Last night was the conclusion of Bill Belichick: A Football Life on the NFL Network and just like last week, it gave an unprecedented look into the mind of the best NFL coach of our generation. Part 2 picked up right after the Patriots' 59-0 beatdown of the Titans and showed Belichick and the Patriots at their most vulnerable.
The first scene shows Randy Moss and Belichick in the coach's office and Moss asks Belichick about throwing a Halloween party for the team. "You don't wanna go do you?" Moss asks. Maybe he was serious, maybe he wasn't but after the conversation, Belichick had probably the best quote ever. Moss was clearly excited about Halloween, and Belichick responded with "Candy and costumes, what's better than that?"
The next scene showed Belichick and his cougar girlfriend Linda Holliday showing up to the roller rink, Belichick is dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow on rollerblades and is photographed next to Randy Moss and Vince Wilfork who were dressed as Spongebob and Fred Flintstone respectively.
Up next was a pregame speech that Belichick gave to the team before the Miami game. I know Belichick doesn't engage in a war of words with other teams in public, but he does like to use certain motivational techniques to pump up his players. In this case, he played a clip of a bombastic Tony Sparano boasting about the "division still going through us". Belichick played this clip to pump his team up and it clearly worked, as the Patriots beat the Dolphins two days later.
The 4th-and-2 portion of the documentary was what I was anticipating the most. They did a great job showing the 4th-and-1 from their own 20 against the Falcons earlier in the year. Belichick justified his choice to go for it in the Falcons game, saying, "people call me a lot of things, but one thing I'm not is afraid. I'm not afraid to make that call, provided you guys give me the confidence to make the call."
If there was anything to take away from the 4th-and-2 call, it was that this is something that the Patriots were prepared to do. Was it out of the ordinary? Sure. Still as he said to his team after the game, he was just trying to do whatever it took to win the game. He also called accusations that he didn't believe in his defense "bullshit". It was one of the only times in the last decade that the majority of fans and analysts all second-guessed Belichick.
The Patriots then traveled to New Orleans for that Monday Night Showdown where they got absolutely hammered. Belichick went on the field at the Superdome and reenacted the David Patten TD catch versus the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. He reminisced about the game-winning field goal and called Adam Vinatieri that team's best player and he's probably right.
Before the game, Bob Kraft and Belichick were talking about the great memories in the Superdome and it seemed like they have a different type of relationship than the general public assumed. It looked like your typical employer-employee conversation, filled with plenty of awkward silence.
The game itself was a trainwreck and I remember watching that game and wondering if it was the end of an era for the Patriots. We also saw Belichick questioning his group of players, citing "no mental toughness" and expressing doubt to Brady, wondering whether or not he "can get this team to perform." It was weird to see Belichick doubt his abilities and his team, which may have led to the roster overhaul that is still continuing this season.
After the disappointing loss, Belichick showed the team the classic Hagler-Hearns fight to try to inspire the club to punch back after they've been punched. Unfortunately, this mindset didn't resonate with the 2009 Patriots.
This was very clear in the Jaguars game late in the season. Belichick dubbed this game "a hat and t-shirt game", meaning that they had the chance to clinch the AFC East and therefore earn a hat and t-shirt. The Pats were rolling, up 35-9 when the defense started thumping their chests and dancing around in the field. Shortly thereafter, David Garrard marched down the field in five plays, breaking the shutout. Belichick flipped out on the defense, calling them a "bunch of punks" and ripping into them for celebrating before the game was over. It was the loudest I've ever heard Belichick scream but he had a point.
After the Welker injury in Week 17 against the Texans, it was clearly over for the Patriots and Belichick was clearly pissed at the barrage of questions that reporters were throwing at him in the postgame. Getting ready for the Ravens was no easy task, as the Ravens came in and punched the Patriots in the mouth.
Belichick gave Coach Harbaugh props, saying "if we don't win, I hope it's you." Earlier in the documentary, he praised the Ravens, so you know that respect level is there.
After the season, Belichick said that he "couldn't imagine being away from football," bit also said he couldn't coach forever, reinforcing the fact that his time here is finite.
I wished that they covered the point when Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss and others were late to practice in "Snowgate." This was clearly the point when people questioned the makeup of the Patriots. Belichick was still in control of the team, but the team lacked that certain something that made previous Pats teams so great. Belichick is still trying to weed out the knuckleheads, as we have seen with the release of guys like Brandon Meriweather.
The main thing to take from this documentary is that someday, somehow, the Brady-Belichick era is going to come to a close. We have all been extremely fortunate to see Belichick coach this team for the last decade and A Football Life was the one opportunity to be with him behind the scenes for an entire season.
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