When you go 14-2, you must be doing something right.
But in the case of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick is determined to head the New York Jets off at the pass with two major acquisitions that will only make the Pats better come the playoffs.
While Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco are known for their off-the-field tirades than winning football games, both are quality pick-ups that make the Patriots better on both sides of the football.
In the case of the former Redskin and Bengal, both of them seem to have come to the conclusion that winning matters.
In the case of Haynesworth and Ochocinco, negative headlines and talk radio chatter seemed to drive their personalities. But bad headlines and under achievement become heavy when one looks back at their respective careers.
But after years of team mediocrity and declining production will these two malcontents begin to start thinking about winning in the September of their football careers?
The answer is yes.
Let’s be clear, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots need to get that monkey off their collective back.
That means winning again in the playoffs after consecutive losses to the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets in their own crib!
Bill Belichick doesn’t need to be reminded that the last time he won a playoff game was against the anemic San Diego Chargers.
No one needs to remind him that he took an undefeated team to the playoffs only to lose to the overachieving New York Giants on the biggest of stages!
Only another Super Bowl victory will kill the sting of such a monumental loss.
That’s why Haynesworth and Ochocinco are wearing the red, white and blue.
For the same way the Patriots know what they need to do, do you think signing Plaxico Burress was a coincidence?
The Jets want winners.
The Jets are cutting Braylon Edwards loose because he doesn’t seem to get it.
While Burress nearly threw his NFL career away, this is a league of second and third chances thanks to the success of Michael Vick in last year’s improbable MVP-like season!
And while the Jets let Brad Smith slip through the cracks, they believe players who’ve won in the past is what Rex Ryan wants to fill his locker room and this 2011 roster with: Super Bowl champions.
Rex Ryan has done enough talking about winning.
He needs to fill his roster with players who know how to win.
Burress fits that description. Edwards does not.
So the New England Patriots, led by Bill Belichick and Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, have decided to go “all in” for another Super Bowl ring. The Jets have responded by signing a ghost of a winning Super Bowl run that was supposed to end in defeat at the hands of the Patriots.
Burress played a big role in making that not occur.
The presence of Plaxico Burress robbing New England of another Super Bowl appearance tells us just how determined both teams seem to be to finally get to where they believe they belong—representing the AFC in Super Bowl XLVI.