Vince Lombardi will have to move over.
It’s time for Bill Belichick to be recognized as the greatest of all time. Someday, he should have his name on the Super Bowl trophy.
I know it’s tough New York fans, but Belichick deserves his nod.
His sixth Super Bowl win may have been his finest hour.
It was the final piece of a three-game stretch in which the Pats morphed themselves into the team to stop San Diego, Kansas City, and Los Angeles in succession.
Belichick once again silenced his critics and reminded all of us how he is the greatest tactician the game has ever seen.
He has rarely disappointed at the Big Show. When he did against Philadelphia last year, his drive to regain greatness began at the final gun of that game.
What he and his team were able to do to a high-octane Rams’ offense was remarkable. Granted, quarterback Jared Goff and head coach Sean McVay didn’t have their best games, but the Belichick formula to take away key components worked again.
Even more impressive about Belichick is his ability time and time again to find the right players to fit his schemes on both sides of the ball.
They basically are low profile players who work for the common good.
Can anyone in the greater New York area actually name a few members of the Patriots’ offensive and defensive lines?
Nate Solder, the team’s most recognized lineman in recently years, signed with the Giants as a free agent, and the Pats never really missed a beat.
The Pats’ line of center David Andrews, guards Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason, and tackles Trent Brown and Marcus Cannon are underrated to say the least.
Defensively, linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy easily could have shared the MVP award for their reckless abandon causing havoc against the Rams offense.
The Pats’ defensive unit kept them in the game until the offense pieced together two textbook drives in the final minutes to tuck the game away. New England doesn’t have the high-profile likes of Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh or Dante Fowler, all of whom incidentally who all were pretty quiet after the first half.
The Pats do have their secret weapon in 32-year veteran offensive line coach/wizard Dante Scarnecchia, who devised way to basically keep Tom Brady off the turf and create holes big enough to drive a car through in the postseason.
Brady didn’t have his best game, but he once again proved how he is the best clutch quarterback of all time, leaving Joe Montana’s efforts as an afterthought.
Sony Michel evolved into the back they needed in the postseason and for the foreseeable future, and Rob Gronkowski resurrected himself at the right time.
Julian Edelman is a prime example of a Belichick player, consistently, timely, and quietly getting the job done.
McVay is a bright, young, rising current prototype coach who will surely get his curtain call likely in the near future.
In the meantime, the NFL still belongs to Belichick and Brady, and Lombardi continues to fade to a memory.