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Bill Belichick Press Conference Transcript

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Bill Belichick Press Conference Transcript

Friday BB pressers are always the best…

Q: Do you chart explosive plays? The term has become more prevalent recently. How do the explosive plays allowed by you defensively this year compare to the last couple years?

BB: We gave up a ton of them last year. I don’t know, I don’t really think it’s that big of a thing. Thirty yards, 40 yards, 45 yards, 35 yards, however you cut it up, it’s probably going to be about the same. A couple plays are going to fall short of being explosive plays but they’re really big pretty big plays. There are going to be other plays that aren’t. I don’t know. We obviously, any play that’s significant defensively, we’re aware of that as a potential repeat play for somebody else to look at it and even if they miss it, we still look at it at as a big play. Say he overthrew it or something but it’s open, we look at it and say, ‘Well, if the next team sees that, they might feel like that’s a good opportunity.’ We look at that as a big play as far as trying to correct it and do a better job with ourselves. The plays are what they are. That’s a matter of record, wherever you want to break it off, you can break it off. But there are a lot of plays that aren’t big plays and there are honestly sometimes a couple big plays where you’re kind of right there and you feel like you should make the play, like we had a couple last year where a ball went off our hands and went for a 40-yard catch and it really could have been an interception. So if you’re the other team looking at that, saying is that really the kind of play you really want to run, or did they just have a fortunate result to it? I think it’s a little more by the actual play.

Do you think Brady’s stats will start to improve greatly once Gronk, Vereen and Amendola return?

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Certainly in the red zone and third down, where they’ve been most weakened the last two weeks. I mean, Gronk alone has been the most dominant red zone and third down weapon in the NFL the last three seasons, so talk about being exactly what the Hoodie ordered.

There’s no question things will be better once all three of them are back, but in my view, Gronk is the key.

If brady and belichick would have won the Super Bowl when they went 16-0 but would never go to the Super Bowl again, what do you think there legacies would be

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That’s a lot of hypotheticals, but really, if the Pats had gone 19-0 it’s hard to argue that they wouldn’t be the best team of all-time. And really, as it stands, they’re clearly the best team ever to not win the Super Bowl for whatever that counts. So, then they would’ve won 4 out of 7 Super Bowls, including the undisputed greatest team of all-time. That looks pretty good to me to say they’d be the greatest coach-QB combo ever.

Still, I think in the long run the two Super Bowl losses to the Giants are ultimately a positive point in their career discussions, because it comes with playing in eight conference championships, winning six of them. Not to mention both of their Super Bowl losses came on the final drive. That’s a very thin line.

So what does it all mean? I don’t really get too wrapped up in ranking who’s the greatest of all-time whether it’s the team, coaches or players. All I know is that there has never been a better run in NFL history and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.

A fourth Super Bowl win would really be the perfect way to come full circle, especially considering it would be with just BB/TFB from the 2001 win. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

What is wrong with the Pats run defense? Seems like they have improved on the pass rush side at the expense of the run D.

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Which I’d actually be okay. In fact that was kind of what I was saying a lot this offseason. Look, the pass defense has been the achilles heel of this team for the past three seasons, and as we saw last year, when they had their best run defense in a decade, that it still didn’t matter much, even against the Ravens who have traditionally been a run-first team. 

So I’m really not that concerned about it, but I think part of it is that Spikes was not himself the first two weeks for whatever reason. He can singlehandedly destroy a run game.

We’ll see how it plays out in the coming weeks, but if the pass defense keeps playing well I’m fine if it comes at the expense of the run defense a little bit. But with their defensive line and linebackers I’d expect the run D will still be top-10.

Thoughts on Brandon Bolden for this week’s game? Do you think he’ll play a big role or a more toned down contribution?

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I think we could see him take on even more of a role than he did last week. I’ve made no secret that he’s my favorite back on the roster, no offense to Ridley, I just like how aggressive Bolden runs plus his ability to catch the ball is pretty underrated. 

So maybe I’m a little bit biased in his favor, but I’d look to see him get an increased role this week, especially if the Pats aren’t protecting a lead and need to throw the ball a lot.

Chatham: Contain Gonzo to ground Falcons | Boston Herald

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Chatham: Contain Gonzo to ground Falcons | Boston Herald

This:

The second thing I’ll be watching is the matchup of Jacquizz Rodgers (5-foot-6, 196 pounds) and Jason Snelling (5-11, 234 pounds) vs. the Patriots linebacker group. The Pats have had success in the past couple weeks “hug” rushing on running backs with linebackers. This is often misunderstood as “blitzing,” but it’s simply running toward the man you’re covering and forcing him to declare whether he’s blocking or going out for a route. The trick this week is both backs are sometimes in the backfield together, creating essentially a two-back look where both are run/pass threats. Over aggressiveness in a hug-rush and these backs will call the linebacker’s bluff — feign a block and slip out into the pattern on check-downs or screens uncovered. Both have done this, and are dangerous run-after-the-catch players.