FOXBORO, Mass. — A New England Patriots win this weekend would pull Bill Belichick into a tie with a coaching legend on the NFL’s all-time wins list.
Belichick currently sits at 269 career victories (including postseason), one shy of former Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. Landry’s 270 wins are the third-most in league history, trailing only George Halas (324) and Don Shula (347).
Ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Denver Broncos, several Patriots players were asked what has made Belichick such a great coach. Safety Devin McCourty, who has played for Belichick since 2010, used the word “preparation.”
“He always says, ‘Players win games. Coaches usually lose games,’ ” McCourty said Thursday. “So, I think, for us as players, we know going in — especially for me, I know going in, no matter who we play, no matter how good they are, what they’ve done, I know we’ll be prepared to have a chance to win.
“I don’t know if it’s like that everywhere. I’ve only been here. So I think him just always giving his team a chance to win each week by making sure we’re well-prepared and, I mean, everything a team could do — you know, we watch countless plays.”
Tight end Rob Gronkowski, who, like McCourty, is in his eighth season in New England, offered a similar take.
“Just the details,” Gronkowski said. “Just how much knowledge he knows about the game of football and how much he can go into depth and the details about just one single play. That’s what puts him to the next level, get him all those wins. Just an unbelievable job of knowing the game of football and applying it to the players to help us out on the field.”
Under Belichick, the Patriots have finished above .500 every year since 2001 and won 11 or more games in 13 of the last 16 seasons. They’ve won five Super Bowl titles, have played in each of the last six AFC Championship Games and sit at 6-2 entering this Sunday’s contest.
