Chargers picked by Belichick to win!
NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Hey, Tom Brady, why is Philip Rivers so much better than you?
What?
What are you saying?
Coach Bill Belichick picked the San Diego Chargers to win the Chargers/Patriots game on Sunday.
You mean he came out in public saying his team would lose to the Chargers?
Well, no.
So you are just pulling my leg, right?
Not exactly. Belichick had a team meeting and ripped the Patriots up and down and spoke so highly of the Chargers that he had the team believing the Chargers would win, unless the Patriots buckle down.
Huh?
So Belichick did what he did best; he walked into the meetings on Monday and ripped his team to shreds, all while building the Chargers up to be some football Goliath without weakness.
Forget the records, the point spread and the hype; according to Belichick this is 1916, the Chargers are Georgia Tech and the Pats are Cumberland.
“He put fear into us by going over everything we did wrong and everything they’ve done right the last two months,” fullback Heath Evans said Wednesday. “He was convincing,”
Belichick’s weekly servings of humble pie have become the stuff of legend around here. It’s one reason the Patriots are 17-0 and have avoided the overconfidence that has helped derail undefeated seasons for 35 years. source
It seems Bill is the master at this.
“Bill was just stating the facts and the truth (opposed) to you all telling us how great we are when we’ve still got work to do,” running back Kevin Faulk said.
Tom Brady, without the assistance of notes, rattled off a litany of impressive statistics about the Chargers’ defense that had obviously been pounded into his head.
“They’ve got (49) turnovers this season, averaging three a game. They’ve got five in the playoffs, given up 13 points a game in the last eight weeks, and have been undefeated since Thanksgiving,” he said, hardly taking a breath. “They’ve got (20) sacks between (Shawne) Merriman and (Shaun) Phillips and I think 42 sacks as a team, No. 1 in turnover differential …”
Belichick had gone so far as to call San Diego the “best team in the AFC” that, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, had “dominated the league” during the second half of the season.
Why would Bill do this? Because overconfidence sometimes begins a team’s fall from grace. Add in the fact that the log winning streak begins to play on players minds. They begin to play not to lose, instead of playing to win. It can be a disease.
Tom Izzo
Your intrepid author can witness this locally with the great coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartan basketball team. In their most impressive victories, Tom will find the most to criticize. Tom learned this technique from his mentor, Magic Johnson’s coach, Jud Heathcote.
There is a great story about Jud. After he retired and moved back out west where he started, his former assistant coach’s son became the coach at nearby Gonzaga. His name was Dan Monson. His father Don Monson and Jud used to go to Dan’s house after each home game to help critique Dan’s coaching job.
Dan recounted that Jud and Don would rip him up and down and literally dissect the team to pieces, nothing positive. And this would be after a 25 point blowout victory!
Guess they did not want Dan to get a big head.
Just like Coach Bill Belichick does not want the Patriots to get a big head.
Respect for your opponent goes a long way in providing the proper mental atmosphere for victory. Bill knows this and makes sure it takes place.
NFL Football Fan Question Who is taking you down a notch or two?
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POSTED IN: Jacksonville Jaguars, LaDainian Tomlinson, New England Patriots, Philip Rivers, Randy Moss, San Diego Chargers, Tom Brady
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