In the second year of his second decade as the Patriots' coach, Bill Belichick seems to have entered the "mad genius" period of his genius career, outdoing himself week to week in concocting ever crazier combinations of defensive players, particularly in his secondary, while still producing win, after win, after win.
Can Belichick keep the victories coming while granting regular starts to the likes of cornerback Kyle Arrington and safety James Ihedigbo, who five years ago faced each other before an intimate crowd of 9,211 in Amherst, Mass.? (Ihedigbo's alma mater, UMass, competes in the Football Championship Series; Arrington's school, Hofstra, would compete in the FCS if it still fielded a team.) Yes. What if he threw into the mix Antwaun Molden, a cornerback who was cut at the end of training camp this summer by a team, the Texans, that in 2010 fielded the NFL's worst passing defense in half a decade? Yes. How about if he used a player at nickelback—say, Julian Edelman—who until last month had never taken a professional practice rep as anything but a receiver or special-teamer and was a quarterback at Kent State? Yes.
Not mad enough for you? What if Belichick last week informed an even less accomplished receiver—Matthew Slater, who has both the bespectacled mien and the receiving résumé (one catch in four years) of a sophomore anthropology major—that he would be practicing with the defensive backs, and then, four days later, started him at safety against the Colts? Yes, still yes. The Patriots beat Indianapolis 31--24 at Gillette Stadium to improve to an AFC-best 9--3. Slater made seven tackles and forced a fumble. New England's orphanages have thus far gone untapped, but there is time yet.
Belichick's alchemy in the secondary has been partially forced by injury, as starting safety Patrick Chung and starting cornerbacks Devin McCourty and Ras-I Dowling have missed a combined 19 games. But only partially. In the past three months the coach has cut four veteran defensive backs—Leigh Bodden, Darius Butler, Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders—who, even if deemed no longer worthy of starting, might have provided experienced depth. More broadly, Belichick has been rebuilding his defense since 2007, when the Patriots' perfect season was spoiled by the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, and he committed to the project in earnest after the Tom Brady--less Pats missed the playoffs the following season.
Now his unit has picked up a nickname: The Who. No active New England defender other than the indomitable tackle Vince Wilfork has played in a Super Bowl (page 72). Since '07 the defense has sustained the departures, sometimes willingly but mostly not, of everyone else, including linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel and defensive end Richard Seymour, each of whom played in all four of the Super Bowls Belichick has reached, and All-Pros such as safety Rodney Harrison, cornerback Asante Samuel and defensive end Ty Warren. To replace such well-known names, Belichick has populated his roster, on both defense and offense, with uncomplaining, grateful players—the type of humble nonstar he has always loved but never more than now.
