There's no secret. They are better than everyone else most of the time. A good part of that is the consistency of Belichick and Brady at the top of their professions. Brady is, if not the best quarterback in history, among the elite and Belichick is acknowledged even by many Jet and Giant fans I know as the best ever. Those who think it is cheating are often just fans of other teams.
That's not to mention that NE also has the best cost-efficient payrolls in the NFL. https://goo.gl/4fhIGb
look at a photo of the Pats offensive line
re SC49ers - I think the GM had more to do with picking the "talent," so that the moves against Harbaugh seemed like a classic magic trick. And it worked for a year - the press actually bought the story that the 49ers had lots of ill-coached talent, because the team had been talented. But NFL players don't last very long - most wear out in less than 4 years - there really isn't much overlap in rosters after 3 years, and in football its often the weakest players on the field who matter the most. Appreciating this is the real reason the Patriots are great.
A few years back, a Patriots player noted that there are three kinds of football players: those who play for the money, those who play for fame and those who play because they love football. Belichick chooses only the latter. The players are clear about this - Brady last month reiterated his love of the game. The game is more important to him than the $10 million or so he foregoes in annual salary.
having had the chance to see this team up close for over a decade now, the best answer can be seen in the documentary "Do Your Job"--they are very hardworking, totally dedicated to the common goal--team first (Brady has given up tens of millions just himself to support the team)--and have exceptional discipline and smarts-and likely the best quarterback ever, and the best coach ever, each. Belichick has been watching film since he was eight with his dad, and Brady never says a bad word about anyone--classic positive thinking--they are genuinely inspiring to watch each week--no bs, no excuses, no whining--just on to the next game
I personally feel the cheating thing is ridiculously overblown--do most people even know WHY they were punished for "spygate"??? NOT FOR SPYING! For filming in an unapproved location -yet many blithely go along as if their spying is a given--as Belichick himself said -"it was in front of 80,000 people"--does anyone look at Bill Belichick and see an idiot? well, he would have to be to run a spy operation in plain view of 80,000 people!!!!
Patriots are routinely accused of wrong doing later proven to be nothing (as Pittsburgh allegation with headsets this year) or Belichick so out couching the opponent that they feel he is cheating --Harbaugh in Ravens playoff game, Rothlisburger in Pitt game this year--grow a pair NFL, no crying in football
I personally feel the cheating thing is ridiculously overblown--do most people even know WHY they were punished for "spygate"??? NOT FOR SPYING! For filming in an unapproved location -yet many blithely go along as if their spying is a given--as Belichick himself said -"it was in front of 80,000 people"--does anyone look at Bill Belichick and see an idiot? well, he would have to be to run a spy operation in plain view of 80,000 people!!!!
Patriots are routinely accused of wrong doing later proven to be nothing (as Pittsburgh allegation with headsets this year) or Belichick so out couching the opponent that they feel he is cheating --Harbaugh in Ravens playoff game, Rothlisburger in Pitt game this year--grow a pair NFL, no crying in football
3
I am glad people have an outlet to vent their frustrations. It makes you feel good to claim the Patriots's cheat. What makes me feel good is watching the Patriot's win, and win, and win .........
4
Jason Garrett is 6' 3"
Mike Tomlin is about 6' 1'
Robert Kraft is 5' 7"
Bill Belichick is maybe 5' 9" tops
Julian Edelman is 5' 10" tops
Wes Welker is 5' 9" tops
Dion Lewis is 5' 7"
Danny Woodhead is 5' 7"
danny Amendola is 5' 10" tops
The patriots pick skill players regardless of height. the Patriost probably have BOTH the most elitely educated ownership and staff and the SHORTEST ownership and staff. Edelman is the perfect example. Who would have thought a 5' 10" Jew could be an All-Pro talent?
I am NOT saying other don't draft or acquire white players of below average height, but The Patriots do it every year.
Mike Tomlin is about 6' 1'
Robert Kraft is 5' 7"
Bill Belichick is maybe 5' 9" tops
Julian Edelman is 5' 10" tops
Wes Welker is 5' 9" tops
Dion Lewis is 5' 7"
Danny Woodhead is 5' 7"
danny Amendola is 5' 10" tops
The patriots pick skill players regardless of height. the Patriost probably have BOTH the most elitely educated ownership and staff and the SHORTEST ownership and staff. Edelman is the perfect example. Who would have thought a 5' 10" Jew could be an All-Pro talent?
I am NOT saying other don't draft or acquire white players of below average height, but The Patriots do it every year.
Just last month, Jonathan Kraft successfully became the second person to disprove the myth that the smartest people graduate from Williams College (George Steinbrenner was the first). http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-jonathan-kr... No one in the NFL deserves a nice, strong dose of attitude adjustment as much as him. Here's hoping he gets his comeuppance. Unfortunately for the Patriots, they would have to be dethroned for this to happen.
Nice to see a detailed analysis of what is the secret of the Patriots' success. It amazes me that so many so called NFL fans ignore all that and would rather believe they are successful because like every other team in the League, they attempted to learn the hand signals of the other team. Which, since we now have headphones, is obsolete any way, isn't it? Or that Brady is so unsure of his ability to play in the rain, that he deliberately conspired to have .4PSI of air removed from his footballs. lol First of all, Brady and all the Patriots love to play in bad weather. Second, .4psi of air? Who would go to the trouble of removing that little air? If you were going to deflate the ball, you'd deflate it by 1psi, wouldn't you? Otherwise, what would be the point.
Another thing I've been noticing, is that many NFL teams have begun emulating BB's methods. I watch other teams play and hear them on Sound FX and a more common phrase is becoming 'Do Your Job' [g] Many press conferences are now looking very similar to BB's press conferences, where he praises the opponents and never says anything insulting. Harbaugh, the hypocrite, after having a fit over ineligible players BB used last year, [btw, after consulting with officials before the game, that they were legal] has now been seen using very similar plays with his own team this season.
Fans calling Tom and the Pats cheaters continue to choose Tom and their players for Fantasy picks. Hypocrites.
Another thing I've been noticing, is that many NFL teams have begun emulating BB's methods. I watch other teams play and hear them on Sound FX and a more common phrase is becoming 'Do Your Job' [g] Many press conferences are now looking very similar to BB's press conferences, where he praises the opponents and never says anything insulting. Harbaugh, the hypocrite, after having a fit over ineligible players BB used last year, [btw, after consulting with officials before the game, that they were legal] has now been seen using very similar plays with his own team this season.
Fans calling Tom and the Pats cheaters continue to choose Tom and their players for Fantasy picks. Hypocrites.
5
Bellichick is far ahead of other NFL coaches, but I think part of it is that many, not all but many, other NFL coaches are just stubborn and lazy and set in their ways. In the Baltimore playoff game last year, I was sitting next to a middle-aged guy who had played high school football. He only had half an eye on the game but he noticed a Patriots running back come out and talk to the ref, then line up on the offensive line. "Oh he's checking in as an inelligible receiver," my friend informed anyone who would listen. He's going to fake going out for a pass and hope that the Ravens cover him so someone else will be open. My high school team used to do that when we played a tough defense." That's exactly what happened. If this guy, who had not played football in 30 or more years since high school, could see it coming, why couldn't a full-time NFL coach or someone on his staff or any of his full-time professional players? Their response? The Ravens got the NFL to change the rules so that play can't be run any more. Maybe Bellichick is a genius, but he doesn't have to cheat when he's playing against opponents who don't even bother to learn the rules. Pathetic.
4
Great article about a great team. I hope someone (maybe Greg?) is writing a book about them. A la Moneyball. They are game changers and I hope we get to know the inside story one of these days.
1
I've enjoyed reading TMQ for many years now but I've often thought, "If only Greg would stop with the cheerleader cheesecake, the constant whining about 'Christmas creep', and other obsessions (.g., 'Bill Bellicheat'), it would be the perfect column." Thanks to NYT editing, I assume, we're almost there; now, if the Times can limit Greg to only one column where he bitches about the NFL playoff seeding, we will have reached Nirvana. Welcome back, TMQ.
The Patriots are the equivalent in stock trading parlance of value investors. Bob Kraft has "money-balled" this into something that should be impossible - sustainable excellence. Corporations could learn a lot by understanding how/why the Pats select the players they do and how they manage them. But if there is one thing the Pats have proven over everything else is that individual talent is an overrated component to winning consistently in the NFL.
5
Another reason for the Patriots' success is that they are completely unsentimental and merciless in their personnel decisions. They trade or cut fan favorites -- Willie McGinest, Logan Mankins, Richard Seymour -- and they allow others to walk when the price gets too high -- Wes Welker, Damien Woody. The fans grouse for a week and forgive everything when the team wins. The Patriots believe that the player needs the system more than the system needs the player. They are usually right. None of these ex-patriots has ever come back to haunt them.
4
The biggest reason, IMHO, is preparation. By which I mean not just weight room time and practice, but film study, analysis, gameplanning. The author alludes to this in the section on adjusting for opponents; but it goes far beyond “this team has a good run defense, so we will pass a lot.”
Belichick and his staff seem to have internalized a 200-page dossier on every opposing player, and every play the team runs with them. And they drill their own players with the info they need on their matchups.
Most crucially, Belichick found in Brady a QB with an a appetite and aptitude for studying the opponent and exploiting what they see happening on the fly. But on defense and special teams, they also have key players with a similar talent, which makes them seem like overachievers.
It’s not magic, or cheating, but it feels like both to their victims who did not do their own homework. Total, voracious, minute preparation allows New England to make the most of its talent, in particular by adjusting their plan in-game on the fly.
Watching most other teams, you can see the lack of such preparation compared to the Patriots. Belichick is at the heart of that process of finding a preparatory edge, but he also gets his players to buy in, and that is no small feat.
Belichick and his staff seem to have internalized a 200-page dossier on every opposing player, and every play the team runs with them. And they drill their own players with the info they need on their matchups.
Most crucially, Belichick found in Brady a QB with an a appetite and aptitude for studying the opponent and exploiting what they see happening on the fly. But on defense and special teams, they also have key players with a similar talent, which makes them seem like overachievers.
It’s not magic, or cheating, but it feels like both to their victims who did not do their own homework. Total, voracious, minute preparation allows New England to make the most of its talent, in particular by adjusting their plan in-game on the fly.
Watching most other teams, you can see the lack of such preparation compared to the Patriots. Belichick is at the heart of that process of finding a preparatory edge, but he also gets his players to buy in, and that is no small feat.
8
So Nate Solder wasn't a first round draft pick out of Colorado? Check your facts NY Times
NYT editor -- Solder out for the season with a torn biceps as of two weeks ago. I'll adjust the text to make that more clear. Thanks.
NYT editor -- Solder out for the season with a torn biceps as of two weeks ago. I'll adjust the text to make that more clear. Thanks.
But isn't he the only first round draft pick?
Re the record of teams playing in London. The very first game played at Wembley stadium in 1986 featured the superbowl champion Bears vs. the Cowboys whose record in the 1985 season was 10-6. This was a pre-season game, not that it makes any difference. The point being is that both teams had winning records.
Gregg, go to the data, and most specifically the W-L data. Look at Belichick's record with Tom Brady and without Tom Brady. The W-L % is disparate. Love him or hate him, Brady is by far and away the biggest factor.
Personnel management is the second factor. The Patriots collect draft choices by jettisoning stars while they still have value.
The Patriots take calculated risks, and most of the time that works fine. Gronkowksi only played in a handful of games for a terrible Arizona team because of injury. TE Hernandez had a bad history, and then committed murder.
Defensive minded Belichick builds his defense with key draft picks. The Patriots fill the roster with obscure players, and then use high draft picks on top defensive players. He uses running back by committee, with castoffs like Blount. Edelman was an obscure player from California via Kent St. Erstwhile guard Stephen Neal never played college football but was a champion wrestler.
Bottom line, it's all about how you chose the players. As John Madden used to say, "It doesn't matter if you use an attack defense or a contain defense, you just need guys." (i.e., guys who can play.) Belichick is a master of roster management.
Tom Brady and roster management, that's the secret. Offense and scoring is essential is the key in the NFL. Hence, you need a milker of a quarterback. That's why the Giants were able to slay the dragon in two Super Bowls. Eli Manning is a bona fide super talent.
Personnel management is the second factor. The Patriots collect draft choices by jettisoning stars while they still have value.
The Patriots take calculated risks, and most of the time that works fine. Gronkowksi only played in a handful of games for a terrible Arizona team because of injury. TE Hernandez had a bad history, and then committed murder.
Defensive minded Belichick builds his defense with key draft picks. The Patriots fill the roster with obscure players, and then use high draft picks on top defensive players. He uses running back by committee, with castoffs like Blount. Edelman was an obscure player from California via Kent St. Erstwhile guard Stephen Neal never played college football but was a champion wrestler.
Bottom line, it's all about how you chose the players. As John Madden used to say, "It doesn't matter if you use an attack defense or a contain defense, you just need guys." (i.e., guys who can play.) Belichick is a master of roster management.
Tom Brady and roster management, that's the secret. Offense and scoring is essential is the key in the NFL. Hence, you need a milker of a quarterback. That's why the Giants were able to slay the dragon in two Super Bowls. Eli Manning is a bona fide super talent.
2
I don't discount what you say, but keep in mind that they went 11-5 the year Cassel played (10-5 with Cassel as the starter, and the game Brady was injured was tied 0-0 when Brady went down). I think he needed Bledsoe to go down and untested Brady to come in to allow the team to buy into his way of game management...and once it was proven, they were off to the races. Sure, Brady has become a major factor, but I also think Belichick helped make Brady. It's more symbiotic than anything...I'm not sure the Patriots win that first Super Bowl with Bledsoe at the helm (but keep in mind that Bledsoe led the Pats to a comeback win over the Steelers in the AFC title game that season when Brady left the game injured), and I'm not sure Brady becomes Brady if any other team had drafted him.
2
> Eli Manning is a bona fide super talent.
Always good to end with a funny joke!
Always good to end with a funny joke!
6
Eli can't do it alone. He needs talent surrounding him. But other than Brady and perhaps Rothlisberger and Rivers, what quarterback in the NFL would you rather have at the controls of the Giants?
Mara and Tisch aren't dumb with money. Eli is a super talent when you look at the Jets, Browns, Texans, etc. And he outdoes other good QBs like Ryan and Stafford. Peyton, Palmer and Brees - old and vulnerable. Wilson does not throw it downfield as well. Cutler, Kapernick and Smith have seen better days.
So when you look at it empirically, Eli and Joe Flacco are both in the upper echelon. And Eli's Super Bowl wins probably get him to the hall of fame. The Giants' current mediocrity do not discount that.
Mara and Tisch aren't dumb with money. Eli is a super talent when you look at the Jets, Browns, Texans, etc. And he outdoes other good QBs like Ryan and Stafford. Peyton, Palmer and Brees - old and vulnerable. Wilson does not throw it downfield as well. Cutler, Kapernick and Smith have seen better days.
So when you look at it empirically, Eli and Joe Flacco are both in the upper echelon. And Eli's Super Bowl wins probably get him to the hall of fame. The Giants' current mediocrity do not discount that.
Pasteurized chickens? Wait til PETA finds out about This!
Greg - You're normally a reasonable guy with thoughtful remarks but you need to be called out on your mis-assessment of the 49ers. The 49ers, like any team that was bad for a decade, amassed a lot of talent from high round draft picks. Harbaugh inherited the same talent that neither Mike Nolan nor Mike Singletary could apparently coach up. Harbaugh immediately brought them to 3 straight NFC championship games a Superbowl appearance..with Alex Smith and Kaepernick! Alex was almost out of the league and the only time Kaepernick looked good was when he had Harbaugh whispering in his ear, prepping him for games and designing an offense with QB training wheels for him. So any coach could have waltzed in there had that dramatic of a turnaround because of the talent?
Harbaugh "skedaddled"? Did you just make that up? He didn't choose to leave, he was fired by the GM (lol - after 3 NFC championship appearances in 4 years) and was approached by Michigan after the season. After Harbaugh was fired and Tomsula was named coach, is it a coincidence that about 20 players left in free agency or choose to retire than play for an idiot owner and GM and doofus head coach? Meanwhile, Harbaugh takes the exact same Michigan team that Brady Hoke went 5-7 with 2014, and makes them a top 15 team in year 1, with a cast off transfer QB who couldnt win the job at Iowa. Seriously man this was all well publicized. Your characterization of the situation isn't factual and is borderline fiction.
Harbaugh "skedaddled"? Did you just make that up? He didn't choose to leave, he was fired by the GM (lol - after 3 NFC championship appearances in 4 years) and was approached by Michigan after the season. After Harbaugh was fired and Tomsula was named coach, is it a coincidence that about 20 players left in free agency or choose to retire than play for an idiot owner and GM and doofus head coach? Meanwhile, Harbaugh takes the exact same Michigan team that Brady Hoke went 5-7 with 2014, and makes them a top 15 team in year 1, with a cast off transfer QB who couldnt win the job at Iowa. Seriously man this was all well publicized. Your characterization of the situation isn't factual and is borderline fiction.
9
Brady & McDaniels are just smarter than any D coordinator or capitain
3
PLEASE keep up the cheating rhetoric. It gets into the heads of opposing teams and diverts attention from the real reason the Patriots have excelled since 2001, a superior, disciplined program. To think they are alone in "cheating" is naive at best and more likely disingenuous jealously.
8
They cheat
1
DON'T PUNT. Anyway, that call (or non call) in the Cardinals game is the single worst officiating call of the season so far. The NFL wants defenders to let up on defenseless players, especially those in the grasp, and no longer moving their legs. I can't believe the lack of scrutiny that call is getting this morning...it seems to be ignored by all the sportswriters. Every official involved in that call should be fined just as much as any Ravens player woould have been fined if he had hit Johnson while he was lying prone on the ground. Stupid, Stupid decision by the officials.
1
I completely disagree with the contention that there was no way to tackle Johnson without drawing a flag. Remember two facts: 1) You don't have to spear him, you just have to get something other than his feet on the ground. 2) The officials knew the play wasn't over. NONE OF THEM BLEW THE PLAY DEAD.
Perhaps the call was blown, but I think there is room for reasonable people to disagree. During the telecast, the 'guy who second-guesses the officials' claimed the player had not stopped moving forward, even if it was just a lean.
But what is beyond argument, is that the Ravens stopped playing. A well-coached team plays until the whistle. The Ravens didn't, and that part is on bad coaching or dumb players.
Blame the officials? Maybe.
Blame the Ravens for poor execution? Indisputable.
Perhaps the call was blown, but I think there is room for reasonable people to disagree. During the telecast, the 'guy who second-guesses the officials' claimed the player had not stopped moving forward, even if it was just a lean.
But what is beyond argument, is that the Ravens stopped playing. A well-coached team plays until the whistle. The Ravens didn't, and that part is on bad coaching or dumb players.
Blame the officials? Maybe.
Blame the Ravens for poor execution? Indisputable.
I don't see the value in criticizing Belichick for any cheating he may have allegedly conducted. There isn't a clean program in the NFL, only franchises that have been caught and those that have not been caught. For example, the Saints conducted a bounty hunting program a few years ago--they were caught. The year that the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, multiple team members were cited for violating the league's policies on illegal performance enhancers. Given how dirty a program Pete Carroll ran at U.S.C., does anybody think that he didn't give tacit approval to what his N.F.L. players were doing? Don't even get me started on the level of public deception the league has engaged in to suppress concussion research.
I'm not condoning bad behavior on anybody's part, but Belichick shouldn't be singled out when he's just one among many malefactors in the N.F.L.
I'm not condoning bad behavior on anybody's part, but Belichick shouldn't be singled out when he's just one among many malefactors in the N.F.L.
16
See, the deal is Tom Brady* and the Patriots* are good enough they don't have to cheat. But they do, anyway. Stay classy, Belligerent.*
So they shut out the Seahawks in the 4th Quarter of the Super Bowl. You really want to revisit the Worst Play Call in Super Bowl History? More significant is that Seattle's offense has been in the tank ever since that game (including preseason) and their 4th Quarter defense has evaporated. The O line stinks, but that's what happens when you trade a dominant center (Unger) for an all-star WR you rarely use.
Gripe of the Week: Fox, for yanking the rug out from Saints fans nationwide (yeah, we're still out here) and Colts fans late in the 3rd Quarter because the game was allegedly a "blowout," and switching to The Game Nobody Cared About -- the Red Persons vs. Tampa Bay. Blowout? Since when is 27-14 after three a blowout? New Orleans had to run out the clock for the 27-21 victory. Thanks for nothing, Fox.
As for SI predicting anything of consequence...are those the same guys who predicted the Mariners would be playing Game 1 against the Dodgers tonight?
So they shut out the Seahawks in the 4th Quarter of the Super Bowl. You really want to revisit the Worst Play Call in Super Bowl History? More significant is that Seattle's offense has been in the tank ever since that game (including preseason) and their 4th Quarter defense has evaporated. The O line stinks, but that's what happens when you trade a dominant center (Unger) for an all-star WR you rarely use.
Gripe of the Week: Fox, for yanking the rug out from Saints fans nationwide (yeah, we're still out here) and Colts fans late in the 3rd Quarter because the game was allegedly a "blowout," and switching to The Game Nobody Cared About -- the Red Persons vs. Tampa Bay. Blowout? Since when is 27-14 after three a blowout? New Orleans had to run out the clock for the 27-21 victory. Thanks for nothing, Fox.
As for SI predicting anything of consequence...are those the same guys who predicted the Mariners would be playing Game 1 against the Dodgers tonight?
3
Please don't forget the Seahawks were one yard line only because of the second luckiest play in Super Bowl history.
4
When did the Patriots cheat?
4
The Patriots had practiced against that exact play. Butler knew that play and where to be from his coaches. It was not mere luck.
2
"a Celtics-in-the-Sixties-caliber performance."
Oh come now. In the Bill Russell years the Celtics won 11 out of 13 times. The Patriots are great, but not that great.
Oh come now. In the Bill Russell years the Celtics won 11 out of 13 times. The Patriots are great, but not that great.
1
In the context of salary caps, free agency and parity this Patriots run is right in line with those Celtics, the Yankees of the 30's or 50's, the Canadiens of the 50's or 70's.
9
More like the Spurs but no question about the Spyrs integrity
@John. Since 2004 the Steelers have won two Supers and lost one, so half as good as the Patriots. No one managed to be a tenth as good as the Bill Russell Celtics.
> T.M.Q. contends that defense starts comebacks, offense stops them.
Wally's First Law: Defense wins games, Offense creates dynasties...
Wally's First Law: Defense wins games, Offense creates dynasties...
In 16 seasons under Bill Belichick, the Patriots have ... and cheated who knows how many times.
a good deal less than average, according to this site www.yourteamcheats.com
in many cases 50-100% less than their main opponents--
in many cases 50-100% less than their main opponents--
5
Huh?