On Tuesday of Super Bowl week, after watching tape for six straight days, Devin called for a players-only walkthrough, because he figured they needed to physically learn some of the changes they were making on first and second down. In the days to follow, it was clear to everyone what was happening.
“Once we got into Atlanta, into the preparation, it was frustrating for me,” Hoyer says. “They had everything covered. I was like, ‘Either these guys know what all our plays are, or they’re gonna ball out in the game.’ You could see it. They were playing so fast, they were so on top of it. And you get to the game, and they go and have the best defensive performance I’ve ever witnessed.”
No one would’ve predicted that was coming back when the Patriots got gashed by the Jaguars, Lions and Titans. That’s where we saw all the imperfections in a team that somehow wound up being absolutely perfect for the program Belichick’s built over the last 19 years.
The Patriots are made to outflank, outthink and outwork the opponent at every turn. In using every last resource, even a backup quarterback at the highest level to chase the ultimate prize, is exactly what the Patriots did.
