In Bill We Trust

Forget for a second that Bill Belichick has already won three Super Bowl titles, four conference championships and six division crowns with the New England Patriots. Push aside his two Coach of the Year awards and the fact that he is the only coach in NFL history to guide his team to a 16-0 undefeated regular season. Imagine that his 116-45 record with the Pats isn't the best ever for any head coach through his first ten years with a team. Ignore the fact that his Patriots have set the record for consecutive total victories (21 from 2003-04), consecutive regular season wins (21 from 2006-08) and consecutive playoff wins (10 from 2001-05).

Despite all these eye-popping accomplishments, Belichick is saving his best for last. The 2010-11 regular season just might be his new benchmark as the Patriots head coach. After an offseason filled with countless questions about a young, inexperienced defense, Belichick has more than silenced his critics. Through seven games, the 6-1 Pats own the best record in football, without any cornerstone veterans like Bruschi, Seymour, Vrabel, Harrison or Troy Brown to lean on.

First and second year players that Belichick hand picked in the Draft have begun to blossom under his tutelage. We all, myself included, gawked at the trade that sent Matt Cassel and fan favorite Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs for a second round pick last season. Little did we know that Patrick Chung would be the heir apparent to Rodney Harrison. We moaned and groaned about taking some unknown cornerback from Rutgers with the 27th overall pick in the 2010 Draft. Now Devin McCourty looks like a young, quick, physical Ty Law. Taking a punter in the 5th round, are you kidding me? I don't hear anyone questioning that decision, especially after Zoltan Mesko's mammoth boot in overtime that single-handedly shifted the momentum in a classic, come-from-behind win against the Ravens in Week 6. 

In Bill we trust. Not only is he a master tactician and strategist on the field, head and shoulders above his counterparts, but Belichick has an eye for talent and character that is unmatched. As General Manager, he has identified exactly what he wants in a Patriot: tough, smart, disciplined and most of all, a team player. The recent Randy Moss saga has become utterly symbolic of Belichick's unparalleled gravitas. Moss couldn't help himself after watching Big Vince and Tom Brady sign gargantuan contract extensions and proceeded to become a locker room distraction. Instead of caving in to Moss's demands for a new deal, Belichick threw fewer and fewer balls his way to prove to both Moss and the team that they could win without him.

Although we will never truly know how it all went down inside the locker room, what we do know is that Belichick acquired a third-round pick from the clueless Vikings in return for Moss, whom they decided to waive just four games into his reunion tour in Minnesota. To add insult to injury, Moss lifted the veil during his postgame interview at Gillette after losing 28-18 to his former team, calling Belichick the "greatest coach of all time," and spewing unmistakable nostalgia for his ex-teammates. 

Forget Spygate. Everyone was doing it, the Pats were just too stupid or cocky (maybe a combination of both) and got caught. Forget his dead-pan media interviews and perpetually bogus injury reports. Belichick has been elevated to god-like status around theses parts. He's managed to assemble the NFL's best team with Brady, a still-recovering Welker and a locker room full of rookies and second year players. He got rid of Moss and now owns a jaw-dropping number of first, second and third-round picks in next year's Draft, which he will surely use to stockpile young talent and prolong the Patriot dynasty. 

The Patriots of 2010-11 are reminiscent of the 2001 Patriots. They lack major stars (minus Brady), but have a locker room full of tough, disciplined players who have bought into Belichick's team-first strategy. Most likely we will never see Brady toss 50 touchdowns again, or a corn-rowed wideout catch 23 TD's. But, if all goes according Belichick's plan, we will be lucky enough to witness another title being hoisted in Foxboro sooner than later.