Bill Belichick had success early, winning a Super Bowl in his second year as the New England Patriots’ head coach. However, when speaking with The 33rd Team, he revealed that he didn’t have a team that was built to his liking until his fourth year.
The 2001 Patriots team had many weapons, including a veteran quarterback in Drew Bledsoe, who was eventually replaced by Tom Brady due to injury. New England defeated the heavy juggernaut that was the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl and had a little bit of luck along the way.
That team had an improbable playoff run.
First, they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then they endured the infamous “tuck rule” game that saw them defeat the Oakland Raiders. Finally, they pulled out the Super Bowl victory over “The Greatest Show on Turf” Rams to kick-start the beginning stages of the dynasty.
But even with all of that success, Belichick admitted he wasn’t completely satisfied with the roster, as transcribed by Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith.
“When the opportunity came in 2000, even though this team was nowhere near the team that we left in ’96, it had declined quite a bit, there were still a few pillars here that we could build with,” said Belichick. “And I’d say by ’03 — even though we won in ’01 — by ’03 this was a pretty good football team in all three phases of the game. It kind of took the same basic four-year window that it took in Cleveland. Again, we were fortunate to win in ’01, but I’d say by ’03, ’04, we had one of the better teams in the league.”
It is certainly interesting hearing about which team the coach was most comfortable with.
For what it’s worth, the 2003 team went 14-2 and defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVII. A stellar offense and a suffocating defense were hallmarks for that team. It makes sense why that was one of Belichick’s favorites.
