Foxboro, Mass. – It is one of the most unforgettable images of Super Bowl XXXIX: together for the final time in the closing stages of their victory over Philadelphia, coach Bill Belichick and coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel sharing a hug along the New England Patriots’ sideline.
Indelible but not enduring – unlike a photograph, the NFL doesn’t do enduring. While the league loves Vince Lombardi and waxing nostalgic about bygone eras, John Facenda is gone and so are last season’s Super Bowl champions. While Weis tries to wake up the echoes in South Bend, Ind., and Crennel tries to raise the dead on the shores of Lake Erie, Belichick must contend with a league eager to wreak a measure of payback for his team’s back-to-back titles.
The first shot belongs to the Oakland Raiders tonight at Gillette Stadium in the league’s season opener. In the next five weeks, Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Atlanta and Denver – each with postseason aspirations – will measure themselves in games against the two-time defenders of Lombardi’s trophy.
By then, if the experts are right, New England may indeed be yesterday’s news after the departures of not only Crennel and Weis, but a host of players – and the notable absence of linebacker Tedy Bruschi. But one thing is certain: The Patriots will merely be playing a stretch of six football games, one game at a time.
“I don’t think nobody’s thinking about a Super Bowl at this point; it’s too far away,” veteran linebacker Willie McGinest said. “You hear a lot of teams talk about, ‘We’re a playoff team, we’re a Super Bowl-caliber team,’ and all that.
“It’s funny to us. You hear teams, they have a couple of good games in Weeks 1 and 2, and they’re already talking about the Super Bowls and playoffs. A lot of those teams that do all that talking don’t even make the playoffs. You have to stay focused on what’s at hand.”
But if the Patriots aren’t talking about making the Super Bowl, they are at least making mental notations on those who are saying New England most assuredly won’t be playing for a third consecutive title and fourth in five seasons. At a time when many teams would fall into complacency, this has served to provide the Patriots with motivation.
Asked how he feels about those who downplay New England’s chances, tough-guy safety Rodney Harrison sneers as if the nerdy Urkel has decided to run a crossing route into the heart of the Patriots’ defense.
“People always wonder; they wonder if we’ll win five games or 10 games. Who cares? Who cares?” Harrison said. “That’s just people. If we win the Super Bowl, they’ll come back and wonder if we could win it again. Who cares? No one – especially in that locker room.”
Turnover in coaches, players
While fans and critics have been overwrought by the Patriots’ losses, it’s almost as if they have become frozen in time. Weis signed with Notre Dame before the Patriots began the 2004 playoffs. Crennel went to the Browns shortly after the Super Bowl, and Bruschi suffered a stroke in February.
“I love Romeo,” McGinest said. “He’s a great coach and a great guy, but I can’t allow myself to go outside the box of what I’m doing here and now. Romeo is doing what he has to do. We’re here working and trying to get better.”
Added Belichick: “It’s not an issue. We’ve been through spring camp, the draft and the whole offseason, so the transition has already happened. It’s not like they just left yesterday.”
Besides, if anyone knows how to adapt to change – whether it’s the natural evolution of the NFL or something that’s forced upon him – it’s Belichick.
Those who were flabbergasted at the sight of wide receiver Troy Brown playing defensive back last season because of injuries probably wouldn’t have been surprised this year. Because of family issues, running backs coach Ivan Fears missed the start of camp. His replacement? Nick Caserio, the Pats’ director of pro personnel, who had only two years of coaching experience – in college in 1999 and 2000 – before joining New England’s front office.
At the start of this season outside linebacker Mike Vrabel, who has caught touchdown passes in the past two Super Bowls, occasionally will be playing inside beside newcomer Chad Brown. Although the former Colorado star has played 12 NFL seasons, Brown said the upcoming one is a little different.
“Given how well this franchise has performed, I don’t want to be the one to get it off track in any way,” Brown said. “It’s a culture of learning here. In meetings, there’s no ‘I’ll get that later.’ Each player, when he steps on the field, knows what is expected of him, more so than any team I’ve been on.”
Accountability counts
And should Brown slip, he knows he would hear about it, not from the media or even coaches, but from the people who count the most – his peers in the locker room.
“We hold everybody accountable for what they do in their job,” McGinest said. “I hold (defensive end) Richard Seymour accountable for what he does, he holds me accountable for what I do. We hold the DBs accountable – whatever the case may be.
“We expect to compete at a high level. We’ll let you know in a minute. They’ll get on me if I’m slacking, not running to the ball, working out or doing whatever I’m supposed to be doing, just like I’ll let them know. That’s just how it is around here.”
Perhaps the Patriots will be run down by their daunting early-season schedule. Perhaps on Nov. 7, the visiting Indianapolis Colts will exact a measure of revenge for losses in the past two postseasons and in the process gain the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. There are those who argue that if Peyton Manning and Co. got New England on the ersatz turf of the RCA Dome instead of the slush in Foxboro, it would be a different story.
Perhaps. But, as Harrison says, those are only people’s opinions, and what do “people” know? The truth will come about five months from now in Detroit, where the Super Bowl will be played. But when the camera lenses pan the sidelines, don’t be surprised if they alight on, if not the same old faces, then at least the same old team.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
