All Three Phases

Say it with me now. Situational. Football.

Sometimes that situation is starting your 3rd string quarterback on a short week against a team with coaches that know you better than anyone else because they all worked or played for you.

There’s a fine line between genius and cheating, I guess…

Bill Belichick got his props for the master class in coaching professional football following the 27-0 and it wasn’t as close as the score might indicate win over the Texans Thursday night.

Oh, sure, there was the Texans are frauds narrative (which has to make Bears and Texans fans feel really good about their teams). I’ll accept the judgment that the Texans did not play well but I would submit for your consideration the notion that the Patriots had something to do with that.

And there was just enough wink-wink nod-nod from pigskin pundits and bobbleheads regarding Bill Belichick’s cheatin’ heart as a qualifier on the genius storyline. Manesh Mehta’s apologia closed with a reference to Spygate and Deflategate. In what I suppose to be a humorous piece by Paul Newberry on Foxsports.com, Newberry even gives Belichick credit for the snowplow game, wondering why it wasn’t called “Plowgate.”

This is how much space Belichick is renting in the heads of the rest of the NFL. He’s even given credit for things that happened back in 1982.

After the game, Belichick credited his coaching staff and the players and after a game where you dominate in all three phases of the game, on offense, defense and special teams, there’s always plenty of credit to go around but I think the comments that this game reminded us of 2001 says it all. Tom Brady was still a 6th round pick pressed into a starting role because franchise QB Drew Bledsoe was injured. Those Patriots relied on a swarming defense and excellent special teams play. They won the AFC Championship in Pittsburgh on the strength of two special teams touchdowns and won the Super Bowl with a great defensive effort, the ineffable cool of their young quarterback, the strength of Adam Vinatieri’s right leg and a game plan by Bill Belichick that probably belongs in Canton right next to his SB25 defensive game plan for the Buffalo Bills.

That’s The List

The Thursday Night Patriots win over the Texans had me thinking about my all time favorite Patriots games.

All the Super Bowl Wins...

1. SB36 - The Patriots were 14 point underdogs and representing the entire country in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Easy to forget that now and that moment when Robert Kraft said, “We are all patriots” it was heartfelt and touching. They came out of the tunnel as a team, the first to ever do that. They throttled the Greatest Show on Turf, scoring first on a Ty Law interception. Also the best half-time show ever with U2 and the tribute to the fallen. Patriots 20, Rams 17.
2. SB49 - The haters didn’t think they should even be there in the wake of the fauxtorversy that came to be known as Deflategate. The haters consoled themselves with the prospect of the Seahawks rag-dolling the Patriots like they had the Broncos the year before. Tom Brady authored one of the greatest championship performances by a quarterback in the long and storied history of the NFL, leading two TD drives in the 4th quarter against one of the best defenses in the NFL since the 85-86 Bears. The game is won as Bill Belichick gives Pete Carroll enough time to overthink the problem, calling a play the Patriots had practiced against, resulting in Malcolm Butler’s interception and the greatest ending in Super Bowl history. Situational football? Situational football. Patriots 28, Seahawks 24.
3. SB39 - The second of back-to-back Super Bowl championships. Dynasty. The Hydration Bowl, known more for Donovan McNabb’s puking and Andy Reid slow playing the two-minute drill than for anything else. A workmanlike win for New England? Perhaps. Patriots 20, Eagles 17.
4. SB38 - What might have been had Deion Branch not left in free agency? This was no gimme. The Patriots had followed up their first Super Bowl win with a 9-7-0 regular season and a one year sabbatical from the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers looked like the next big thing on the NFC side of the bracket. Remember when Jake Delhomme was going to be the next great NFL quarterback? You don’t? A nail-biter. Adam Vinatieri for the win. Patriots 32, Panthers 29.

Drew Bledsoe Goes 45 of 70 - New England was trailing Minnesota 20-3 at half-time. Bill Parcells ordered up the two-minute drill for the entire second half. Bledsoe set single game records for attempts and completions with the final attempt coming in overtime. The Patriots had the ball in field goal range but Parcells put the ball and the game in Bledsoe’s hands. Patriots 26, Vikings 20.

The Patriots 2004 AFC Divisional win over the Colts and Peyton Manning is perhaps the signature win of the Belichick era as New England shut down the potent Indianapolis offense, introducing us all to the Peyton Manning Face. Also noteworthy for the first time the league implemented rule changes in an effort to thwart the Patriots (the Tuck Rule wouldn’t be changed till 2013; illegal contact was “emphasized” in 2005). Patriots 20, Colts 3.

The 2004 season was special. Back to back 14-2-0 regular season records capped by back to back Super Bowl wins. The Steelers had ended the Patriots regular season win streak at 21 in a Halloween game in Pittsburgh as the Steelers and rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger rolled to a 15-1-0 record. The game was essentially over early on as Rodney Harrison baited Roethlisberger into a interception Harrison took to the house. Patriots 41, Steelers 27.

The Snow Bowl. Okay, you probably know it as The Tuck Rule Game. Whatever you call it, this is where the mythic birth of the Belichick/Brady Era took place. This game is often included in the “Cheatriots” narrative despite the fact it’s called The Tuck Rule Game. New England still trailed when the eponymous play occurred. When Brady scrambled into the end zone to bring the Pats within a field goal there was enough snow on the ground that I had no idea he’d grossed the goal line. The Patriots needed perhaps the greatest field goal kicked in NFL history to tie the game. Watching the game on TV, I remember the football leaving Vinatieri’s foot and disappearing into the blizzard. I had no idea if the kick was good until the officials raised their arms. A Vinatieri kick in overtime would win it. Patriots 16, Raiders 13 (OT).

The Thursday Night Shutout. Recency bias aside, this was an impressive and dominating performance in all three phases of the game. The Texans knew the Patriots would need to rush the football given they were starting their 3rd string quarterback on a short week and still the Patriots ran the football effectively with LeGarrette Blount and Jacoby Brissett totaling 3 touchdowns rushing. The Patriots defense took away the deep pass the Texans favor on offense and still managed to control the line of scrimmage with four defensive linemen and an incredible performance by Jamie Collins. The kicking game was near perfection with the kickoff coverage team forcing and recovering two fumbles and punter Ryan Allen pinning Houston inside their 15-yard line on 6 of his 7 punts. Patriots 27, Texans 0.

Would Roger Goodell like to tell us how Bill Belichick’s ass tastes?

Easy to forget the gridiron cognoscenti predicted the Patriots would go 0-4-0 without Brady given where we are today. Of course, these were the same people who thought Adam Gase would make the Dolphins instant contenders (just add water!), that Rex Ryan would have the Bills in the hunt after winning the offseason and the Jets would build on their 10-6-0 near miss in 2015 to win the AFC East going away.

To be fair, nobody saw Jimmy Garoppolo playing like he did in that first half against Miami. Then again, they apparently forgot Bill Belichick was still the head coach of the New England Patriots.

If the whole point of Deflategate was to give the Jets, the AFC East and the NFL a four-game head start, well, that’s not happening. Even if the Patriots are down to Julian Edelman and AJ Derby at quarterback in Week 4 they will be favored to beat the Bills in Foxborough and probably by two scores.

The jimmies on the sundae, of course, is Belichick, special teams coach Joe Judge and kicker Stephen Gostkowski making an absolute mockery of Goodell’s new kickoff rule.

As for answering the question above, I’m going to guess jalapeno butterscotch poppers.

They can only get better…

The Patriots haven’t just been playing without Tom Brady. They’ve been playing without Rob Gronkowski, Dont’a Hightower, Rob Ninkovich, Dion Lewis and Sebastian Vollmer. Vollmer may not return but the offensive line already is playing better than 2015 and will continue to get better under the coaching of Dante Scarnecchia. Free agent Chris Hogan looks like he’s been a Patriot for years not months and rookie Malcolm Mitchell has already flashed potential and looks like he could become a dynamic, outside the numbers playmaker. Martellus Bennett has been a revelation and has gotten better every week, a prospect that may be unsustainable but will certainly be fun to watch. Chris Long is healthy and playing like his hair is on fire. The defense bounced back from a subpar second half against the Dolphins to pitch a shutout on short rest. The roster is young, fast and deep and versatile. They embrace the notion that there are no small roles, only small actors.

Do. Your. Job.

The challenges in the adversity they have already faced has the locker room well ahead of schedule in terms of team building, leadership and belief in themselves and each other.

And their coaches.

When Bill Belichick was asked after the Thursday night victory about his personal accomplishment in tying Curly Lambeau for wins as a head coach he deflected. This was all about the players, he said; their hard work in preparation and their performance on the field.

What player doesn’t want to lace them up for that guy?

We’re on to Buffalo.