Can the winning continue in New England?
It’s an age-old question in sports…does the player make the coach, or the coach make the player? Would Auerbach have been as successful without Russell? How about Coach Wooden without Lew Alcindor and Walton – or Lombardi without Bart Starr and Paul Hornung?
That’s the question being asked today in New England, as the Brady-less Patriots take the field for the first time in 129 games without the MVP and all-world quarterback.
In case you’ve been in a coma the past few days, Tom Brady is out for the season with a knee injury that occurred in the first quarter of week-1 in the NFL. Since his insertion into the Patriots lineup, after a Bledsoe injury in 2001, Brady started 128 consecutive games – and won 81 percent of them. During that time, the Pats won 3-Super Bowls and played in 5 AFC Championship games. And, outside New England, the Pats became the most hated team in the NFL. Winning will do that.
As Brady’s career blossomed, the ongoing question was – did the Belichick “system” make Brady, or did Brady’s greatness make Belichick? We’ll soon find out.
While a huge fan of both Auerbach and Wooden, I think both men would admit that you can’t win without great players. Sure, with hard work, a coach can get lucky one year. However, to be an ongoing champion, a coach needs players. Great coaches are really good coaches with great players.
The Patriots have multiple great players, so winning should continue, albeit not at an 81 percent clip. However, make no mistake about it. The true greatness of the Patriots lay in Brady. Without him there will be no championship. Without him all the Belichick-haters will become vultures awaiting prey.
Belichick has been a great coach since 2001. He may return to being a good coach in 2008.
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Poor Tommy. He should have heeded the advice Mickey (Burgess Meredith) gave Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) in the first film. “Women weaken legs.”
Comment by Bostonian — September 9, 2008 @ 7:58 am
Pats should still make the playoffs, but they’re going nowhere without Brady. They don’t hang AFC East flags, do they?
Comment by Manny — September 9, 2008 @ 8:12 am
Go J-E-T-S…Jets, Jets, Jets!
Comment by mrMet — September 9, 2008 @ 8:13 am
Trust a NY fan to gloat at another’s misfortune.
Comment by GMAN88 — September 9, 2008 @ 8:15 am
Jets fans are lucky Favre didn’t wait a bit longer to decide where he wanted to play. Had he given it some time, he would have loved throwing to Moss!
Comment by Delmartian — September 9, 2008 @ 8:31 am
Great players beget great players. Wooden was the master at finding them.
Comment by GZG — September 9, 2008 @ 8:32 am
Vince Lombardi won two Super Bowls without Paul Hornung who retired the year before the first Super Bowl was played….Great Teams in Great Systems with coaches who make adjustments to situations win Championships….the guy in Baltimore won a Super Bowl with a stiff at Quarterback….Maybe you should give the Pat’s a little more credit…and not jump off the Bandwagon so quickly….
ps: written by a Belichek hater so there !!!
Comment by Lou Costello — September 9, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
Nice, Lou. Of course, I love Belichek , but as during the Super Bowl, he should have worn that old, tattered sweatshirt last week. Bad luck to switch fetishes in the middle. That said, you won’t se any 16 -0 Patriots this year, but you might see them squeak into the post season, and that’s all that counts. Bud Abbot.
Comment by Bostonian — September 10, 2008 @ 7:52 am
Lou … “Great teams in Great systems.” Correct. If it’s a ‘great team’ that means they must have some players!
Coaches and systems are vital in football - more than any other sport. But don’t kid yourself … ‘ongoing’ championships only occur if there are great players. As the blog states, teams can also get lucky one year. Just ask the Giants!
Comment by GZG — September 10, 2008 @ 10:51 am
Or the Celtics
Comment by Lou Costello — September 10, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Ya, right Lou. Celtic blew away the Lakers. Are you sure you’re not Bud Abbott, cuz you’re not very funny.
Comment by GZG — September 10, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
Hey Jizzy: You can’t have it both ways…..your Boston teams can’t be great when they win and unlucky when they lose…..Bud Abbott one upped you this time…Grin and Bear it……
It’s Me It’s Me It’s Ernest T
Comment by Ernest T Bass — September 10, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
Hey Ernest T… and why do you think I’m a Boston fan and not just an LA-hater? Facts are facts, Celtics blew away the Lakers. And even if I were a Boston fan, who says I can’t have it both ways? Are you the Oz of fanhood?
Comment by GZG — September 11, 2008 @ 8:37 am
Jizzy: Sorry, I must have confused you with Bostonian……and as the FAN you are, you can and will have it anyway you want…..ETB
Comment by Ernest T Bass — September 11, 2008 @ 9:54 pm
Yes ETB, Bostonian is a regular visitor to this Blog - and the fanatical, right-wing nut that’s a big Boston sports fan. I didn’t know Massachusetts had such fanatical right-wingers. But, then again, they did elect Romney! Even McCain didn’t want him!
Comment by GZG — September 12, 2008 @ 4:37 am
So much for the Jets taking over the AFC East!
Comment by Manny — September 15, 2008 @ 9:50 am
What do you call winning? Did they win last year? They were 16-0 (at one point).
Comment by Honest Abe — September 16, 2008 @ 8:04 am
Can he win it all?
Comment by Don G — September 16, 2008 @ 1:55 pm
did brady win it al last year?….teams have their time…it may be that the pats time has come and gone…with or without brady…..you have put cassel into a can’t win situation……not fair….not fair to belichek either, and I hate the p#%^k
Comment by Honest Abe — September 16, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
Fair? What’s fair? This is pro sports. Just win baby!
Comment by mrJet — September 17, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
So much for Belichick without Brady. But, Miami???
Comment by SDsportsnut — September 22, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
With so many starting players out for the year, it is not a bitter pill for us here in NE if we miss the playoffs. Our backup players have done a great job and we may win 11 games with backups./btw, saw some cool widgets at statbeast.com. Take a look!
Comment by Bill Tsiu — December 21, 2008 @ 10:57 pm