If it’s true that he who laughs last laughs best, then 69-year-old Patriots head coach Bill Belichick should end every text and letter he writes these days with a simple message – ROTFLMAO!
Belichick is once again both the talk and the toast of the NFL this holiday season, New England having hit its historically-late Week 14 bye with a seven-game winning streak and a 9-4 record that not only has the rebuilt Patriots atop the AFC East standings, but in line for the all-important No. 1 seed in the conference playoff picture.
It’s a swift return to glory for the coach and team-builder who just a year ago was singing the Christmas time blues like Elvis, sitting through his first playoff-free season in more than a decade and fielding potshots to his legacy from all across the football world as Tom Brady was taking the previously downtrodden Tampa Bay Bucs on a run toward his seventh Super Bowl ring.
In the most dramatic divorce in sports dynasty history, Brady reinforced his GOAT-ness yet again. And Belichick was left to wallow in the wake of damage that just one year with Cam Newton as his QB could do to his reputation.
Brady proved that he, not Belichick, was the foundation of the two decades of unprecedented consistent winning in Foxborough, the ultimate leader of the Jimmys and Joes forever devaluing Belichick’s Xs and Os. At least that’s what they said.
Belichick was a product of his quarterback rather than Brady being a product of Belichick’s system, that much became crystal clear. Or so they said anyway.
Belichick lost his drafting ability they said. Couldn’t put together a talented roster at the end of Brady’s run in New England and not only pushed TB12 out the door, but left the cupboard bare across the depth chart when he was gone.
The NFL – drafting, free agency, all of it – had finally passed Belichick by they believed.
The greatest sports debate of our lifetime – Brady or Belichick? -- was over and the answer thanks to the Bucs 2020 Lombardi run was simple: Brady.
But as is so often the case, that rush to judgement was both premature and as we now see, seemingly flat-out wrong.
Because while 2020 may have been a relative disaster for both Belichick and the Patriots, 2021 is going about as well as anyone could have hoped or dreamed.
They said spending a quarter of a billion dollars or so in free agency pretty much never works in the NFL.
They said sitting and waiting for a franchise QB to fall to the 15th pick wasn’t just a bad plan, it wasn’t a plan at all.
Just another example of Belichick losing his way in the draft.
They said that you couldn’t start a doughy rookie quarterback out of Alabama for a 17-game NFL season, he’d never win and never last.
They were wrong. Again.
Months later New England’s March free agent class is a foundational part of the Patriots’ success. Matt Judon is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Hunter Henry is a productive red zone target. Kendrick Bourne is a developing playmaker. Davon Godchaux is a stout presence on the defensive line. Jalen Mills has held down the fort at a paper-thin cornerback spot.
All have brought an energy and personality to the locker room that’s been at the core of team’s success, especially navigating through the 2-4 start to the year.
Oh, and that doughy QB out of Alabama is having an historic season as a rookie, unquestionably the best in his draft class. Teammate Matthew Slater has described Mac Jones as simply “special.”
With few exceptions, after a few years of bad drafting and questionable personnel moves, Belichick’s Midas touch returned to the teambuilding and his weekly game planning on both sides of the ball have returned to glory as well for the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense and an offense that just won a game while throwing the ball a mere three times in the wind.
The Patriots are indeed back to being Super Bowl contenders after just one “bridge year” post-Brady and like Frank Sinatra, Belichick did it his way.
To steal Bill Parcells’ famous old analogy from right here in New England comparing football to making dinner, Belichick and Brady took two very different approaches to making a Super Bowl-worthy meal after their dynastic divorce.
Brady ordered one of those meal kits in a box that are all the rage these days. It landed on his new doorstep with all the ingredients and recipe ready to go. All he had to do was put it all together, make sure it didn’t burn and then enjoy the results. Easy, peasy!
Belichick took the old-school approach to his meal. Had to figure out what he wanted to make, find all the ingredients, cook it up with no recipe to go by and make sure it all came together in a palatable fashion.
And great homemade meal from scratch will always be more impressive than one that arrives via FedEx.
Even before we know how this already successful season ends in New England, we know for sure that Belichick has proven that he was far from some sort of bystander in Brady’s sidecar for 20 years of winning and Super Bowl runs in New England.
What Belichick has done rebuilding, rebooting and rejuvenating the Patriots after just one season away from Brady is not only brilliant, its more impressive than what his former QB did joining a ready-made Super Bowl contender bursting with talent on both sides of the ball in Tampa Bay.
Heading toward the end of his never-to-be-matched career Brady took an NBA mentality and joined a super team. He took the easy way. And that’s OK. It worked. He collected a ring and all the gushing adulation that came with it, which he certainly deserved.
For more than a year Belichick suffered the slings and arrows, stuck to his football roots, rebuilt the Patriots and proved to his supporters and doubters alike that reports of his demise were both premature and exaggerated.
Whether the Patriots reach or win the Super Bowl this season or not, Belichick has already proven significantly more this season than Brady did a year ago in Tampa Bay.
It is what it is. ROTFLMAO!
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