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Cardinals All or Nothing Review

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Binged Amazon’s All or Nothing series all last vacation week, which followed the Arizona Cardinals all of last season. It’s yet another fantastic production from NFL Films. I’ve long since given up hope that the Patriots would ever allow this kind of access, although Bill Belichick’s A Football Life came pretty close, but it’s always fascinating to see the inner workings of an NFL team going through the treacherous grind of a full season.

I can never get enough of this kind of stuff. It’s clear that NFL Films is the true propaganda wing of the NFL and it’s why many of us got hooked on the game to begin with. Here’s what stood out to me, partially from a Patriots perspective, but mostly as a football fan.

You have to start with Bruce Arians whose colorful language might distract some from the excellent football coach that he is. It’s incredible that someone like him could kick around as an assistant for so long before getting his shot, while the same old head coaches keep getting recycled over and over again. I won’t say Arians makes the whole show, but there’s no question he’s the star and his attitude and football mind permeate throughout the organization.

It’s understandable why guys want to play for Arians, and that’s why it was even more shocking to see the Cardinals completely collapse in the NFC Championship.  Still, Arians can coach my team any day and I am fascinated to see what kind of game plan he puts together for the Patriots in Week 1.

That’s where I found my mind drifting during the show — Week 1, Patriots @ Cardinals.

The biggest problem is going to be David Johnson, where I’d expect Dont’a Hightower to have his hands full with the second-year back who was told by his position coach during his 2015 exit interview that his career should end with a bust in the Hall of Fame. Johnson’s a big back who can catch and that will pose a number of problems for the Patriots. The first defensive key to the game will be to stop Johnson.

On the other side of the ball the biggest question is of course which quarterback the Cardinals will be seeing in Week 1, whether it’s Tom Brady or Jimmy Garoppolo. But the Cardinals have some questions of their own, including how ready Tyrann Mathieu will be coming off a torn ACL late in the 2015 season.

The Cardinals defense was worlds different once Mathieu went down. His leadership both on the field and off it was apparent over and over during the course of the series. And as good as Patrick Peterson is, he and the rest of the Arizona secondary are a far less intimidating squad with the Honey Badger.

Cardinals All or Nothing

Chandler Jones should be a big piece for the 2016 Cardinals defense.

The Cardinals will also welcome Chandler Jones into their mix and I’m sure the former Patriot will be fired up to play against his old team. The Cardinals are the most blitz-happy team in the league which could be extremely dangerous if they’re seeing Brady, who torches heavy blitzing teams, or extremely effective if Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t seeing his hot reads clearly in his first start.

One thing to watch though, as Chandler is being moved to outside linebacker in Arizona, is that I expect the Patriots to get him in coverage against their tight ends as much as possible. And if you see Gronk or Bennett split out wide and Chandler going with them, look out (if you’re a Cardinals fan).

I was also extremely impressed with the management of the Cardinals, led by President Michael Bidwell and GM Steve Keim. Every time NFL Films captures the owner/management relationships, it’s always pretty awkward. Bidwell’s interactions with Keim and Arians was every bit as cringe-worthy as Robert Kraft trying to talk to Belichick at times in his A Football Life.  The owners always seem to come off like I worry I would come off to the “football guys”, like a fan whose genuine enthusiasm just doesn’t get the true respect of those who have been grinding in the NFL for decades.

But of course, the owners are the bosses leaving the “football guys” no choice but to accept all the tepid observations and awkward fist bumps. Although Bidwell has the eccentricity you’d expect from the latest in a long line of fortunate heirs, his love of his rescue dog who died during the show after a long bout with kidney disease humanized him. By the end of the show, he seemed more a valued member of the Cardinals organization than he did at the start, even if he was a little goofy.

Larry Fitzgerald only further cemented his place as a Hall of Famer during the 2016, capped off with amazing catch-and-run in the divisional round that set up a shovel pass touchdown to win the game on the next play. Larry has always had a reputation as one of the game’s good guys and that was on full display in the series.

I couldn’t help but find most of the player-only meetings consistently awkward. Patrick Peterson, Carson Palmer and Tyrann Mathieu were just a few to step up and address the team at various points of the season. I never felt even close to inspired or moved with them like I was when Arians spoke. It always feels forced when players try to talk to the team. Even when it was Ray Lewis. You just always get the feeling these guys are professionals and don’t truly respond when their teammates get rah-rah on them.

One conspicuous absence was any sight or mention of Jen Welter, the Cardinals’ female coaching assistant last season. I had spoken with Jen a couple times before she became an NFL coach and she is a truly passionate football person. Just watch some of the highlights from her playing days. Would’ve been nice to see a little bit on her and the significant step she took for women in the sport last season.

Overall, this was every bit the perfect production that we’ve come to expect from NFL Films. They are masters of truly capturing and framing the epic “good vs. evil” narrative we all to apply to our beloved football teams. It was stylized in the right spots, humanizing beyond football in the right spots and left you with the all-too-familiar feeling of how there’s only one happy team at the end of each season.

It may not be the Patriots, but All or Nothing is a great way to get you through the last couple weeks before training camp. It certainly got me even more fired up for the season opener on September 11th in Arizona. The Cardinals will have their best shot waiting for the Patriots.

Get a free trial of Amazon Prime and check out All or Nothing!

 

NFL Films’ Do Your Job Review

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I didn’t think NFL Films would ever top the Bill Belichick episode of A Football Life where they followed Belichick for the 2009 season and got all kinds of behind the scenes access. 

But Do Your Job did just that.

Most all, after months of the Patriots being called cheaters, it was nice to see what really makes the Patriots so good. Not giving opposing team’s warm Gatorade or stealing playbooks, but old fashioned hard work and unparalleled preparation and anticipation.

While BB’s A Football Life gave some glimpses behind the curtain, we often felt like a fly on the wall. In Do Your Job we weren’t flies, BB and the coaching staff were actually talking to us and telling us what happened with the kind of candor you’re never in a million years going to get from the everyday media that follows the team.

Maybe it’s wrong to start at the climax, but the entire last act built around Malcolm Butler’s interception was purely amazing. Not only did Ernie Adams hold up his diagram of the last play the Seahawks would run, but they showed the practice footage of the Patriots running it and Malcolm getting beat on it.

As Adams said, it doesn’t always work out quite so perfectly but this is one time it did and the fact that it happened when the Pats were just one yard away from another horrible Super Bowl defeat is astounding.

This is the real Bill Belichick we saw, not his stonewall-the-media persona, but the brilliant coach who has such an innate feel to the game he seems to know what they’ll need for a game well before the game happens. And oh yes, he also has a biting sense of humor.

His uncanny ability to know what the Pats might need to win was on display with the segments on the tricky formations they ran against the Ravens as well as the double pass.

Most of all, it showed what an art form playcalling really can be not only within a game, but over the course of a season. Imagine if the Pats had burned the double pass in a meaningless second half against Kansas City with the game well out of reach! Luckily Amendola had the foresight to tell Edelman not to show it when they knew the play was going to LaFell.

Another talking point that Do Your Jon destroys is that Belichick has too many “yes men”. Now this was also destroyed in David Halbertam’s Education of a Coach, but once again we see how Belichick takes input from everyone and isn’t afraid to be challenged.

So many out there want to diminish what the Patriots have accomplished over the last 15 years, but Do Your Job makes it abundantly clear the reason for their success is they are a finely tuned football machine from the head coach (who has full support of his owner and full control of the team) right down to the 53rd man on the roster.

Belichick not only knows what it will take to win each week, but he has the tools in his coaching staff and players to execute it. One moment I liked was Josh McDaniels mentioning that putting in a play the night before a game in a hotel ballroom is no problem for the Patriot players who never blink. Yes, the Super Bowl-winning touchdown play was one of those last-minute additions.

Some quick hit other thoughts:

– Great credit for the unreal play by Hightower on first-and-goal just before Butler’s interception. 

– Loved BB really opening up on what he thought of Arrington being “streaky”. Guess after the Super Bowl they were done with that streakiness.

– Nice to hear every Patriots coach sum up that they were feeling exactly the same thing I was feeling after the Kearse catch. Especially Mr. Kraft’s “we have no f’ing luck.”

– Yes, I studied the Pats’ depth chart and was proud that it looked very similar to the one I keep. Though I certainly didn’t have Tyler Gaffney as the top pass-catching running back at any point.

– Great credit to Browner for the Butler interception as well. He knew what was coming and never let the receiver off the line. That interception doesn’t happen without Browner.

I could go on for thousands of words about this special. There are so many interesting moments, none of which was more interesting than actually hearing Ernie Adams speak about what he does. And it wasn’t just Adams but all the Patriots’ assistants who are rarely more than just faces we see on the sidelines during games. All of them came off incredibly focused and intense about their jobs, and it’s easy to see why they are where they are.

If this was the offseason I’d break down this whole special shot-for-shot, and maybe I still will someday, but it’s game day and time once again for the New England Patriots to DO THEIR JOB!

You can see the entire Do Your Job special here, password pinkstripes.

PatsPropaganda’s big picture review of Bill Belichick: A Football Life part one

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As those of you who read this blog know, I am a Bill Belichick fan. Maybe that’s putting it lightly, but I was obviously pretty excited to finally get a glimpse of BB behind the scenes, doing what he was born and bred to do… coach football. And NFL Films delivered, as expected.

We’ll have some quick hit thoughts on some specific nuggets in the show later today, but for now I just want to talk about what I learned about Belichick and the Patriots over the course of the show.

It amazes me that in Belichick’s twelfth season with the Patriots people are still surprised that he has a sense of humor, that he’s smart and witty, and really has a good relationship with his players.

People see Press Conference Belichick, a well-fabricated personality constructed by BB to keep the media from being a distraction to his team, and assume that’s what he’s like off the field. You can read Education of a Coach if you want more insight into that, but I wasn’t surprised by the lighter moments in the documentary. Or that he’s actually a good dad. Or that he likes to bust balls a bit.

What was most interesting to me was to see how Belichick spoke to his team, and how he spoke of his team when evaluating them. As someone who has blogged every step of the last four seasons, I’ve always had my own theories as to what the Patriots did or didn’t do well. But to hear a phrase like, “Take away Moss deep, come up on Welker and we’re done. We’re done.” uttered by BB was fascinating to me.

I was extremely impressed with how Belichick is with his coaches when things were not going right. Sitting around a table with his staff after a loss he was able to walk the line of demanding more from all of them, while also including himself in that criticism. This is the kind of boss people want to work for. Not ones who point fingers or have unrealistic expectations, but ones who acknowledge we’re all in this together and that’s the only way out of it, together.

After last year’s Hard Knocks I can understand how guys want to play for Rex Ryan, and after last night I understand how guys want to play for Belichick in a way that I did not before. My favorite quote of the entire first episode was during BB’s speech before the season opener.

“This is a football team. And for 60 minutes you’re going the have to deal with all of us and its going to be a long night.”

That really sums up Belichick’s philosophy and how getting players to buy into the ultimate team concept is goal number one. There is no static in Belichick’s message. You are there to play football and to win. Everything else is ancillary.

Belichick is a master of slightly pulling strings for desired effect. His focus on the task at hand is unflappable and he demands the same short term focus from his players.

His ability to breakdown an opponent is pretty amazing, as we saw when everything he said they couldn’t do they did against the Jets. Former Patriots have often praised Belichick for picking out just a few areas of focus, that if the Patriots accomplish them, they’ll win the game. Often Pats bloggers and writers will put together “Keys to Victory” and usually they are general stuff like “get pressure on the QB” or “avoid turnovers”.

Well, Belichick’s keys to the game are far more specific. Like covering Dustin Keller off the line, especially when Sanchez is under center. You can see that his attention to detail with what makes opposing teams go is uncanny. He knows the how to take away the safe plays that the opposition trusts and likes.

The 2009 season is really a fascinating one to have this doc unfold because it was probably the most frustrating one of BB’s Patriot reign from a fan’s perspective. Of course it’s clear now that it was just as frustrating from the team’s perspective. I really can’t wait to see what happens in part two as the season slowly goes down the toilet.

We had an inkling that there were chemistry problems behind the scenes, but none of us realized how bad it really was. The 2009 Patriots seemed to lack passion and fire and it seems like none of the buttons that Belichick pushed were able to snap them out of it.

Obviously this was one of my favorite hours of television in a long time. My fascination with Belichick as a coach and leader is one of the biggest influences of why I write this blog, and the revelations in this documentary only deepened that fascination.

The validity of his leadership techniques and philosophies extend far beyond the football field. It’s about living life with short term focus, appreciating the importance of this moment right now, and taking full advantage of it. Whether you’re preparing for a test, or just spending quality time with loved ones, Belichick’s ideals of being present in the moment right now have universal application, and are ones that continue to inspire me in all facets of life.

The wait for episode two will be a long one…

NFL Films: Two Part Belichick Special Coming in September

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NFL Films: Two Part Belichick Special Coming in September

Bill Belichick: A Football Life will premier on NFLN on Thursday 9/15 at 9pm EST, part two will air Thursday 9/22. You can click the link above for a preview.

They followed BB and had him miked for all of 2009, and they tease glimpses of 4th and 2, as well as what he and TFB were talking about on the sideline after Brady had been pulled from the Saints mauling. Words cannot express how excited I am for this one. And right after the season starts? I might combust that week.

Now I’m just waiting for Missing Rings: 2007 Patriots from NFL Films. Alright, now I must watch this preview seven more times.

Sabol’s Shot: The Patriot Way

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Sabol’s Shot: The Patriot Way

Steve Sabol is one of my personal heroes. It was NFL Films that first made me fall in love with the game of football. Even though I was a hockey player there was nothing like watching a football game to me. Every clip NFL Films does gives such an epic sense to the game. Without NFL Films the NFL would be nowhere near where they are today. Here’s what Sabol had to say about the Patriots…