Foxborough, Mass. – It’s not that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick considers himself a contrarian, it’s just that he doesn’t really think like you do.
You look at linebacker Mike Vrabel lining up at tight end, or offensive tackle Tom Ashworth at fullback, slipping away from defenders and catching touchdown passes, and you think “trick play.” Belichick, on the other hand, only sees urgency, the value of using everyone and anything that’s available on game day.
“We’re just trying to win. Whatever we think is the best thing we can do, that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re just using the players that we feel like are the best combination or the best roles for them in that particular game. If you carry, for example, more linebackers and fewer tight ends, then maybe you use a linebacker at tight end.
“It just varies from game to game, but it’s just to try to get the people on the field that we need for those situations. They don’t necessarily have to come from their respective side of the ball, but they have to be able to do the job. That’s really what it comes down to.
“So wherever we get them from, they’re on our roster, then we use them.”
In winning three Super Bowls over the past four seasons, Belichick has been bestowed with the honorarium of genius, but much of the coach’s acumen lies in its bottom-line simplicity. The game isn’t about throwing a never-ending array of formations at opponents, or making sure that there is at least one attempt at razzle-dazzle every week – the idea is to simply put the Patriots in the situations that will best ensure victory.
“He’s a football player”
The final blow in New England’s 28-3 AFC playoff victory Saturday over Jacksonville came when cornerback Asante Samuel returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown. The play was a striking combination of guile and opportunity. Samuel dropped off the line of scrimmage as if heading into deep coverage, then wheeled back to step in front of the intended receiver just as Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich threw the pass.
Afterward, Belichick could be seen giving defensive coordinator Eric Mangini a hug. When you’re a legend, those looking at the scene from afar envision a scenario in which Belichick pulled that particular coverage from somewhere in the recesses of his mind – or at least the Patriots’ playbook. However, the embrace wasn’t for the perfect call at the perfect time, or a reward for pulling something unexpected out of a hat. The reality was, it was merely acknowledging a score.
“I was happy that we just intercepted a pass and scored a touchdown,” Belichick said. “We won a playoff game. We are fighting for our lives out there. It’s a one- game season. It’s single elimination. To make a play to help win a game, that’s what we have been working for since last February. The offseason. Team building. Offseason programs. Minicamps. Meetings. Film sessions. Practices.
“Really all it comes down to is we’re playing single-elimination football. To make a play at this time of year, to help the team win, that excites me.”
Those around the Patriots on a regular basis say Belichick’s favorite player isn’t glamour quarterback Tom Brady, or even inspirational leader Tedy Bruschi, but rather Vrabel. Belichick extols the linebacker’s smarts, giving him the ultimate coach’s praise: “He’s a football player.”
In his nine-year NFL career, including the postseason, Vrabel has caught eight passes – all for touchdowns, all in the past four seasons. By now you would think opponents would send 11 defenders Vrabel’s way whenever he joins the Patriots’ offensive huddle.
“There are times when I go out on a route and I’m covered,” he said.
When discussing his big plays in the Patriots’ locker room, there’s a slight wrinkle in the chew wedged hard against his cheek, Vrabel allowing that being the ultimate scoring machine is “fun.” But there’s clearly more pleasure derived in discussing the work that goes into his shift to offense than there is from spiking the ball in the end zone. It is where you see why Vrabel rates so highly with his coach.
“I know my role,” Vrabel said. “I know if we don’t have three tight ends active that day, I’m going to be the guy, the de facto tight end. I look at it as a challenge. Sometimes the look defensively isn’t what we had anticipated. There are things that we work on and try to execute in practice and then never use it in a game.
“Then, all of a sudden, you’re called upon to do it. You didn’t think you were going to use it that week, and now you have to do it.”
Stick to the basics
To be sure, Belichick is as big a fan of the unexpected, momentum-turning effort as the next guy. Earlier in last week’s playoff game, wide receiver Andre Davis might have scored on a reverse, had Brady been able to throw a block. Thursday, the coach raved about Pittsburgh’s tricky, sweep-right-throw-back-
left touchdown pass against Cincinnati in another playoff game.
It’s just that Saturday night, given the choice between trying to spring an off-the-wall call against the Broncos in Denver, or blocking and tackling and executing all night long, it’s not hard to figure out what Belichick would choose.
He said: “Boy, I’ll tell you, when you put in plays and say, ‘OK, we’re going to run this play and here’s what they’re going to be in and this is going to score a touchdown’ … Every once in a while that might work, but it’s so hard to know that that’s exactly what they’re going to be in and if you’re going to get that perfect look. Then you get something that’s a little bit different and then the play gets blown up.
“You guys think we just have a million chances out there, but honestly in a game you don’t have that many plays. So when you call something, you want to feel pretty good about it. You don’t want to let (the defense) just do something that’s a little bit different. That shouldn’t be any big problem but because you have such a gadget going on, you just can’t handle it.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
