There are no better models of success through consistency in an organization than the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the two AFC rivals face off again this weekend in Pittsburgh at 4:15pm ET on Sunday.
Between the two, they have represented the AFC in 7 of the last 10 Super Bowls, including 5 Super Bowl titles. Both have had consistency and stability at key positions, which has fueled their success, and Brady spoke about that this week. Bill Belichick has coached the Patriots since 2000 and Brady has been his starter since 2001, so the two have had 10 years of success together.
“It’s been very important for me to never really change offenses or learn new terminology,” Brady said. “It’s great for a quarterback to have that continuity in coaching.”
That’s a huge advantage, and Belichick and Brady seem to have similar work ethics and styles, so rather than having to learn different systems, they work year after year on perfecting the Patriots offense. It’s hard to argue with the results.
“There are certain plays in our offense that I’ve literally run thousands of times,” Brady said. “You make a lot of mistakes over the course of those plays and you learn from them and hopefully you don’t make them again.”
The Steelers also have consistency as a core value, and have throughout the history of the organization. Since 1969 (that’s 42 years), the Steelers have had exactly 3 head coaches – Chuck Knoll (1969 through 1991), Bill Cowher (1992 through 2006) and now Mike Tomlin. Dick LeBeau has been the Steelers defensive coordinator since 2004, in an era when successful coordinators are quickly out pursuing head coaching jobs. And he has consistently put together one of the top defensive units in the league.
Brady commented on facing the always-tough Steelers defense this week. “They’re very well rounded. They always lead the league in defense – you can see why. They’re one of the best we play all year,” Brady said.
Still, Brady has had excellent success against the Steelers over the years, and has a 6-1 record against them. But both he and Belichick recognize that it comes down to which team performs better.
“They don’t make many mistakes,” Belichick said. “You have to go in there and play a good football game and beat them. They don’t beat themselves very often.”
“We’ve played them when we haven’t played very well, like in 2008; we didn’t play very well and they kicked the crap out of us and in 2004 they kicked the crap out of us,” Brady added. “We have to go in expecting to play our best game. If we don’t, it’s a long hard day. If we do, we’re confident that we can get the win.”
Sounds like both Belichick and Brady are reading from the same script. And that’s something you’d expect after 10 years together.
