Just got done watching “Do Your Job Bill Belichick”, a look back at the 2014 Patriots.
Years ago, Belichick turned down HBO about the Patriots doing “Hard Knocks”, so I was pleasantly surprised at the access given to not only Belichick, but also the assistant coaching staff as well, including the great Ernie Adams, who is rarely heard from or seen. One of my favorite authors, the late great David Halberstam, once described Adams as “Belichick’s Belichick.’’. In the special, he is listed as “Director of Football Research” but the Patriots have always been vague on his exact duties. When Adams was in Cleveland with Belichick, Browns owner Art Modell offered $10,000 to anyone who could tell him what Adams actually did. The last assistant coach I can remember with any real access to the public was former O-Line/Special teams coach Dante Scarnecchia. Steve Mariucci, on a show following “Do Your Job”, commented that this was the first time he had ever heard defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, speak.
It’s starts off with the beating they took at the Monday night game in Kansas City and the talk of the possible ending of the “Brady/Belichick era, including the great reaction and look from Belichick when he was asked “ Will the quarterback position be evaluated this week” at the post-game press conference. The assistant coaches read off a litany of media comments about the demise of Brady and the Patriots. Even the owner, Bob Kraft, chimed in that there was nothing better that could have happened than telling Brady he was all done and thanked all the people and media for doing just that.
The Super Bowl portion of the show emphasized the last two defensive plays by the Pats. First the criminally under-mentioned stop by Hightower on Lynch and then the Butler interception. It reveals how the Patriots practiced the deciding play in the Super Bowl over and over using different personnel, including Butler’s difficulty covering the play in practice and the move by Browner that prevented the Seahawks from using a pick to free up Lockette for the winning touchdown. Another amazing issue was the game-winning touchdown to Edelman. The Patriots put that in the night before the game in a walkthrough in the hotel.
An earlier segment dealt with the two talked about play in the Raven’s game, the Edelman pass and the eligible/ineligible receiver plays, which the Patriots nicknamed “Baltimore”. The genesis of “Baltimore” came from the Titans using it against the Jets, then the coaches watching the Alabama/LSU game and how Saban used it to really confuse the Tigers. Josh McDaniels mentioned how they purposely waited to the second half before using it thus preventing the Ravens from discussing it at half time allowing the Patriots to use it several times with slight variations. The Edelman “double-pass” talk originated in training camp by Belichick, which shocked McDaniels. He reminded Belichick about the last time they attempted that pass back in 2003 and how it ended up in an interception resulting in Belichick instituting the “Nobody throws the ball but Brady while he’s in there “ rule. But Belichick thought: “It’s been a decade, let’s give Edelman a chance”. They were actually going to run it in the Kansas City game, but Amendola did not like the Chief’s coverage, so he called it off at the last second.
If you’re interested in why the Patriots are head and shoulders above most sports organizations, not just football, you need to see this. As I mentioned, this behind-the-scenes access is extremely rare and you never know if it will ever be allowed in the Belichick era again.