Simple stuff

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For all the attention paid to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's genius schemes and innovative game plans, perhaps his greatest strength is getting the simple stuff straight.

Belichick, whose Patriots face the Indianapolis Colts for the AFC championship on Sunday, calls it "situational football." Everyone else knows it as not blowing timeouts, managing the clock with proper play calling and calmly and rationally thinking through decisions rather than winging it on a hunch.

This is the stuff you'd think every millionaire pro football coach would have mastered years ago and wouldn't fall victim to in the playoffs, where a single play can determine a season.

But then, you get last week.

First, Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, who mismanaged the clock in a Super Bowl XXXIX loss to the Patriots, flip-flopped on fourth down at the New Orleans Saints' 39-yard line and decided to punt the ball with 1:48 remaining, down by three points.

Philly had just two timeouts left. Even if it suddenly stopped Saints running back Deuce McAllister and forced New Orleans to kick the ball back, the Eagles would have taken possession with 30-something seconds remaining, likely back in their own territory. It would have taken a miracle to win it under those circumstances.

"In hindsight, we should have [gone for it]," said Reid, whose defense couldn't stop McAlister, and the Saints ran the game out.

Later, Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith called a timeout with two seconds left to give the Seattle Seahawks a final shot a game-winning pass. The timeout meant Seattle could either convert a touchdown or draw a pass interference penalty and kick a field goal. That it didn't happen, and Chicago won in overtime, doesn't eliminate the error.

"Not a good play on my part," Smith said.

Then there was San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer.

In the fourth quarter against the Patriots, he blew a timeout in a desperate, and hopeless, replay challenge. As a result, the Chargers had no timeouts on their last drive. Compounding matters, they attempted a 54-yard game-tying field goal (which they missed) with eight seconds remaining instead of calling a quick sideline route in an effort to pick up a few extra yards.

So that's three (or four) gagged decisions, bad ideas and panicked moves just from last weekend in the NFL playoffs.

And these guys are some of the NFL's best coaches.

Belichick is the first to tell you he isn't perfect, but by NFL standards he may be as close as anyone, ever. While there is no statistical analysis of smart game management, Belichick's record in the playoffs (13-2) and overtime games (9-1) backs the perception that no one is better at making quick, effective decisions based on sound philosophy.

This is the coach who rarely screws up, who almost never lets the game's emotional rollercoaster knock him off his principles.

"That's why you don't see him all excited until the end of the game, because he's always constantly thinking about the next play," said defensive end Richard Seymour.

Mostly though, it seems his ability to properly manage a game comes from his relentless preparation and discipline. With 32 years in the league as either a head coach or an assistant (tops among current head coaches), Belichick has had plenty of time to analyze just about every possible scenario, great or small.

The decisions that other coaches seem to struggle with – such as calculating how much time can be run off the game clock in one series – he seems to compute instantly. He saves timeouts for when necessary, almost always makes the most of end-of-the-half situations and has been known to do seemingly unsound things like take a safety to improve field position because in certain come-from-behind situations, it actually makes strategic sense.

He is the common-sense genius. And armed with all of that knowledge, he pounds it into his players.

"We practice them," linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "It's not just enough to know the situation, you've got to make a play and then you've got to go, 'Well, what do I do now? Do I call timeout? Does Bill call timeout?' A lot of our practices are geared towards situational football."

The Patriots begin practicing game scenarios on day one of training camp and do something just about every day. One time it might be the proper time remaining on the game clock to kick a field goal on third down, the next might be going over various time, down and timeout situations where throwing over the middle is allowed.

Over the course of a month of practice, Belichick believes everything gets covered. Then they repeat. And repeat again. Eventually the guess work is gone and it becomes almost natural.

"You can map out some guidelines and that type of thing, but there are some plays that are just instinctive," Belichick said Thursday. "There's a million things flying around and they have a split-second to make a decision."

A split second that, be it player or coach, at this time of year can end or extend a season. There is a reason New England keeps playing late into the playoffs, and while much is rightfully made of Belichick's ability to find the right talent and then concoct the most successful game plans, sometimes the devil is in the details.