There may be no wrong answers on this test, but I’ve given you the right one.
Of all the great Bill Belichick moments, this one is the Belichickiest.
Down through the years, it has gone by many names.
Prior to seeing this interview, I had serious doubts that Adams existed.
I assumed he might’ve just been Belichick’s Tyler Durden.
The next week, he told me he’d forgotten to.
And we laughed and laughed the way best friends do.
History so often comes down to pinch points.
Pivotal moments that have profound impacts on posterity.
By 2014, the Patriots hadn’t won a title in 10 years.
By contrast the Seahawks were the defending champions.
So it was an old, seemingly fading dynasty facing off against a new, still emerging dynasty.
And like withHighlander, there could be only one.
Beginning with the offseason.
He also added 6-foot-4, 221 pound corner Brandon Browner to play opposite him.
But they’d quit their bitching soon enough.
But what really sets this one apart is how HC Bill prepped his team for this game.
Beginning with Russell Wilson.
Stay at his level in the pocket and resist the urge to flush him.
Because once they do, he would become a runner.
In Seattle’s first three possessions, Wilson didn’t complete a pass and all three ended with punts.
There was one weakness on Belichick’s defense however.
And here he was giving up plenty.
Beginning with a 44 yard reception that set up a touchdown that tied the game at 7.
To replace him, Belichick made two moves.
One was to put Browner on the 6-5, 218 lb Matthews.
And Browner held him to one catch for 9 yards the rest of the way.
The second move, you’ve already figured out.
On Seattle’s last possession, he broke up Kearse on yet another bomb from midfield.
Then got his hands on another pass to Kearse later in the drive.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.
There was genius on the other side of the ball as well.
It was a route they came up within a ballroom at the team hotelthe night before.
They all agreed to got back to it if they had the chance.
And the chance presented itself:
But the masterpiece is, of course, the one we all know.
That we’ve all celebrated for the nine years since.
The one Ernie Adams was describing with those weirdly cryptic code words on the board behind him.
Nothing less than the most impactful, significant play in NFL history.
He gave up the touchdown in that practice session.
Prior to the snap in the game, Browner told him exactly what he planned to do.
The other, arguably greater, Jedi Mind Trick was Belichick refusing to call timeout in that situation.
It was chaos over there.
Guys coming onto the field, then coming off, then being sent back on.
Belichick watched this going on and calmly answered, “Yup.
I got it.”
Later adding that he didn’t want to let Seattle off the hook.
His defense was in goal line.
With two corners as the Seahawks sent out a third receiver.
Someone told assistant Brian Flores “Flo, send Malcolm.”
And he uttered the other two words that will forever be remembered in Pats lore.
Butler was the third cornerback in goal line.
The Patriots were prepared for it.
They’d anticipated it.
But it was the first time they’d used that formation all season.
When I started this, I thought 20 of these posts might not be enough.
Although it’s been said, many times, many ways, Kiss the Rings.
