In many ways, that knack for the quick switch has become a trademark of the Patriots under Belichick.
Last Sunday's AFC Championship game was yet another example, specifically on offense.
The Patriots tried a little bit of everything over their first eight possessions. They had four receivers on the field for nine plays. Three receivers lined up for another 11 plays. A more balanced two-receiver, two-tight end package was deployed for eight plays. The team also dabbled with a two-running back set for seven plays, sometimes splitting a fullback out wide as a receiver.
Yet nothing seemed to work with consistency, and the game had reached a critical point midway through the third quarter, the Patriots leading, 14-12, when the coaches went a bit deeper into the playbook. The call was for a personnel pack age that included one receiver, three tight ends, and one running back.
It turned out to be a key alteration, the offense calling on a power running game that took control.
On the first play with three tight ends, Laurence Maroney ripped off an 18-yard run. Three plays later, Maroney ran behind three tight ends for an 11-yard gain. Early in the fourth quarter, Maroney gobbled up 20 yards out of the grouping, which set up the team's final touchdown.
To Flutie, it was classic Patriots football. Even more impressive was that the Patriots had not deployed the personnel package since the sixth week of the season, against the Cowboys.
"They have everything in their arsenal, but to me, knowing when to go to it is the impressive thing," Flutie said, noting that the decisions are usually based on creating an advantageous matchup.
The Patriots' list of impressive in-game switches is a long one this season.
In the regular-season finale against the Giants, the defense had struggled to generate a four-man pass rush against quarterback Eli Manning, so a change to more five- and six-man rushes in the second half turned out to be the key alteration.
When the Colts had early success running the ball against a nickel defense in an early November matchup, the Patriots more aggressively closed down the gaps in the second half by slightly altering their technique.
