Bill Belichick: “We’re Five Weeks Behind In The 2017 Season”

From disappointment to despair to pleading to confidence to euphoria, we all experienced it.

The Patriots’ head coach, who led New England to a 34-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, is in the field for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. What eventually set young Belichick apart from many of his coaching peers was the depth of his intellect outside of the game. Vince Lombardi, considered one of the greatest coaches in National Football League history, won two Super Bowls but also won six National Football League championships before the Super Bowl-era. The rest? They saw the Patriots put it all to bed.

Both Belichick and Chuck Noll, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers are tied for the greatest Super Bowl titles with four. That left the other Falcons receivers with plenty of space to work.

Will Tom Brady win his fifth ring? They did everything right to try to beat the Patriots, but the Patriots were able to edge them out at the end.

Still not wanting Jones to go off in the second half, the Patriots started playing a true double-team on him, which rarely happens in the NFL. He led the Packers to five National Football League titles, victories in the first two Super Bowls, and a 9-1 record in postseason games. Sure, the Bills team that knocked them off advanced to the Super Bowl, but there’s no guarantee the Oilers would have done the same. (The Falcons should have had one fewer point, but that’s another point entirely). Owens caught nine passes for 177 and two touchdowns. The NFL cycle is a quick one, and if you aren’t working in the offseason, you’re not going to win in the regular season.

“Do your job. Finish”, Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower said was the instruction at the break. The huge strip sack of Ryan that let the Pats back into it. It increased to 28-3 in the third quarter. The Patriots offense responded with a touchdown to pull the game within 8 points. “We knew what they had, we drew up what they were doing”.

And if you read Belichick’s comments in 2001 after his now famous pick of Tom Brady in the sixth round, you can tell he had no idea he just picked the most valuable player in the history of the NFL.

So many Patriots made must-have plays amid Sunday’s comeback that the absence of tight end Rob Gronkowski, a go-to Brady target, proved a mere footnote. “It’s one last game and the last game of the season”.

Instead, the Patriots opted for a fake kneel play – a respectively weird call – which resulted in a 13-yard Dion Lewis run (and injury), sending the game into overtime. That strong output resulted in 25 points for the Patriots. In that game, the Patriots won 29-26 when they kicked a field goal to start overtime and then stopped the Jets on their ensuing drive. There is no doubt that New England wouldn’t have five Super Bowl championships without Brady’s sustained excellence, at 39.

So much revulsion caused by this one team from a little area in the top right corner of the country.

Like in the AFC, it’s not far-fetched to imagine the Atlanta Falcons making it to Super Bowl 52. I still can’t comprehend how the game unfolded and perhaps I never truly will.