The Patriots "B Squared Affect"

[Saltheart]

Synergy is a word that means that two (or more) things working together produce results far exceeding the simple sum of the two. For example instead of A+B it becomes (A+B) X 2. Just an example.

The Patriots definitely have the “B Squared Affect” synergy. The team’s play is a result of a (Brady) X (Belichick) synergistic interaction. Most teams would be happy with a “(Coach+QB) Affect” the two factors summed to form a result. With Brady and Belichick its definitely one multiplied by the other.

I enjoyed one of the comments last night by one of the announcers saying that in years past , Bill would watch the films with Tom and plan the offense. This year , because of the youngest D in the league , Bill has not been doing the film game review with Brady. I’m sure other coaches do but at this stage of the game , Tom Brady calls his own offense when it counts. They said this week for the big game against the Jets , Bill and Tom had done the film reviews together. When questioned about that , I was surprised at Brady’s answer. I expected him to say that they had discussed plays and what strengths they had at tight end and Welcher of course , etc and what happened the last Jets game. What he said they discussed was Bill’s view of the Jets Defense. What they were doing here and what they were doing there. All about Bill’s the defensive expert in the league, view of what the jets D was doing. Armed with Bills explanation of the Defense , he and Tom decided on what would work etc. Obviously they did a great job planning the offense and exploiting the Jets weaknesses.

I think it’s a rare thing when the coach and biggest star in the league can sit down and not only work together after so many years, but actually compliment each others strengths and multiply their strengths for such a hugely successful result. One of the points they made about Meredith and his days in Dallas was that he and Landry never warmed up to each other. In fact it was why he retired so young. I think that’s more typical than people know. The QB’s have egos , salary demands , finger pointing when things go bad and the camera is on them. Look at Favres problems this year! I thing that typically the QBs are self centered , the coaches power crazy and the result is that they in fact try to stay out of each other’s way to avoid trouble.

Not the Patriots QB and Coach. Those guys are as tight as a cats behind. They support each other off the field when dealing with the press and they just supercharge each other’s talents all week during the practices and strategy meetings.

I doubt anyone would argue that Bill will go down as the sports greatest coach of all time. I think Brady will also be thought of as the best QB of all time as his career rolls along and he breaks all records for a QB and most importantly , wins. Its just incredible though how the two best ever guys in key football positions have learned to work together to produce this huge Synergistic affect of B X B. I honestly think the Patriots “B Squared Affect” is what makes them a top contender every single year.