| |  Patriots, Bears remain a mystery
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
In the pandemonium that followed the final regular-season game at Foxboro
Stadium on Dec. 22, with the resurgent New England Patriots taking a victory
lap around the creaking edifice and head coach Bill Belichick hugging
everyone in sight, free safety Tebucky Jones stopped to embrace a female fan
leaning out over the front railing of the North end zone.
"Hey, who was that?" asked the crimson-faced lady, losing sight of Jones as
he sprinted toward a raucous Patriots locker room following a
playoff-clinching victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Nearly four weeks later, that innocent query has been expanded in scope and
breadth, as fans all over the country seek the ultimate Patriots answer:
Just who the heck are these guys anyway? In fact, the same question is being
asked about the Chicago Bears as well, and it is just as legitimate given
the relative anonymity in which both franchises have operated.
The Bears and the Patriots are two of 15 franchises since the 1970 merger
that captured division titles after finishing in last place the previous
season. This is, notably, only the second time the league has experienced
two worst-to-first turnarounds in the same campaign, the other coming in
1999 with St. Louis and Indianapolis.
But the two teams have hardly been overnight sensations. New England
finished last in the AFC East in both 1999 and 2000 before winning the
division this season. Chicago's drought was even longer, with the Bears
preceding this year's division championship, its first since 1990, with
three consecutive last-place finishes in the NFC Central.
Only two other teams since 1970, Tampa Bay in 1979 and the 1981 Cincinnati
Bengals, finished first in their division after three consecutive preceding
seasons in last place.
In a league where the quick-fix seems to have become an annual occurrence,
where teams float from last to first to last again in an eye-blink, the Pats
and Bears built momentum gradually. The move to championship level wasn't so
much a quantum leap as an unanticipated vault into the NFL's elite echelons.
These were, after all, cellar dwellers for five combined seasons.
So there is plenty of shared misery, to go along with the anonymity, for the
New England and Chicago franchises. Players from both teams, however, don't
mind operating surreptitiously in the playoffs, and agree their mutt-like
bloodlines in recent seasons only makes them appreciate more their new-found
pedigree. That they posted regular-season records in 2001 that rank them
among the top four playoff qualifiers is, in part, the culmination of
clandestine ascents.
"You finish in last place three years in a row," said Bears offensive right
tackle James "Big Cat" Williams, the team's senior-most member, "and what do
you think the people are going to expect from you? No matter how good you
think the team might be, how much it has improved in camp, it's hard to kick
that (stigma) of last place. You can say, 'Honest, we're better than this,'
but the numbers don't lie. You have to prove it to people and, even then,
they might not believe it."
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Worst to first
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The New England Patriots and Chicago Bears are among the 15 teams since 1970
to win a division championship after finishing last the previous season.
Here are the 13 others:
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Team
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Year
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Indianapolis
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1999
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St. Louis
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1999
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N.Y. Giants
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1997
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Detroit
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1993
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San Diego
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1992
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Denver
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1991
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Cincinnati
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1990
|
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Cincinnati
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1988
|
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Indianapolis
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1987
|
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Cincinnati
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1981
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Tampa Bay
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1979
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Baltimore
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1975
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Green Bay
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1972
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The long-suffering fans in Chicago and Boston have become true believers
this year because of these numbers: In registering a 13-3 record, the Bears
won only two fewer contests in 2001 than they did during those three
last-place finishes combined. New England's 11 victories represent just two
less than the Patriots posted the previous two seasons.
Yet while they were capturing their respective division championships this
year, the two teams weren't necessarily winning universal respect, at least
outside their own precincts. One element of their conjoined secret success, it seems, is that the Pats and the Bears each have taciturn coaches
who are anything but media darlings and have rosters principally peopled by
blue-collar players with only modest public profiles.
The most recognizable player in New England, after all, is veteran
quarterback Drew Bledsoe and he appeared in just two games this year. The
new favorite son of Chicago is a middle linebacker cut in the image of the
lionized Hall of Fame member Dick Butkus, but second-year pro Brian Urlacher
is about as quotable as Marcel Marceau. The new Patriots quarterback, Tom
Brady, had completed one pass before this season. The Bears' quarterback,
journeyman Jim Miller, averaged less than one start a year in his previous
seven NFL seasons.
Certainly both teams demonstrate that it doesn't require a galaxy of stars to shoot for the moon.
"From what I know (about Chicago), they're kind of like us, just a bunch of
guys who play hard and have really good chemistry," said New England center
Damien Woody. "We're a team where the sum means a lot more than one man. And
we're not that fancy. We stick to the basics - run the ball and play good
defense - and that's been our trademark. Fans tend to look for individual
stars and we don't have many of those guys around here."
Indeed, while Brady was named to the Pro Bowl team and has been the
feel-good story of the year in New England, he has thrown only one touchdown
pass the last four games. Truth be told, his most meaningful play in the
Dec. 22 victory over Miami, was a pass reception and not a pass completion.
But his teammates rallied around him in the wake of Bledsoe's injury, and
Pats offensive coordinator Charlie Weis has done a masterful job keeping him
out of trouble.
In an effort to improve the team's character, coach Bill Belichick and
personnel director Scott Pioli signed a lot of veteran free agents from the
bargain basement heap and, with only a few exceptions, they have played
well. More important, players like Bryan Cox and Roman Phifer, Mike Compton
and Anthony Pleasant helped to create a winning environment.
Chicago wasn't a big player, either, in free agency but key acquisitions
like defensive tackles Ted Washington and Keith Traylor helped to galvanize
the defense. On offense, the Bears seem to do barely enough to win, but the
media gripes more about the conservative designs of coordinator John Shoop
than do the players.
An articulate man whose passions simmer well below the surface, Bears head coach Dick Jauron
has managed to earn the universal respect of his players without the
dangerous label of "players' coach." Like his New England counterpart,
Belichick, he is concerned more with winning than winning pretty.
Given their combined records this year, it would be unfair to suggest the
teams are boring, since the ultimate excitement in any sport comes in the
final score and not what precipitated it. But the Patriots and Bears,
partners in non-pizzaz, don't care anyway if the masses ignore them all the
way up to the Super Bowl.
"We are who we are," said Belichick. "So far, that's been good enough, and
we hope that it stays that way for a few more weeks."
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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