An Independent Patriots Blog
PressBox: A Friendship Forged: Dave Pietramala and Bill Belichick
This is a nice article about BB and the lax coach from Johns Hopkins forming a friendship, and is yet another in an endless line of pieces that make it seem shocking that BB is actually a nice guy with a personality and interests.
New England Patriots Final Football Outsiders DVOA Chart 2010
Taking a look back today at how the Pats performed according to the Football Outsiders DVOA statistic this past season we can say a few things about how the team progressed over the course of the season.
The team that wins the Super Bowl is rarely the team that’s best during the regular season. It’s the team that battles through adversity and plays their best football in January and February.
If the goal is to peak at the end of the season then the Pats looked primed to do just that as the playoffs started. Their defense began a steady rate of improvement after the Thanksgiving game in Detroit. And while the offense had tapered off from their insane rate after the Browns loss, it continued to fire on all cylinders.
Pretty much how you draw it up. Dominate after Thanksgiving, and improve each week. Too bad the Jets came in and played flawlessly.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/new-england-patriots-final-football-outsiders-dvoa/
I was taught, by Bill Belichick, at a very early age that scouting begins on Sunday. You need to know your football team. The only way you get to know your football team is you’ve got to be able to watch them at practice, I watch the practice tape, so that’s why I do that.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-was-taught-by-bill-belichick-at-a-very-early/
Tim Graham over at the ESPN AFC East blog has put together a poll asking what was the defining moment of the Patriots franchise. Here are the choices:
Bill Parcells/Drew Bledsoe arrive in 1993
Robert Kraft purchases the team in 1994
Bill Belichick is hired in 2000
Tom Brady is drafted in 2000
This is a tough call, because clearly all of these factors were absolutely necessary in building the Patriots franchise into what it is today.
If Parcells hadn’t arrived in 1993, Robert Kraft never would’ve met BB and sown the seeds of their relationship today.
If Kraft hadn’t bought the team we could still be stuck with an owner more interested in turning a profit regardless of wins. Cough Jeremy Jacobs…
Belichick and Brady were obviously the final pieces of the puzzle, but without any of these factors the Patriots would never have become the model franchise of the NFL.
My choice? I’m going with Robert Kraft buying the team. He had some growing pains early on, but his style of ownership is what set the stage for how good the Pats have been since 1996 (3 Super Bowl Titles, 5 AFC Titles, 8 AFC East Titles in the last 10 seasons). Nobody was overjoyed with the hiring of BB in 2000, but it was Kraft’s vision that established an environment conducive to winning football games.
Place your vote here.
He looks just like I feel. It’s Draft Day, WOOT WOOT!
https://www.patspropaganda.com/he-looks-just-like-i-feel-its-draft-day-woot/
NFLN: One on one with Coach Belichick
Nothing too earth shattering but well worth the watch nonetheless….
I’ve been meaning to post on the whole “Patriots getting too young” angle, so I was excited to see Ian Rapoport asked BB what he thought about it. Tedy Bruschi has mentioned the “too young” factor a couple times this off-season, which is kinda funny coming from one of the guys who was at the heart of the team when everyone said we were “too old”.
But it made me wonder, are the Pats really too young? Jerod Mayo and Vince Wilfork are the leaders of the defense and they’re entering/in their primes respectfully. Granted there aren’t many guys over their 30s, but it was just a few years ago when every impact player on our defense was.
There’s certainly an element of having a good mix of young and old on your team, but when I look at the Patriots I see a talented team that definitely skews on the younger side but not to an extent that I would call it a detriment.
The fact is that the majority of these young guys, especially on the defensive side are going to be playing together for a CBA-willing long time. It won’t be long before they’re all in their primes and well versed in the Patriots defensive system. That will be when we can expect a championship level of performance out of them.
I don’t see the practicality of bringing in older veterans just to have a veteran presence. It comes down to who are the best football players. We weren’t talking about replacing Bruschi, Vrabel, Harrison, McGinest just because they were on “the wrong side” of 30. It came down to replacing them when they could no longer get the job done.
The way I look at it is the younger we are, the longer we’ll dominate!
Here was BB’s take to Rapoport:
“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t really think we’re there,” Belichick told me. “I think we still gotta try to bring good, young players onto the team. There are certain positions that I wouldn’t say we’re young at. There’s others that we have some youth, but competition at those positions, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, either. Last year you know we drafted a kid like OL Ted Larsen, and he didn’t make our team but then he went and started for Tampa. So, there isn’t room for everybody.”
“At the same time, you can have a good young player like a Dane Fletcher or (Brandon) Deaderick or (Myron) Pryor the previous year, (Julian) Edelman, guys that you get even at the end of the draft. Brian Hoyer, who wasn’t drafted who can still come in and help your team,” Belichick said. “I’m glad we have those guys. I’m glad we’re not sitting there saying, ‘Well, we’re trying to find somebody to fill those spots now.’ We already have that. So, we got a punt returner, got a couple guys who can play in the kicking game. We’re young at linebacker, but we’re good at linebacker. So…”