In response to shenanigan's comment:

I thought the same thing with my then-new Moss jersey, until Super Bowl 42 :(

I need to go back to wearing my Bruschi jersey; the Pats were 3-0 when I wore that one, although it's a tad small on me now.  I'll take one for the team this Super Bowl, though.

In response to themightypatriots' comment:

Mighty lecturing people on their attention to detail = priceless

In response to IrishMob7's comment:

So it's your fault!

In response to shenanigan's comment:

I will concede, yes, it was my fault.  However, I will avenge our two heartbreaking losses by throwing on the Bruschi jersey this February!  Victory shall be ours!

In response to PatsEng's comment:

Coaching accounts for maybe 5% of it. You need the great players to win. And great players execute.

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

Only 5% wow I wonder why they spend all that time watching film, bored I guess.

OK maybe during the game but game planning is different that is done duirng the week of preparation.  Do you remember in Oct when they came you with the single word commands that Brady was using?  They were in the no huddle and TB would Bark out Green or Blue and BAM they'd run a play.  It worked so well that they selved it and you can bet that you will see if in the playoffs again.  Not using that for the rest of the season is as much a part of coaching as using it was.  Give BB a little credit he's not going to ask for it and he's not going to lay it out in front of the media.

In response to Tomhab's comment:

All NFL teams have a coach. They all organize their team. Some enhance their team's chances a bit. Some hurt their team's chances a bit. In the end it's probably about a one in 20 play difference from the best to the worst.

Let's say Rex Ryan was coaching the Pats this year. How many less games do you think they would have won with him instead of BB as coach?

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

So wait did Rex also build the team for the last same 4 years or does Rex walk in and take of a suberbowl caliber team?  You just made my point, Rex or BB which coach would you take OH wait is doesn't really matter!  OK I get it LoL

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

Pats would be 8-8 at best under Rex.

In response to Tomhab's comment:

Ahh, GMing. Whole other subject. But I do think if Rexy had Brady on the jets and BB had Sanchez on the Pats the last few years, the fortunes of each team would have largely been reversed despite BB's coaching excellence.

In response to themightypatriots' comment:

Interesting. But I disagree.

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

Getting players to execute is as much a part of coaching as coming up with the scheme. Coaching does not end with drawing X's and O's and hoping your players are good enough to execute. You motivate your players, you teach them how to execute, you make them better... If players are not improving or excecuting that is a reflection of the coaching. 

I definitely think that coaching in the NFL has the greatest effect on the outcome of games of any of the major sports.

I think Belichick is brilliant at assembling a group of complementary players and developing schemes that highlight their strengths while minimizing the impact of their weaknesses.  I also think he's brilliant at analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of opposing players and the schemes opposing teams employ and developing game plans that play to his team's strengths while exploiting the other team's weaknesses. 

But I think all of this evolves during training camp and the preseason and the regular season, and by the time you get to the playoffs you (and everyone else who's watching closely) knows what you can do, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and how you're generally going to handle different situations and challenges.  You also know this about your opponent.  So by the time you get to the playoffs you and your opponent are both known quantities, and while you can play around with X's and O's, you're not going to radically change what you do or who you are.  Over the season you've developed a certain character as a team based on what you do best. In the playoffs, you don't get away from that . . . you simply execute well so that what you are built to do well, you actually do well. 

I think that's all BB is saying.  He's not saying that coaching is irrelevant or unimportant.  He's just saying that you spend all season refining your team and getting better and better at what you do, and when it comes playoff time, the key is simply executing well at all those things you developed and perfected over the previous six months. 

 

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Rusty wants everyone to know that he didn't come here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings . . . 

In response to RockScully's comment:

Been here for roughly a week and I've picked up on a number of things:

You seem to contradict yourself a few times per post.

You feel the need to incessently attack others (personally, I might add).

Have you ever heard the statement, "Correlation does not imply causation."? If not, please do look it up.

I might have to rely on others to answer this, but are you actually a Patriots fan? 

In response to prolate0spheroid's comment:

I heard an interview with Pete Carrol this week where he pretty much stated that he knows what the Falcons are going to try to do and that the Falcons know what the Seahawks are going to do this sunday. The Pats under McDaniels are good for a couple of trick plays a game but i can't imagine the Pats can surprise the Texans too much. Wade Phillips has faced Brady and Belichick plenty of times over the past decade and unless Brady starts running the wildcat I can't imagine Phillips saying after the game that the Pats surprised him.  

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In response to RockScully's comment:

It takes one to know one I guess.

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In response to RockScully's comment:

I might not have been here long, but that doesn't mean that I lack any basic knowledge of football.

Brady's postseason performances have dropped off relative to his regular season performances, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is the sole reason for the recent losses. 

As someone else mentioned in another thread, his postseason passer-rating is virtually identical to that the early 2000s. What was also pointed out was that his regular season performances were less impressive than they have been recently.

Some of this perception that Brady has played poor in the postseason is due to the contrast in his regular season and his postseason play as of late. Back in the early 2000s, his regular season performances were good (~80 PR), and his postseason performances were good (~80 PR). Naturally, there was no perceived dropoff in play.

Again, statistically, Brady is playing just as well (or poorly as you and a few others seem to think) NOW (in the postseason) as he was back in 2003, 2004. 

The fact that they're now losing games indicates that something has changed. I see a number of things at work.

First, the defense as of recent hasn't been as competitive as it was a decade or so ago. They're less aggressive, more prone to giving up big plays, and seem to lack the ability to stop an offense or make a big play when the game is on the line.

Secondly, lady-luck hasn't been in New England's corner. In 2006/07, the officials were largely to blame for the second-half debacle against the Colts. In 2007/08, the officials failed to call multiple holding calls and David Tyree proceeded to make a one-in-a-million catch. In 2008, Brady went down with a knee injury and the 11-5 Pats got robbed of a playoff spot. In 2009, Welker went down prior to their first playoff game, thus throwing the offense out of whack, and the makeshift defense finally gave out against Ray Rice. In 2010, they came out flat against a motivated Jets team. And finally, last year, Welker drops the Lombardi.

Now I'm not saying the offense is completely void of blame. In the 07/08 Super Bowl, a lot of blame goes on McDaniels for failing to adjust earlier when it was clear that the Giants pass-rush was wreaking havoc. In 2009/2010, the offense didn't perform well at all, but the defense and special teams weren't particularly strong either. 

With all that said, it's a team sport. Meaning you win as a team and you lose as a team. Has Brady played perfectly in every game he has ever played in? Of course not! But neither has the defense or special-teams. In order to win a high-stakes playoff game, you need to execute in all three phases, and you need a bounce or two to go your way. Let's not forget that the Giants fumbled the ball two or three times in last year's Super Bowl, and the ball happened to bounce right back to them. Nothing you can do about that, and it's certainly not Brady's fault. 

You win as a team and you lose as a team. They haven't won a Super Bowl since 2004 not because Brady has forgotten how to play winning football, but rather because all three phases haven't been stellar and because the luck-of-the-draw seems to have gone to the opponent.

I'm optimistic that this is the year New England returns to glory. 

In response to ccnsd's comment:

I think this is true.  While no one knows exactly what plays will be called, after watching film of 16 games (or more), everyone has a pretty good idea what the range of possibilities is.  It's really a matter of getting your players prepared for those possibilities and ensuring that they can execute when a particular possibility becomes reality.  

 

In response to RockScully's comment:

No crusty, think again!  He is a newbe and has already got you pegged.

The forum and BDC are DEEPLY tired of you and your ignorance and arrogance, thus the multiple bannings and more to come, i'm sure.

You are the unequivocal nut job on BDC and it's not even close.  Who else would get banned time and time again only to come back with the same tired illogical bull,  for years, unless you truly are a whacko. 

A lot of whacko's have come and gone and eventually they get the hint, but not you.

What is your purpose?  To set us all straight and save us from our ignorance and impending doom as we appreciate one of the best (if not the best) QB's of all time?

Well guess what, you haven't converted any of us in 4 years and you never will.

Nobody wants to buy your snake oil, in fact I can't believe any one in the world would buy anything you had to sell.  Do you tell them how stupid and irrational and uneducated they are for not wanting to buy your crap? 

You are the worst kind of con/salesman there is.  Even the most junior salesman is taught to be believable.  You are any thing but that.

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