Patriots Blog: Records Don't Matter
FOXBORO (CBS) - New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had his fastball in Wednesday's press conference. He wanted everyone to understand that records don't matter and his team has to play against the team on the field.
Apparently, his point was not getting across so he decided to let one of the reporters at Wednesday's media session feel his wrath.
"You don't think you can gauge a team based on how a player blocks Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis?" Belichick questioned. "I mean, who else would you gauge it against? Are you kidding me? Covering Reggie Wayne, [Austin] Collie, and [Pierre] Garcon -- you don't think you can gauge your coverage based on those players? I don't care what their record is. You don't think there's better receivers around than them? Better pass rushers than Freeney and Mathis? I'm not sure what games you're watching here."
Read: Levan Reid's Patriots Blog
The bottom line is the Colts may be 0-11 and without their best player in quarterback Peyton Manning, but the Patriots are not taking Sunday's matchup lightly.
"[The players have] heard me talk about it every week, so they really don't care about their record," said Belichick. "And we really don't. What difference does it make? How somebody played two weeks go against somebody else -- I mean, who cares? Us or anybody else. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is how we and the Colts perform against each on Sunday. That's all that matters. Who cares who won three weeks ago in some game with some other players? It doesn't matter."
Belichick Says Records Don't Matter
"We talk about it every week. It doesn't matter. There are 16 games on the schedule and they're all the same. It's our team versus that team that week," said Belichick. "And we look at tape and learn about our opponent, scout them, and pick up tendencies -- their strengths and weaknesses, all that. But how we match up against that team that day is all that matters. The rest of it, it's a bunch of garbage. You guys can write about it all you want, it doesn't matter. But, really, the winner of this game will be determined by who plays better on Sunday, not what happened four weeks ago. And this isn't a new story, it's like this every week. Every week."
The players in the locker room pretty much felt the same way, they just didn't say it with as much passion.
"It's still a team that has a lot of good players on it, so we'll prepare this week like we prepare every week, no matter who is out there," said quarterback Tom Brady. "Obviously, (Peyton Manning) is one of the greatest players to ever play, so hopefully he'll be here to say hi. He's a friend of mine."
"At the end of the day, any given Sunday or Monday depending on what game you play, they're just an NFL team. They do have the talent; it's just been unfortunate they haven't had the chance to win any games," said defensive end Andre Carter. "They've still been successful; they still have a lot of weapons. You can't underestimate your opponent despite how successful they are or unsuccessful they are."
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"They're a good team. You have to give them credit, they have guys that have made plays for years," said linebacker Rob Ninkovich. "Some of their games have been really close, especially the Pittsburgh game; they played them really hard and tough. Obviously they're a good team, they're (just) missing a couple things."
When asked why people would assume a win against a lesser team like the Colts, Brady got a little more into it.
"Because you guys don't play. Because you don't have to drop back and try to find the open guy with two guys breathing down your throat," he said. "You don't have to cover Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark and tackle those guys. They're damn good football players and they've proven that year after year against us. I've got a ton of respect for the Colts and the way they play. Like someone said earlier, we've had some great games against them. We go out expecting to get their best. Their best has been very, very close at times this year."
"They played Pittsburgh very well. When you see them play a team like Pittsburgh well – actually play them better than we played them, you understand that they can certainly beat us if we don't go out and play well and if we allow them to do the things that they want to do," said Brady.
Tune in to the Patriots-Colts game Sunday on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV at 1 pm. Pregame coverage begins on 98.5 at 10 am and on WBZ at 11:30 am with Patriots Gameday. Stay tuned after the game for all the reaction and analysis on the postgame show, and on Patriots Fifth Quarter on WBZ-TV.
