FOXBORO, Mass. — Motivation is important in football. It’s important in any sport.
But motivation rarely outweighs execution.
That’s what Bill Belichick believes, at least. During his Friday morning news conference, the New England Patriots coach was asked about the importance of emotional leadership.
His response? It’s great and all, but …
“I think the most important thing is the execution and the consistency of the units in the overall team,” Belichick said. “Emotion is great, and that can be a big part of it. But in the end, we can all sit around and kumbaya all day. If you don’t block anybody or you can’t tackle or you can’t kick, then I don’t really know what you have.
“I’m not saying it’s not important. It’s part of it. But you’d better be able to execute what you’re doing at a pretty high level, or I don’t think the rest of it is going to carry you all that far.”
The Patriots are coming off a humbling loss to the Miami Dolphins, who entered their Monday night matchup as 10 1/2-point home underdogs. New England now is preparing for its biggest game of the regular season: a battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC.
The Steelers currently sit atop the conference at 11-2, one game ahead of the 10-3 Patriots.
