question his methods if you want, but for the better part of a decade, he's convinced a team that's accomplished more, that's at least as talented and better prepared than its opponent every week, to play like an underdog for 60 minutes and then seethe about the result until kickoff the following week. Whatever else it might be, that's coaching..
[Associated Press;
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