When it comes to the perception of Bill Belichick, there’s no middleground. You love him or you hate him. Me, I love him. And I love that so many people hate him. Kinda makes me love him more. Better to be feared and respected than loved and adored. Today during his press conference, Coach Belichick completely illustrated why those who love him, well, love him. When confronted with a foolish question by a foolish reporter about this Sunday’s match-up with the winless Colts, Coach Belichick unleashed his wrath on her. It went something like this...
Reporter: You think going into these games that the record doesn’t matter -- but obviously you can gauge your team’s performance better against a team that’s more competitive or has a better record, and you certainly seem more proud of your team --
Belichick: I don’t agree with that, so you can go on with your soliloquy, but I just don’t agree with that. You don’t think you can gauge your team based upon how a player blocks Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis? I mean, who else would you gauge it against? I mean, are you kidding me? Covering Reggie Wayne and Collie and Garcon -- you don’t think you can gauge your coverage based on covering those players? I don’t care what their record is. You think there’s a better receiver around than them? Better pass rushers than Freeney and Mathis? I mean, I’m not sure what games you’re watching here.
I don’t know who that reporter was, but I would wager there’s a spot open at her paper. Tom Brady received similar questions all day, and his answers most certainly invoked the spirit of his coach. It went something like this...
Reporter: Do you talk [to Peyton Manning], do you still communicate?
Brady: Yeah.
Reporter: I know you don’t mind not playing against him, but do you miss him? Does the league miss a guy like that?
Brady: I don’t know.
Reporter: Can you talk about [the Colts’] defense? People talk a lot about Manning being out, but can you talk about what you’ve seen from them defensively so far?
Brady: I’ve played Dwight Freeney a lot. I wish he was out, but he’s in there again and he’s a phenomenal player. If I could be a defensive end, I’d be like him. And Robert Mathis on the other side, both those guys can really wreak havoc. Coach said this morning that Freeney’s got like 99 career sacks and 43 forced fumbles, so almost half the time he sacks you he strips the ball from you.
I really like how the Patriots are handling this match-up with the Colts. They understand that a winless team is a dangerous team because their pride is on the line, and getting that first win against a team like the Patriots is everything to them at this point in the season. When you’re the worst team in the NFL, all you can play for is self-respect. So when a team like that plays the Patriots, it’s practically their Super Bowl. Belichick understands this. And it’s clear that his players understand this too. They’re not talking up the Colts too much, they’re doing it just right. I would expect other teams to say similar things, but not necessarily to mean them. The Patriots mean these things. They’re programmed by their Coach to anticipate everything. They’re mentally preparing for what I think will be a tough fight. Matthew Slater said it best in the locker room: “This is the National Football League, any team is capable of beating any other team on any given Sunday, so I think the biggest thing for us this week is to prepare for our opponent just as if they were 11-0.”
Another game to pay attention to is Packers/Giants. Part of what irritates me so much about New York football teams is that they so clearly get jacked-up to play against certain teams -- and against certain teams only. The reason the Jets are so inconsistent is because they don’t play against the Patriots all 16 games of the season. If they did, they’d be the most laser-focused team in the NFL. The Giants too. If you asked Rex Ryan and Tom Coughlin if they could play against Belichick 16 times, or if they’d prefer to play against a variety coaches, they’d both pick 16 consecutive Belichick games.
The question is: Why? Why do the Jets and the Giants get so amped to play against the Patriots, and get so tepid when playing against anyone else? Take the Giants; this season they’ve lost to the Redskins, the Seahawks, the 49’ers, the Eagles, and the Saints. One could argue that all of those teams are physically tougher than the Pats -- or at least, more consistently tougher in the physical department. So why did the Giants maul the Pats but lose to all those other teams? If you recall the season when the Giants won the Super Bowl, they were not a great team. People in New York hated them. They wanted Eli’s head on the chopping block. It’s my belief that the Giants only won that Super Bowl game because they were so amped to be playing against an undefeated Boston team. If they played against any other team, or if the Patriots hadn’t looked so damn indestructible that season, the Giants would’ve lost Super Bowl 42.
The basic fact is this: the Giants cannot win a contest unless drama is at play. They feed off it for strength. Same with the Jets. The Jets feed off Rex Ryan’s obsession with Belichick, it’s how and why they get psyched to play the Pats. Every time the Jets or the Giants play the Patriots, it feels like a Super Bowl game. It feels like the world’s gonna implode from the Armageddon-type drama surrounding the game. Neither of the New York teams really have that with anyone else. The Jets don’t have a grudge with the Broncos, and Rex Ryan doesn’t have a lifelong dream to upstage John Fox -- and that’s why the Jets lost a few weeks ago to Tebow. Winning the game isn’t enough for the Jets or the Giants, they have to be playing against a team that they WANT to beat. Otherwise, they’re sort of awful.
So, knowing that much about the Giants, their match-up with the Packers looks pretty damn interesting. Another perfect season to destroy. This is the kind of thing the Giants live for. Not banners or Super Bowl rings, but drama. Spotlight. An opportunity to ruin someone else’s day. That’s all they care about. I’m not saying they’re gonna win on Sunday, but I certainly think they’re gonna burst out of the gate with the most energy we’ve seen from them since Week 9 against the Patriots. I expect the Giants to treat this game against the Packers like it’s their Super Bowl and play their hearts out, and then I expect them to completely revert back to their mediocre ways next week against the Cowboys.
