Football is a game of adjustments, and very few people know that better than Bill Belichick.
The New England Patriots head coach has his work cut out for him after the first three weeks of the season. His team’s offensive struggles have been well-documented, and now it’s on Belichick and his coaching staff to find the solution.
Former Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham — who runs the website Football By Football — tackled that issue with one of his latest posts. Chatham has seen Belichick’s work up close and personal, and he says the Patriots’ issues aren’t a concern yet. That’s because he still expects Belichick to make the necessary changes, beginning with the Patriots’ Week 4 clash on Monday night in Kansas City.
“Context matters on how rapidly teams can make the change — experience of the people involved in the problems, injuries, opponents that may require a different approach, etc.,” Chatham wrote. “But in the long-view, it almost always gets figured out in this organization.
“These changes don’t guarantee a ring at the end of the year, but if we’re being honest, the real upset would be the Patriots staying the same as they were in the first few games. Now that’s the kind of development that would warrant some panic.”
It’s rare, Chatham points out, that a team like the Patriots with a coach like Belichick don’t tinker with the system. That’s the key to success in the NFL — at least from a coaching and game planning standpoint.
“They change. That’s important. Football is complex. There are plenty of options,” he explains. “Provided your team has talent — and barring catastrophic injury, the Patriots have plenty — this team can and will change.”
Those changes, Chatham says, should be evident as early as Monday night against the Chiefs.
“Who will we see (Monday night) against the Chiefs? Likely a team that takes some of the things they’ve done well over the last three weeks and enhances them, while putting a lid on much of the stuff that hasn’t worked.”
