What does it take to have a successful team and win championships? Having the individualities of a couple of players helps, but it is not always necessary – nor does it ensure success. The Patriots knew they would succeed by being a great team.
Man in the Arena premiered its third chapter, in what would be the third Super Bowl won by Tom Brady and the Patriots, it was also that of the dynasty, as it was the second in a row and the third in four years.
When Tom Brady came to the Patriots, the team already had a solid foundation that was built when Drew Bledsoe was QB and they already had Super Bowl experience, they just lost it, so, It was no coincidence that an excellent group was formed, they had already known each other for a long time.
The time of knowing each other does not assure you anything, and that is another added value that the Patriots had in their success. Their mentality, their trust in the other and their ego to heaven, which drove them to work more and not to believe more than what they were.
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Double minded on Tom Brady’s Patriots
Bill Belichick had managed a mentality with them of: ‘One game at a time‘, this to make them see to their players that each game could be the last and get the best out of them game by game.
Yes, the players believed in that mentality and it helped them to get on a winning streak in a row, which was an NFL record., but that was only part of what the players really thought.
Although they believed in this philosophy of Belichick, the Patriots had the confidence for heaven, within themselves and in the group, they knew they were invincible, but instead of proving it to the rivals, it was against themselvesThat boosted internal competition to be better.
It sounds crazy but the players demanded more when training in the gym, watching videos of matches and all that was sent being the flame of the teammates to demonstrate on the field they were the best individually.
They called it ‘suppress success‘The victory did not matter, but rather showing that you were better than your partner and all this, without losing the main objective, which was to win the Super Bowl.
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A reality check for the Patriots
With those mentalities, the aura of invincibility was palpable between them and not even Peyton Manning could against them. After imposing the 21 consecutive games with victory (tape last season and the one they were playing) they faced the Steelers.
Despite ‘suppressing success’ and ‘playing one game at a time’, mindsets that had led them to be the best team of the season, things can go wrong at the moment and its happened to the Patriots.
Steelers with a young Ben RoethlisbergerThey ate the Patriots in every way. They were outclassed on all lines and they knew they were the best in every aspect of the game.
But that defeat It helped them to push themselves more as a team and individually. Instead of blaming, they worked twice as hard so that a defeat would never happen to them again..
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To face the demons before the big game
After that loss to the Steelers, they knew they would inevitably see them again in the postseason and they did. Only this time in the conference final game, that is, the one that takes you directly to the Super Bowl.
Unlike the first game they played, the Patriots knew what they had to do and how to play to win. With intensity and strength to impose himself on his rivals, although it did not always work, they had a special fact in the field and it was Tom Brady.
When something faltered, Tom Brady was in charge of leading the team to victory, an extra confidence in their peers. They beat the Steelers and earned the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, again.
In the words of Tom Brady and That’s Bruschi, that game against Steelers, is one of the most significant victories of their careers, not counting the Super Bowl, because it was a demonstration for themselves that they could overcome any obstacle and vindicate themselves for the first loss.
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The Patriots dynasty
Super Bowl XXXIX against Eagles and the chance to leave his name in gold letters in the NFL. A two-time championship, three titles in four years. The Patriots had a date with history, but it would not be easy at all.
The Eagles commanded by Donovan McNabb They were a mighty force, putting them on the ropes at various points in the game, but the Patriots had a way to respond. All the players were committed to winning and that helped them to do so.
Rodney Harrison was the hero of the match, because at no time did he let his rivals do anything and, in fact, intercepted the ball with which the game ended. But the inexperience of the Eagles was a key factor for the Patriots to win and get the dynasty.
The team was more important as a group than as an individual being and each and every player knew that. They formed a group, a team committed not to the coaches or the franchise, but to themselves. Mike Vrable, former Patriots linebacker mentioned in Man in the Arena:
“We had different studies and different education. But we had the same goal”And that was an important part of the Patriots getting not just one or two, but three championships in four years.
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