As our good friend from @26shirts.com Del Reid said on the Monday Night Football pregame show on ESPN, sometimes IT just happens.
Spontaneous combustion.
You put all the right ingredients together for just the right amount of time, at exactly the right temperature and you bake yourself a cake.
I’ll leave all the folks who like to crunch the numbers do their thing about the absolute drubbing the Buffalo Bills put on the New England Patriots to close out the 2020 Monday Night Football season. My wheelhouse is looking at how psychological strategies are developed and implemented in the coaching and developmental process during any NFL season.
As many of you know, I believe there’s a lot more to cultivating a winning NFL franchise than restricting your process to drawing insight from physically tangible data only. And what I’m referring to with respect to the mental and psychological variables is much more complex than most of the overly simplistic observations currently being made about intangible factors.
It requires proper training to be able to “see into the DNA” of the traits Sean McDermott has identified as being crucial to getting the cake mix right. Furthermore, getting the job done during the ‘annus horribilus’ of 2020 presents yet another whole layer of wow to deal with as a head coach.
This has been a season like no other. For a lot of unexpected reasons.
Make no mistake, this incredible aura around the Buffalo Bills right now is no accident. It may have been sparked by spontaneous combustion, but this aura is the culmination of four years of perseverance and process.
As many pour over DVOA numbers and other data points, my brain switches gears and examines situational psychological strategies coaches may employ to “get in the head of the opponent’s quarterback”.
For example, the total destruction imposed by the Bills on the last gasps of the Patriots dynasty on Monday Night was like a delightful little research gathering opportunity using the natural observation method.
What piqued my brain the most?
Belichick’s responses after the game were nothing short of stunning from my window. It’s rather unusual for Belichick to “downplay” an opposing quarterback before a game. Usually he slobbers all over them like they are all Hall of Famers. Not this time.
Fascinating to see Belichick choose the approach of playing the “disapproving father” [you’re-never-gonna-be-good-enough”] to deal with the quarterback he clearly underestimated in terms of mental fortitude. It appears he may have identified Josh’s “people-pleasing” personality type as one he thought he that could use to intimidate Josh by puttimg out ‘critical-father’ type messages.
Please allow me a moment to hahahahahahahahahahaha….
Belichick got caught with his hoodie down.
Although Sean McDermott would be loathe to admit it, you couldn’t help but feel his predatory hands wrap around Belichick’s throat as they hugged at the end of the game. Little doubt McDermott had a special little twinkle in his eyes as they met on the field.
McDermott is like a silent raptor. He wants no part of any celebration about what this Bills team has accomplished so far; winning the AFC East division in convincing fashion. He and his team are appropriately laser-focused on beating the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Bills Stadium.
But for BillsMafia, it is our time to shine, folks. If you’re not drinking in every molecule of that WINNING feeling, you’re missing a really important moment in Buffalo Bills history.
Because it’s okay to come out of the kitchen closet, put down the broom, dust yourselves off and celebrate like it’s 1999.
Congratulations, BillsMafia. Enjoy every moment to the max because tomorrow is promised to no one and this is a reward for the culmination of decades of despair. Stay tuned.
~The Caboose~
One Response
the “best coach ever” was thinking he should have some practice video or some of #17 audibles or a doctored football to cement his chances of being the best coach ever. as long as he doesn’t caught again or is that fake news? try being gracious or have authentic feelings Billy.