Wednesday provided another long soliloquy from Bill Belichick.
Previous installments in our "Bill Belichick Lessons" series featured lengthy insights on Richard Seymour; NFL scheme evolutions; the history of long snappers; blitz pickups for running backs; and, generally, the Dallas Cowboys. Well, the Patriots head coach had a lot to say about the Chargers on Wednesday ahead of New England's visit to Los Angeles this weekend.
First, check out the roughly six-minute opening statement from Belichick's news conference at Gillette Stadium:
Now, if you're so inclined, read the full 771-word Belichick transcript:
It's interesting if you take a look at the Chargers this year and kind of see the transformation from where they were last year to this year. Coach (Brandon) Staley's obviously come in there and done a great job with creating confidence and lot of, I would say, positive momentum for the team. They're a very good team and have improved in a lot of areas. Defensively, we saw what he did with the Rams last year. We got a really good look at it. They were the best defense we saw. They had a great year. They're very well-coached, and he's carried that over to this year with the Chargers, and they've been great in some tough situations. The offense has had the ball, the possessions on the plus side of the 50, no touchdowns so far this year. Things like that. They've really risen to the occasion. They get you in third-and-longs, it's pretty much all over there. (Joey) Bosa, (Derwin) James; they’ve got a couple of guys that could really ruin the game, but he keeps a lot of pressure on the offense, on the front, and that'll be a big challenge for us. Offensively, they've got just a great group of skill players. (Justin) Herbert had a great year last year. He's doing the same thing this year, and it's the big four there with (Keenan) Allen, (Mike) Williams, (Jared) Cook and (Austin) Ekeler. They're all a problem. They're all out there a lot. They can hit you with big plays. They're good catch-and-run players. They're good in the intermediate passing game. Ekeler's good in the running game. They've got multiple tight ends and wide receivers. They even have (Joshua) Palmer in there, so they've got a very good group of skill players, and certainly, a quarterback that can get the ball to any of them anywhere, and he can extend out of the pocket. He's had several big plays on boots, scrambles, and that kind of thing where the play doesn't look like much, and then he turns it into something. They're a very explosive group. Really can score from anywhere on the field. Williams ran right through Cleveland for whatever it was, a 75-yard touchdown. Long play. They lead the league in fourth quarter scoring, so that's a problem. They just keep going for the whole game. You might hold them down for a while, but they've been able to put up a lot of points at the end of the game, which is a good thing for them. Bad thing for everybody else. The kicking game, certainly a lot of improvement there. Obviously, this week they made two really strong moves to address the kicking game. I think that just speaks to the importance of it and the commitment they have to it this year. (Andre) Roberts and (Dustin) Hopkins are two big additions to that group that they've acquired this week to go with the other core players. They've done a good job there. Coach (Derius) Swinton's come in, and they certainly have an element of running surprise-type plays. They're a team you've just got to be alert for that they, in the past, with where he's been, we played him when he was in San Francisco with Coach (Jeff) Rodgers in Arizona. Chicago in the past. If you're sleeping, they'll nail you, so you've got to be very alert against them, and we'll have to do a good job of their ball-handling and ball security and, obviously, coverage on Roberts. That'll be, like it always with him, that's a major problem. Some of the same players played in the game from last year, but overall, it's a different looking team and the way they're put together. I think the offensive line is a good example of that. They really got five new starters on the offensive line now. They've lost a couple guys there with (Bryan) Bulaga and (Oday) Abushi, but they still got (Rashawn) Slater in the first round, signed four free agents on the offensive line, plus Cook, so they really put a new group together there. Like I said, with a couple injuries, that probably isn't quite where they want it to be, but you can definitely see what they're doing. It's a good football team that's well-coached, and they've got good leadership. I've been really impressed with where they are; the job Coach Staley's done. Certainly, last year, defensively, I don't think you could play much better than the Rams played. Big challenge for us this week, but we're excited, looking forward to it, and we'll be ready to go out there and see if we can be ready to go on Sunday.
Class dismissed.
