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Bill Belichick explains decision-making process

Patriots notebook

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

December 22, 2011|By Julian Benbow

Bill Belichick responded to a s question yesterday. (Steven Senne/AP )

FOXBOROUGH - Listening to Bill Belichick explain the rapid-fire decision making process for in-game adjustments, the conversations are constant.

At the end of every series, Belichick talks with one of his assistants, whether it’s Bill O’Brien, Matt Patricia, or Dante Scarnecchia, about what just happened. But it’s all on the fly, strategizing and making adjustments, and at times it’s difficult to manage it all with a game in progress.

“It’s hard on the headset, too, because if we’re on offense, we’re calling plays, we’re substituting people,’’ Belichick said. “That’s not really the time to have a philosophical conversation.’’

Last week, the Patriots had to make a ton of rapid-fire decisions. Andre Carter went down with a season-ending quad injury at the end of the first quarter, and the Patriots had to adjust. The Broncos ripped off 167 rushing yards in the first quarter and the staff had to figure out a way to stop them.

The decisions are made in split seconds, but the communication never stops.

Do we no-huddle next series?

What do we do the next time they give us a certain look?

What are we going to do in the next third-and-medium, third-and-long?

The staff is thinking of every scenario before they come up, Belichick said. All the planning during the week can change completely by game day. Belichick used the win over the Eagles as an example. Receiver DeSean Jackson may have been a focal point going in, but Jason Avant caught eight passes, and at some point the game plan had to change.

“We talk about it going into the game,’’ Belichick said. “ ‘Look, this is what they do well, this could be a problem, what are we going to do about this?’ Or, ‘We’re not expecting much of this but if they do it, what’s our answer going to be?’ Or, ‘We’re concerned about these matchups, how are you going to handle those?’

“Then you get into the game and you talk about it. You say, ‘OK, we were concerned about this matchup and it looks like it’s still going to be a problem.’ Or, ‘I think we kind of got that under control but this might be a bigger issue than we thought it was over here.’ Or, ‘We expected this type of a game plan but they’re really doing something, they’re mixing in some other things with that and not just staying with what we thought they were going to do.’ Again, that changes during the game, too.’’

Short memory

After the Patriots beat the Broncos and clinched the AFC East, someone asked guard Brian Waters if he could remember the last time he went to the playoffs.

He shot back, “Last year.’’