The Football Genius: Bill Belichick
This will be the first of many Super Bowl 51 primers.
The greatest coach in NFL History is Bill Belichick. Theres no question about it anymore. Whether the Patriots win Super Bowl 51 or not, Belichick is the greatest that ever lived. From consistent winning to great personnel competence, nobody can match Bill.
A History of Winning: Nobody has ever won like Bill has. In 2016, the Patriots won their division for the 8th straight time in the 15th time in the Belichick era. The only thing standing between 16 straight? An 11 win season with backup QB Matt Cassel (yes, Matt damn Cassel). Thats not too shabby. Belichick does one thing and one thing only: Win. And he is only getting better with age. Not only has he won eight straight division titles, he has appeared in the AFC's last six (SIX!) championship games. He is about to be in his 7th Super Bowl as a head coach, meaning he's been the head coach in about 13.5% of Super Bowls. So, he's infinitely more likely to coach in the Super Bowl as Pete Carroll is to run the ball from the one yard line with the game on the line in one. A fifth Super Bowl title would just be the icing on the cake in a career filled with nothing but winning.
Finding the Right Guys (And ditching the wrong ones): Name a coach who knows a good football player better than Bill. Actually, don't, I'd hate to be that jerk writer who asks you to waste your time thinking about impossible things. I have countless examples, and I'll give you a few. Remember what that guy Wes Welker did in Miami? Oh man... he was an absolute force- on the scout offense maybe. Bill took this little guy and turned him into one of the NFL's most reliable pass catchers. He went on to have a couple of nice years in Denver, but Belichick kept up his reputation of getting rid of guys early, not too late. Randy Moss' career was on the downswing in the years right before he came to New England, and many thought he might be done. Slow down there, guys. Bill created the most unstoppable QB-WR tandem we've ever seen, and Moss set the record for most touchdown receptions in a season in history in his first year with the Patriots. And what did he go on to do after Bill cut him loose? Show up big time on Monday Night Football... in the analysts booth. Remember those guys Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins that Bill traded for pretty much nothing? I don't. Since then, Kyle Van Noy has helped lead the Patriots to the number one scoring defense and Chandler Jones will be watching the Super Bowl from the couch. Or the police station, we don't really know... Oh and Jamie Collins just signed a big time contract with the Browns. Clearly he prioritizes good teams and winning! Should I get started on Darrell Revis? Or Logan Mankins (thanks for the Super Bowl, Tim Wright)? Michael Floyd? You get my point. Pick 199 baby!
Why Write this Now? While its always awesome to talk about how good our guy is, I had a purpose in writing this article. Theres been talk about the Chiefs parting ways with Jamaal Charles, and if they do, you can bet on the Pats making a run to pick him up cheap and reincarnate his career. I'll bet the house on him being a force on the Patriots if we could somehow lure him over to the Dark Side. (I have a pretty good history... look at the divisional weekend and conference championship predictions). If it was possible to score to win a billion to nothing next Sunday, I'm sure Bill could find a way to do it- but thats an article for a different day. So if you're going to take anything away from this pointless, rambling, Belichick love fest its this: The Patriots will win this Super Bowl (unless Eli and his golden horseshoe shows up- again, an article for another day) and theres a decent chance Jamaal Charles carves up defenses in ways they didn't know was possible in New England next year.
P.S: Be ready for a Patriot love/arrogance session all week. And probably after the big game too, until I can start fantasizing about the Red Sox and NUMBER ONE prospect Andrew Benny Baby!