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Belichick 1, Media 0

Part of what makes Bill Belichick such a polarizing figure is that more than anybody else in professional sports, he doesn’t give a shit about the media. Never was that more apparent than this week, when every time the media tried to get Belichick to talk about his cheating he responded with a figurative “fuck you guys.”

Normally when somebody does something bad and it gets publicized, they go in front of the media and give a prepared statement that discusses things such as regrets, apologetic feelings, and finding god. Not only did Belichick not do this, he wouldn’t even acknowledge that he did something wrong. Every time he was asked about the illegal videotaping he just responded that the team was trying to focus on San Diego. Even when Belichick was asked if his $500,000 fine was going to be paid in a lump sum or in installments, his response (as he held back laughter) was just that he was focusing on San Diego.

The best exchange occurred after last night’s win over the Chargers. The following question was posed to Belichick. “For you personally, was this one of you most difficult weeks as a coach?” The question implied that the cheating allegations had made it a difficult week. Belichick answered by saying “The Chargers are a tough football team. They’re not an easy team to prepare for. They challenge us, like I said, at every point in the game.”

Belichcik answered the question as if the difficulties the reporter was asking about only originated from preparing for San Diego. Belichick didn’t even acknowledge that there was anything out of the ordinary that would have made this week difficult. It’s stuff like this that makes some people love him and some people hate him.

Bonehead Moves of the Week—Herm Edwards/Mike Solari/Damon Huard

Midway through the 4th quarter the Chiefs had 3rd and 1 at the Bears 16 yard-line. A touchdown would have brought the Chiefs within three points. Instead of running Larry Johnson, the Chiefs elected to pass . The result, a game clinching interception. I’ll stop here and let Jason Whitlock explain the rest.

Shrewd Moves of the Week

Tarvaris Jackson

Jackson hasn’t made a whole lot of shrewd moves this year, but he did make one last week in Detroit. Early in the second quarter receiver Robert Ferguson trapped a key third down pass from Jackson, butthe play was ruled a catch. Knowing that it wasn’t a catch Jackson rushed to the line of scrimmage and spiked the ball before Detroit could challenge. Thanks to Jackson’s heads up play the Vikings went on to score a touchdown on the drive.

Bill Belichick

What makes Belichick such a good coach is that he is beholden to no old school coaching axioms. When he finds an edge he will push that edge until he is given reason to do otherwise. Belichick realized that the Patriots biggest advantage last night was spreading the field. He stuck to that philosophy throughout the whole game. Belichick correctly made no attempt to establish Lawrence Maroney—why should he when the offense could pick up 8 yards on every play by lining up four or five guys split wide? Most other coaches would have gone ahead by two touchdowns and went back to the I-formation. Belichick kept spreading the field, and that’s the reason the Chargers had no chance of coming back.

Best Prognosticator—Herm Edwards

Edwards correctly predicted that the Bears-Chiefs game would “get ugly.” He was right.

Reason #198 That Ed Hochuli is Awesome

Hochuli’s explanation for why a holding flag was picked up: “There was no holding foul on the play. The defender was just overpowered.”

The Ship is Sinking Fast–Chad Pennington

On Sunday Kellen Clemens was everything Jets fans hoped he would be. If it weren’t for 17 dropped touchdown passes in the closing minutes, he would have miraculously managed to postpone the Jets defeat until overtime. Given his performance (in his first start and against the Ravens of all teams) it’s hard to see how Chad Pennington has a future in New York this year. When Eric Mangini does put him back into the lineup Pennington will be on such a short leash I can’t imagine how he’ll be successful. This story even makes it seem like Pennington’s grip on the starting job isn’t as strong as he thinks.

Stat O’ The Week

37. That’s the number of NFL players with more rushing yards than LaDainian Tomlinson. The list includes Ron Dayne, Najeh Davenport, and Sammy Morris.

European Football Goal of the Week

Arsenal’s Emmanuael Adebayor vs. Tottenham

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