Bill Belichick strode to the podium in a plain blue sleeveless T-shirt one might wear to the gym rather than a press conference. His team had won the AFC Championship about 30 minutes earlier, and now Belichick was going to meet the media.
Gone was the emotion he showed on the sideline of the 24-20 win over the Jaguars. He was back to being Monotone Bill, shooting long looks at reporters who asked questions he did not like and offering minimal insight.
This act Belichick puts on in front of the cameras can sometimes distract from just how amazing this run Belichick is on.
After the win Sunday, the talk centered on Tom Brady’s brilliance, Brady’s hand injury, Danny Amendola’s fourth-quarter heroics, the defense’s second-half adjustments. There was not much discussion of what Belichick is doing. It is almost like everyone is numb to it.
Consider, though, Belichick is now about to coach in his 11th Super Bowl, his eighth as a head coach. Dan Reeves is the next closest with seven Super Bowls coached in. Don Shula is the closest head coach with six.
With a win over the Eagles, Belichick will join George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only coaches with six NFL championships. He would also join Chuck Noll and Vince Lombardi as the only coaches to win back-to-back championships twice.
The postgame press conference Sunday was conducted in the Patriots’ meeting room. As Brady spoke, he referenced the lessons learned in that room, which has plain white walls instead of the catchy slogans other teams use.
“This is a different team than last year’s team,” Brady said. “It didn’t look good at 2-2, and you just keep showing up to work every day, and we sit in these chairs, and Belichick gets up here, and he demands a lot out of us, and he tries to get the most out of us every day. It’s not always great. Sometimes it’s pretty average, and then you’re just trying to get better and better and get to the point where you can make the fourth quarter of a game and try to play well enough to get yourself into the next one. So, just proud of our team, proud of what we accomplished. It’s pretty amazing, and proud of this team, great leadership, and it’s just been a great year. It’d be really great if we take care of business in a couple weeks, so we’ll see.”
One theme that came up repeatedly after the Patriots came back from 10 points down to register yet another comeback win was preparation. Belichick has his players and coaches ready for anything.
“A big reason why this team wins a lot in the fourth quarter is because of the preparation all year and the mentality that our head coach brings to our team in team meeting and in practice,” Amendola said. “It’s going to be a 60-minute fight, and we know we’re going to have a chance at the end of the game, no matter how far we are down or whatever the circumstance is. It starts from the top, and it’s an attitude that we like to bring — to play 60 minutes, the whole game.”
Belichick reflected on this after the win.
“Every game is different. Every situation is different,” Belichick said. “What we had to do this week, what we had to do some other weeks are probably not quite the same thing. It’s everybody being prepared, everybody knowing what to do and when the time comes to be able to need to come through, have to come through. That’s what makes a good football team. That’s what a team is – everybody pulling their weight, everybody doing their job. When your number comes up, stepping out there and doing what’s right for the team, making the plays that the team needs you to make.”