New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was named the National Football League’s 2007 Coach-of-the-Year yesterday. It made sense. His team was the first-ever to finish an NFL regular season at 16-0. But I think the award should have gone to someone else for one simple reason. Coach Belichick was caught cheating. It’s really as simple as that. He broke the rules of the NFL. He was fined and his team was punished. Then he’s rewarded with the Coach-of-the-Year honor? It doesn’t make any sense.

In the strategic sense, Coach Belichick is the best coach in the NFL. I admire his week-by-week approach and one-game-at-a-time philosophy. He’s a football genius. You won’t find a more prepared, more brilliant, more devoted coach in the NFL. What he did this season in leading the Pats to a 16-0 record is remarkable and may not ever be matched again. But he broke the rules in that first game of the 2007 season (aka Spygate), so I don’t think he should win this award. Did his cheat factor into the outcome of that game against the Jets? No. Be serious. But that doesn’t matter. He still cheated. It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s an admitted fact. He was fined $500,000. His team was fined an additional $250,000. A first-round Draft pick was taken away. He apologized. Case closed and let’s move on, but I wouldn’t reward the guy with this honor based on that fact.

There are plenty of other coaches who played within the rules (as far as we know). The award should belong to someone else.

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Bill Belichick Named Coach-of-the-Year

The time is here. The New England Patriots have rolled up 15 wins with no losses. And they will lay it on the line tonight as they go for a perfect 16-0 regular season against the N.Y. Giants in what is anticipated to be one of the most-watched National Football League games in recent memory. It almost has a Super Bowl feel to it with the week-long hype and pregame festivities.

I was just staring at that number next to the Patriots’ listing in the AFC East. 15-0. It’s just an unbelievable accomplishment when you stop to think about it. It’s an unbelievable accomplishment no matter how long you think about it, but when you piece together the weeks — when you go back to the beginning, back to training camp — and see how hard this road must have been, it puts into perspective the difficulty of this achievement. I knew this team would be good. Anyone who knows anything about football knew this team would be good. But 16-0? That was unfathomable.

Still, the ultimate goal is not defined by a win tonight. The Pats have home field throughout the AFC playoffs regardless of whether they beat the Giants. Under any other circumstance, if even with one loss, New England head coach Bill Belichick is resting his first-teamers. Probably for the entire game. But with history about to be made, it’s “business as usual” for New England, as though it were the first game of the season instead of the 16th. And no matter what they say, you know they want this game. Bad. Still, linebacker Tedy Bruschi downplayed the importance:

“We’re not looking at the playoffs right now and we’re not really thinking about being undefeated. There’s a simple way how we got here, and that’s focusing on the opponent that we happen to have in front of us. This week we’ve got a formidable one in the New York Giants.”

Many people have called the Patriots boring because of comments like these, but the players are just echoing the sentiments of their head coach. As “boring” as it may be, it works. And if boring means 16-0 plus a Super Bowl victory, so be it. I’ll take boring.

(Note: You can watch the game pretty much everywhere. It’s like a “State-of-the-Union” address.)

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

New England Patriots’ Pursuit of Perfection Under National Spotlight Tonight in New York

The elite shall meet. I’ve already described it as this season’s Super Bowl. Many others are claiming it will be the best game of 2007. It’s still too early to make a prediction, so I’ll join in on the week-long Colts/Patriots hype with some interesting factoids about the big game this Sunday:

• This will be the first-ever meeting between teams that started a season at 7-0 or better.
• The game will feature the two winningest head coach-quarterback combinations since 1970. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and head coach Tony Dungy lead the category with a .770 winning percentage. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, who rank second with a .765 percentage, can surpass Manning-Dungy with a win this Sunday. Amazing.
• Of course, if the Colts win, they will join the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers as the only teams in history to start three consecutive seasons at 8-0.
• Not only will the Colts and Patriots put their undefeated records on the line, but Tom Brady will seek to continue a streak of his own. He has thrown three or more touchdown passes in all eight games this season, which matches Peyton’s record of eight such consecutive games in 2004. With three passing touchdowns on Sunday, Tom would own the longest such streak in history.

Fellow b5 blogger James Edwards is calling this game an “offensive showdown.” Check out his thoughts over at SquibKick.com.

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Colts vs. Patriots: Excellence on Display as Two Remaining Undefeated Teams Meet

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick issued a one-paragraph statement yesterday apologizing to his team and confirming that he has spoken to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about an “interpretation” of league rules that bans videotaping of the opposing sideline:

“Earlier this week I spoke with Commissioner Goodell about a videotaping procedure during last Sunday’s game and my interpretation of the rules. At this point, we have not been notified of the league’s ruling. Although it remains a league matter, I want to apologize to everyone who has been affected, most of all ownership, staff and players. Following the league’s decision, I will have further comment.”

I’m still not really sure what he was apologizing for, but I don’t see how anyone could misinterpret the rule. Page 105 of the Game Operations manual says: “No video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game.” It later says: “All video shooting locations must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead.” And, in a memo from Ray Anderson, NFL head of football operations, to head coaches and GMs on Sept. 6, 2006: “Video taping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches’ booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game.”

As I said yesterday, no official ruling has been determined yet.

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Maybe Bill Belichick ‘Missed the Memo’