Gold Stars, Penalty Flags: Giving Bill Belichick Credit For Another Successful Season
BOSTON (CBS) -- So this most recent game for the Pats was more of a preseason contest than anything else. The Jets are a bad team and the Patriots did what a good team should do to a bad team. They crushed them.
Here are your gold stars and penalty flags.
The Gold Stars
Malcolm Butler gets a gold star. How is this guy not a Pro Bowler??? He had two interceptions and a fumble recovery on the day. Butler has been a solid corner all season long. When the conversation started that the Patriots needed to create turnovers, Malcolm led the train with interceptions. He's versatile, he's fast and he can catch. The Pats need to stop joking around and they need to pay him! They got lucky when they signed him as an undrafted free agent but now that he's in the house, they need to make sure he stays there.
Matt Lengel deserves a gold star. This was such a special moment for the former Northeastern Husky. His first catch in the NFL was a touchdown pass from Tom Brady. This young kid has worked and worked to stay on this roster. He talked afterwards about feeling blessed to be with the Pats franchise. His teammates talked about how good they felt that he got on the board and it showed in their celebration for him. Lengel is a great story. He's not taking any of this for granted. Feel good for him.
Bill Belichick deserves a gold star: Coach is just the best in the business. We talk about his boring press conferences and his dismissive style when it comes to answering questions. We wonder about some of his team moves where his only answer is, "I'm doing what's in the best interest of the team." But the proof is in the results. The Pats have had 11 seasons with 12 wins or more seasons under his watch, and against the Jets, he got his 200th regular season win as a coach of the New England Patriots. All of that is unheard of. We're talking only one losing season since he's been here and only three seasons that the Pats haven't made the playoffs since he took over in 2000. We call Tom Brady the GOAT, but that means Belichick is Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Penalty Flags
The Jets get a penalty flag. This was a team that openly looked like it quit on the field on Saturday. Guys were making their way to the sidelines and they would never come back in the game. They were getting rolled and they were joking with each other on the sidelines. The Jets were supposed to be a better team; instead they are once again a joke. That's sad because I thought Todd Bowles could make this a rivalry again. That's something that would be good for the Pats. Instead they are another rollover.