Quick Slants - Week 8: The BIG Game, Part 3
This is actually in response to a good comment, and it seemed worthy of a little attention, so bear with me.
How, exactly, in this day and age of free agency and salary caps, do the Patriots and the Colts maintain their endless annual dominance?
After all, we remember what happened to the San Francisco 49ers. The DeBartolos tried every dirty trick in the book to circumvent the cap, only to drive the franchise off the road in the process. As a result, the Niners haven't mattered since T.O. was openly questioning Jeff Garcia's sexual preferences some years ago.
It seems like there's a new "worst-to-first" story in the NFL every season; last year, it was the Saints. This season, the Browns seem to be similarly blessed. And, every year, some formerly good-to-great team suddenly becomes schedule fodder (and we'd like to say hi to the readers in Cincinnati and Chicago, both of whom have bantha poodoo for football franchises).
Still, it seems that the Colts and the Patriots continue to dominate where other teams wax and wane. Hindsight being what it is, let's see if we can figure it out, and then sell it to the other 30 teams in the league.
1. It starts with the head coach. The Colts have been relatively stable since bringing Tony Dungy on board. The Patriots have become a model franchise under Bill Belichick's leadership. Both teams seem to reflect the character of their coaches, perhaps more so than any other teams in the league right now.
1a. It helped that the coaches walked into environments that were quickly conducive to their coaching strategies. Tony Dungy inherited a team with the great Peyton Manning already on board, and it took a relatively short honeymoon for Manning to buy in. Once Manning was in, everyone else bought in. In Belichick's case, there were already a core of solid veterans like Troy Brown in place, good soldiers who just wanted to win. Tom Brady was also already in place, just waiting for Drew Bledsoe to eventually break something. This leads us to...
2. It doesn't hurt to have Hall-Of-Famers at quarterback. There may be no position in football more bedeviling than QB. Current Bears QB Brian Griese is a great example of this. The guy had exactly one lights-out season in Denver, and has stunk ever since. Don Majkowski caught lightning in a bottle for a hot minute, and then couldn't catch a cold. Quarterbacks who are merely good for a long time are a rarity; guys like Brian Sipe or Danny White or Kenny Anderson would be jillionaires in today's current climate. As stated earlier, Dungy inherited Manning and Belichick inherited/unearthed Tom Brady. Right now, Manning is the Colts' franchise leader for TD passes, surpassing some guy named Unitas, and Tom Brady already owns three Super Bowl rings while doing his best Joe Montana impressions with time running out and the game on the line. Both men are extraordinary leaders with strong and accurate arms. They are patient and will wait for a mistake; they are the Anti-Favres of their generation. They are durable; neither coach has had to find out how good the clipboard carrier really is. And they both have Lombardi hardware on their resumes.
3. Their personnel men are the best in the business. Bill Polian is the modern version of Tex Schramm/Gil Brandt all rolled into one. The man has taken two different franchises to the Super Bowl. You might remember his first one, the starcrossed Bills that went to 4 straight Super Bowls in the '90s, only to lose all four. His second franchise, the Carolina Panthers, went to the NFC title game in their second season of existence. His third, the Colts, are one of the finest teams in the NFL, with their own newly-minted title on display at team headquarers. For the Patriots, personnel man Scott Pioli forms a great tandem with head coach Bill Belichick, and that is so much more vital than we can imagine. There's a reason why so many head coaches also want to be GMs, because they know in their mind what kind of player to get for their scheme. The problem is figuring out the money end and all that paper-pusher stuff that coaches aren't cut out for. Pioli is the executive version of Belichick. He thinks like him, agrees with him, and brings enough credibility that he can respectfully dispute a player with Belichick and win.
4. Both teams have genuine depth on their depth charts. Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris are currently listed as the number 2 and 3 running backs in New England, and both could start in Chicago right now. Kenton Keith is the number 2 in Indianapolis, and he too could start in Chicago right now. When they replace a player for injury, they rightly expect the understudy to do the job that the starter was doing. This is so crucial to their overall success. It means that the coaches and GMs in question have to be able to identify genuine talent, AND then keeping that talent happy behind a similarly-skilled starter. The backups on both teams don't just stand around; they all get regular game action and are all involved in the game plan. Thus, the Colts can rely upon Anthony Gonzalez when Marvin Harrison goes down, or the Patriots can survive the loss of a Richard Seymour for half of the season.
5. Neither team has overpayed for the wrong guy. This has a lot to do with point number 4. Because of that depth, because of their ability to identify players who fit the mold, both teams can afford to buck the market and let starters go through free agency. Basically, the selling point is this: you can stay with us for less and win, or you can break the bank with a loser. Someone might want to ask Edgerrin James and Deion Branch how free agency worked out for them; sure, they both got paid, but they may never play for a winner again...and no amount of money will make getting beat every week feel good. The Colts lost a lot of guys from their championship defense last season, and the result is that they are actually better now than last season. Meanwhile, some of the guys they lost (Cato June, Nick Harper, we're talking to you) are on some baaaad teams and making Polian look like a genius for letting them walk.
6. Finally, because they can find and sign their guy for less than premium market value, they have players that they are certain will fit into their scheme of doing things. This leads to simple execution. They continue to win because they continue to do the things that lead to winning regularly. They execute.
Because of this, both teams are fun to watch.
Again, I can't wait!
How, exactly, in this day and age of free agency and salary caps, do the Patriots and the Colts maintain their endless annual dominance?
After all, we remember what happened to the San Francisco 49ers. The DeBartolos tried every dirty trick in the book to circumvent the cap, only to drive the franchise off the road in the process. As a result, the Niners haven't mattered since T.O. was openly questioning Jeff Garcia's sexual preferences some years ago.
It seems like there's a new "worst-to-first" story in the NFL every season; last year, it was the Saints. This season, the Browns seem to be similarly blessed. And, every year, some formerly good-to-great team suddenly becomes schedule fodder (and we'd like to say hi to the readers in Cincinnati and Chicago, both of whom have bantha poodoo for football franchises).
Still, it seems that the Colts and the Patriots continue to dominate where other teams wax and wane. Hindsight being what it is, let's see if we can figure it out, and then sell it to the other 30 teams in the league.
1. It starts with the head coach. The Colts have been relatively stable since bringing Tony Dungy on board. The Patriots have become a model franchise under Bill Belichick's leadership. Both teams seem to reflect the character of their coaches, perhaps more so than any other teams in the league right now.
1a. It helped that the coaches walked into environments that were quickly conducive to their coaching strategies. Tony Dungy inherited a team with the great Peyton Manning already on board, and it took a relatively short honeymoon for Manning to buy in. Once Manning was in, everyone else bought in. In Belichick's case, there were already a core of solid veterans like Troy Brown in place, good soldiers who just wanted to win. Tom Brady was also already in place, just waiting for Drew Bledsoe to eventually break something. This leads us to...
2. It doesn't hurt to have Hall-Of-Famers at quarterback. There may be no position in football more bedeviling than QB. Current Bears QB Brian Griese is a great example of this. The guy had exactly one lights-out season in Denver, and has stunk ever since. Don Majkowski caught lightning in a bottle for a hot minute, and then couldn't catch a cold. Quarterbacks who are merely good for a long time are a rarity; guys like Brian Sipe or Danny White or Kenny Anderson would be jillionaires in today's current climate. As stated earlier, Dungy inherited Manning and Belichick inherited/unearthed Tom Brady. Right now, Manning is the Colts' franchise leader for TD passes, surpassing some guy named Unitas, and Tom Brady already owns three Super Bowl rings while doing his best Joe Montana impressions with time running out and the game on the line. Both men are extraordinary leaders with strong and accurate arms. They are patient and will wait for a mistake; they are the Anti-Favres of their generation. They are durable; neither coach has had to find out how good the clipboard carrier really is. And they both have Lombardi hardware on their resumes.
3. Their personnel men are the best in the business. Bill Polian is the modern version of Tex Schramm/Gil Brandt all rolled into one. The man has taken two different franchises to the Super Bowl. You might remember his first one, the starcrossed Bills that went to 4 straight Super Bowls in the '90s, only to lose all four. His second franchise, the Carolina Panthers, went to the NFC title game in their second season of existence. His third, the Colts, are one of the finest teams in the NFL, with their own newly-minted title on display at team headquarers. For the Patriots, personnel man Scott Pioli forms a great tandem with head coach Bill Belichick, and that is so much more vital than we can imagine. There's a reason why so many head coaches also want to be GMs, because they know in their mind what kind of player to get for their scheme. The problem is figuring out the money end and all that paper-pusher stuff that coaches aren't cut out for. Pioli is the executive version of Belichick. He thinks like him, agrees with him, and brings enough credibility that he can respectfully dispute a player with Belichick and win.
4. Both teams have genuine depth on their depth charts. Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris are currently listed as the number 2 and 3 running backs in New England, and both could start in Chicago right now. Kenton Keith is the number 2 in Indianapolis, and he too could start in Chicago right now. When they replace a player for injury, they rightly expect the understudy to do the job that the starter was doing. This is so crucial to their overall success. It means that the coaches and GMs in question have to be able to identify genuine talent, AND then keeping that talent happy behind a similarly-skilled starter. The backups on both teams don't just stand around; they all get regular game action and are all involved in the game plan. Thus, the Colts can rely upon Anthony Gonzalez when Marvin Harrison goes down, or the Patriots can survive the loss of a Richard Seymour for half of the season.
5. Neither team has overpayed for the wrong guy. This has a lot to do with point number 4. Because of that depth, because of their ability to identify players who fit the mold, both teams can afford to buck the market and let starters go through free agency. Basically, the selling point is this: you can stay with us for less and win, or you can break the bank with a loser. Someone might want to ask Edgerrin James and Deion Branch how free agency worked out for them; sure, they both got paid, but they may never play for a winner again...and no amount of money will make getting beat every week feel good. The Colts lost a lot of guys from their championship defense last season, and the result is that they are actually better now than last season. Meanwhile, some of the guys they lost (Cato June, Nick Harper, we're talking to you) are on some baaaad teams and making Polian look like a genius for letting them walk.
6. Finally, because they can find and sign their guy for less than premium market value, they have players that they are certain will fit into their scheme of doing things. This leads to simple execution. They continue to win because they continue to do the things that lead to winning regularly. They execute.
Because of this, both teams are fun to watch.
Again, I can't wait!
Labels: Colts, Game Of The Century, New England Patriots, NFL
posted by van walker | 9:05 PM
1 Comments:
Thank you for answering. And thank you for not taking the opportunity under talking point #1 to call for Mike Shanahan's firing again.
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