Super Bowl LI Match-up: The Tale of Two Mindsets

Let's take a look at some factors that may influence the outcome of Super Bowl LI between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.

The Franchise Systems

• Patriot head coach Bill Belichick's management and leadership secrets have been well documented in books and magazine articles such as James Lavin's Management Secrets of the New England Patriots.  Owner Robert Kraft is a successful businessman who built his fortune with Gillette.  

• Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and current owner of the Atlanta Falcons has a long history of success as a businessman, and has a set of leadership principles that he follows closely.   

Advantage:  New England Patriots

Super Bowl Experience

• This is Bill Belichick's seventh Super Bowl appearance with Tom Brady as his starting quarterback. They have won four of the six Super Bowls they have participated in.  Brady was voted MVP for Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XLIX.

• This is the second appearance in the Super Bowl for the Atlanta Falcons since their were founded in 1966.  It is their first Super Bowl since the 1998 season.  Dan Quinn has been an assistant coach for Seattle Seahawks during their Super Bowl appearances.  He knows what it is like, but he has not been head coach there.  

Advantage:  New England Patriots

Mental Conditioning, Team Training and Team Building

• In the off-season, Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff and director of sports medicine and performance Marty Lauzon had a four day team-building session with seven veteran Navy SEALs of Acumen Performance Group.  

• Falcon head coach Dan Quinn spent several years with the Seattle Seahawks and their head coach Pete Carroll.  The Seahawks embrace the use of mental conditioning and employ various high-profile mental conditioning coaches, including Michael Gervais and George Mumford (Michael Jordan's meditation ) guru.

• Bill Belichick is a master of getting his teams prepared for playoff and Super Bowl games.  He understands the mental aspect of the game as well as anyone.   

Advantage:  Atlanta Falcons

Neuroscience

• For the past 3 years. Tom Brady uses the BrainHQ training program developed by Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science.  A cognitive enhancement tool and brain training program, Brady had it installed at his TB12 Sports Center.  BrainHQ has 29 brain exercises that are done on a computer screen. One example of an exercise that Brady uses is called “Double Decision.”

• Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback uses a device called NeuroTracker that he says has helped him sharpen his cognitive skills, providing an edge when he targets receivers or chooses plays. The focus has helped fuel an MVP-caliber season.  Ryan uses the 3D glasses at least three times a week to improve peripheral vision.

Advantage:  None

Motivation/Complacency

• The New England Patriots won the last Super Bowl in which they participated two years ago.

• The Atlanta Falcons have never won the Super Bowl.  This year they have embraced "The Brotherhood" as their rallying cry.  

Advantage:  Atlanta Falcons

Distractions

• New England has been distracted by the focus the media and the public has placed on Tom Brady's alleged support of Donald Trump; the injury to star tight-end Rob Gronkowski, and the long-standing Deflategate controversy.

• The Atlanta Falcons are slight underdogs in Las Vegas.  This may take any pressure off of them.  

Advantage:  Atlanta Falcons

Overall Advantage:  Atlanta Falcons

What is your prediction?  

Super Bowl Post-Mortem: The Makings of a Champion

Super Bowl XLIX provided so much drama and excitement.  Thank you New England and Seattle.  

It was also memorable and valuable for what we can learn from it.  Despite the outcome and the fact that the Super Bowl trophy belongs to the New England Patriots, it can be said that both teams played like champions. 

Let's look at the anatomy of championship mindset and what mental conditioning is necessary to compete for a Super Bowl. This Super Bowl was a lesson in putting yourself in the best possible position to win.  Both teams did so much to make themselves champions.  Understandably, most pundits will look at the reasons for winning and losing.   But, I want to analyze the post-game reactions by the players and coaches for some potentially more useful insight; beyond winning and losing.    

Vision

If you can't see yourself doing it, you probably won't be able to do it. 

 

"I just had a vision that I was going to make a big play and it came true," said Malcolm Butler, rookie New England Patriot defensive back and Super Bowl hero, after making a game-winning interception to end the game and seal the victory.  

Preparation

"Goal line, preparation, the formation they were in with the two-receiver stack, I just knew they were throwing a pick route," Butler said. "It was on the line, we needed it, and I just beat him to the route and made the play."

Individual and Team Resilience

Two plays before, Butler was covering Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse during his improbable, on-his-back, juggling catch down the right sideline that seemed to propel the Seahawks to a sure victory.

Butler was step-for-step with Kearse in coverage on the play, but it was just a once-in-a lifetime effort by the Seattle receiver.  While staring a bitter loss in the face, Butler did not quit, however.  

"I went to the sideline, wasn't feeling too well, my teammates were trying to cheer me up and said I made a great play," Butler said.  "I just went up and deflected it. Nine times out of 10, it usually goes away from him. As I was looking, he was bobbling it and caught it. Just devastating."

Two plays later, though, "it was the best feeling ever." 

Butler knew he had to get past the previous play and that he might be targeted again.

"I'm pretty sure he knows I'm a rookie, and who wouldn't try a rookie?" he said [referring to Seattle quarterback, Russell Wilson]. "I was ready."

Mental Toughness

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the MVP of the game, asked for the key to victory, responded, "Mental toughness."

"It's just a lot of mental toughness,'' Brady said. "I think the whole team had it. Coach always says, 'Ignore the noise and control what you can control.' We had two great weeks of practice. That's what it took. That's what we needed to be focused on and that's how we got the victory.''

"It wasn't the way we drew it up," said Brady, who won his third Super Bowl MVP award. "It was a lot of mental toughness. Our team has had it all year. We never doubted each other, so that's what it took."

Leadership Responsibility 

Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, took full responsibility for the loss, rather than push his players under the bus.  

“We were on the precipice of another championship,” Carroll said. “Nobody to blame but me.”

Confidence

Even the losers of the Super Bowl must have confidence.  During the last play, the interception by Butler, the Seahawks felt good.

“I didn’t have any doubt,” Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin said. “At that time, you didn’t think there was anyone on the sideline who didn’t think we’d score.”

“When they made the call, I didn’t question it,” said Wilson. “We thought we had them. I thought it was going to be a touchdown when I threw it. When I let it go, I thought it was going to be game over.”

Passion and the Will to Keep Winning 

With no intention of retiring, MVP Brady seems to be ready to do it all over again.

"I love doing it, so I don't want it to end any time soon," he said. "A lot of decisions I make in my life are how to sustain it. That takes a commitment in and of itself. You have to put it in the bank, as Coach always says, so it's there when you need it."

I, for one, would love to see a rematch next year.  But, the rest of the NFL might have something to say about that.  If they have learned anything, each team is preparing to put themselves in the best position to win next year's Super Bowl right now.

Excerpts from espn.go.com (2/1/2015), nytimes.com (2/1/2015),  and newsday.com (2/2/2015).

The Winning Super Bowl X-Factors: Patriots vs. Seahawks

Welcome to my annual Super Bowl prediction!  OK, that's not true.  This is the first time.  I've never attempted this (I did do a post Super Bowl analysis once upon a time).  Please be gentle.

Anyway, here goes.  With all unfathomable, unknownable and unpredicable factors being accounted for and controlled, the most important intangibles, or X-Factors, in winning this year's Super Bowl XLIX are:

X-Factor #1:  The New England Patriots have the longevity, stability and culture of a proud and successful franchise with a mindset and expectation of winning.  Similarly to the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA, the Patriots have a strong organization that has installed a unique system of success and excellence that has stood the test of time.  Advantage:  Patriots

X-Factor #2:  The Seattle Seahawks have incorporated a very systematic approach to mental conditioning that is unmatched in professional sports.  Their collective use of sports psychology. positive psychology and mindfulness has provided great value.  They believe in their ability to be resilient and have leveraged that for two years. They could not have comeback against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship without this cultivated and deliberate approach. They have the mental skills to deal with adversity and bounce back from real-time setbacks.  Advantage: Seahawks.

X-Factor #3:  The Seattle Seahawks are defending Super Bowl Champions.  They have the recency effect going for them.  They will have swagger.  Advantage:  Seahawks.

X-Factor #4:  The Patriots have lost the last two Super Bowls in which they have played.  They were favorites in each loss.  They have a Super Bowl albatross around their necks.  They are slight betting favorites again.  The Seahawks are slight underdogs.  Advantage:  Seahawks.

X-Factor #5:  The Patriots have lost the last two Super Bowls in which they have played.  They were favorites in each one.  They have the motivation of having something to prove.  They are not playing the New York Giants.  Advantage: Patriots. 

X-Factor #6:  Deflate-Gate has been a great distraction to the Patriots.  This has to affect their focus and preparation to some degree.   Advantage; Seahawks.

X-Factor #7:  Nevertheless, the absurdity of the media coverage and sensationalism surrounding Deflate-Gate has kept the Patriots loose and relaxed.  Advantage: Patriots.

X-Factor #8:  Marshawn Lynch is in full beast mode.  He has also kept the Seahawks loose and relaxed, by taking the focus and pressure off the rest of the team.  Advantage: Seahawks.    

It is difficult to quantify each of these X-Factors, but if you add them all up, I give a slight edge to the Seattle Seahawks in a surprisingly low scoring game.  Overall Advantage:  Seahawks.  

What's your prediction?  Your comments are welcomed.          

         

One Shot at Glory vs. Sustained Success

Of course, all eyes are now on the Super Bowl in two weeks time.  It is a media event, a grand spectacle that captures the imagination of an entire nation every year.

But, make no mistake.  The NFC Championship Game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons was a great game, particularly for students of the game.  Only one team could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, but I believe that both franchises have the opportunity for sustained success, competitive excellence and a long championship-quality rivalry. What did we learn from this outstanding game?  What really happened?  What will happen in the future?

Confidence is an extremely fragile thing for individuals and teams alike. How a team responds to losses of this type and magnitude can easily dictate the short- and long-range future of a franchise. How losses are analyzed and interpreted can make or break a team. How players and coaches react to the criticism from fans and the media can have a profound influence on the mindset and culture of a franchise.  Confidence can be enhanced or self-esteem issues can be created by what the players and coaches do with their post-season assessment and learning that is done in the off-season.

Both team must be able to see this game as a stepping stone to greatness, evidence of success, an indicator of excellence and a valuable learning opportunity.  Regardless of the outcome of the Super Bowl, both teams can build upon this superb season and improve.

It is likely that we will see the future Super Bowl champion as "the winner" and their opponent as "the loser."  These labels can be deadly to teams, whose winning chemistry is fleeting and fragile at best. Many will look at the newly crowned winner with admiration and respect; and the other as a complete failure, an embarrassment to their city, their division and their conference, unworthy of its position as the representative of said group.  Additionally, it is a mistake to look superficially at the stylistic differences in the quarterbacks, the offensive and defensive schemes and packages, the coaching and players personalities and style.  Jumping to conclusions about the validity of one's team's characteristics, strategy, culture and philosophy over another can be highly misleading.

For example, the Falcons' head coach, Mike Smith, is often seen as a stoic, low-key leader who maintains a calm demeanor.  The loss to the 49ers will shine a critical light on these coaching characteristics and many will scoff at his style and personality.  Also likely is the notion that his outward game face contributed to the loss.

One the other hand, Jim Harbaugh, the 49er head coach, is a high-energy, frenetic, volatile bundle of emotion and hyperactivity.  In the glow of a 49er win, it will be argued that Harbaugh's approach is more effective; a flavor of the month, prerequisite coaching style of the future and a necessary ingredient for success. That would be wrong.  Obviously, both styles can (and do) work and neither should be changed or copied.

Despite the loss, the Falcon's offense has become a highly talented, precise, well-oiled machine that seems highly structured and controlled.  The entire team led the league with the fewest penalties and penalty yards this year, suggestive of a highly disciplined and focused team.  This team is just right for the New South, the steel and glass of an upscale Atlanta.   The loss to San Francisco could alter this perception and create a need for change when little is needed.  

By contrast, the 49ers are characterized by an aggressive, explosive, athletic, and star-studded defense.  A caffeinated team like this accurately reflects an undisciplined and unbridled franchise. This style may perfectly suit a West Coast, Silicon Valley team.  Offensively, Colin Kaepernick, who won the starting quarterback job from steady veteran, Alex Smith, is the epitome of that loose, freewheeling approach.  Smith has always been  seen as the opposite of Kaepernick: a game manager who despite his effectiveness was seen as a liability as a quarterback of a championship team.  However, true or false, the Kaepernick-influenced 49ers style works for them and would not necessary work in other situations with different personnel.

Even if the 49ers lose in the Super Bowl, their recipe for success has been established.

The conference championship game was a viciously fought battle between a proud franchise with a history of winning and a rebuilt franchise learning to win one step at a time.  However, neither franchise had approached this level of competitiveness and success since the mid-1990.  The proud 49ers are 5-0 overall in their Super Bowl appearances and eager to have the opportunity to win a sixth.  Over the past half-decade, the Falcons has slowly but surely developed into a regular season, home field juggernaut that has only recently won its first playoff game with this core of management, coaches and players.

The Falcons' quarterback, Matt Ryan, played two wonderful halves of football, one in the Division Playoff against the Seattle Seahawks, and one in the the first half of the 49er game.  His precision and surgical-like dissection of the defenses in each game was impressive, masterful and highly effective.  He led the Falcons to seemly insurmountable leads in each game.  In the first half of each game, he appeared in full control of an explosive offense.  Ryan displayed a gift for execution and technical abilities found in few quarterbacks.  Critics of Ryan point to his inability to run effectively or improvise on the fly as a fatal weakness, especially in contrast to Kaepernick.

What the Falcons seemed to lack after halftime in each contest was the flexibility and the ability to make adjustments that would allow them to continue to dominate the game.  It appeared that they succumbed to the natural tendency toward complacency that often follows short-term success.  They shifted to an mentality that focused on the avoidance of losing rather than winning.  This mindset prevented them from finishing the game with a flourish. They became tentative, cautious, and protective; wishing for the game to end as it were.    Rather than keeping the pedal to the metal, they rode the brakes.

In contrast, it appeared that the 49ers second-year quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was more flexible, more resilient, more creative, with a greater capacity to adjust to the evolving game conditions.  His ability create a balanced threat to run or pass kept the Falcons defensive on their heels, particularly in the second half.  The fatigue this created within the Falcons' defense was a key to the 49er victory (as well as the Seahawks' impressive comeback).  The victory was a team victory attributable to many facets and factors beyond the young man in the quarterback slot.  A win or a loss in the Super Bowl should not blind the 49ers to their strengths, build over time and attributable to much hard work.

From this game, the Falcons can learn and improve simply by learning to adapt and finish.  They were able to close out games and win in close (sometime ugly) games in the regular season but seemed to wilt under the increasing and extreme championship pressure of the playoffs.  It would be too easy, to place excessive, confidence killing blame on Matt Ryan for this loss.  It would be equally unfair to point toward a porous defense or an ineffective offensive running game for the loss.  The Falcons' performance must be seen within the context of a highly successful regular season, and two almost perfect halves of playoff football against highly competitive and excellent opponents.

Despite a season of objective success, losing in the playoffs is often followed by intense criticism, second-guessing, loud calls for complete overhauls of coaching staffs and player personnel, and knee-jerk reactions.  Questioning of commitment, effort, talent, excessive age or youth is prevalent during the off-season.  Despite the fact that only two NFL teams have achieved more this season, the Falcons and their AFC counterpart in so-called failure, the New England Patriots, are being raked over the coals.

Regardless of the outcome of the Super Bowl, all the Final Four participants, the Falcons, Patriots, 49ers and Ravens would do well to carefully and logically assess their seasons, keep their wits about them, and avoid panic and overreaction to celebrate and build on a job well done.  Only in this way, can each franchise capitalize on the hard work and success of this incredible NFL season.  They must cultivate a mentally tough mindset that keeps them on the road to sustainable championship-caliber contention for the long term.    


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mental Conditioning is About Focus, and Freshness

“I think any time you get that break, it can be a good thing if it’s utilized properly. I think there definitely was a sense of relief from all of us – coaches and players – of just not having a game-plan last week, and having the whole mental pressure of coming up with a game-plan, and each day thinking about game-plans and adjustments. … The weight of studying for a final exam, if you will. You’re grinding through a week of preparation and then you go for the final exam. After you’ve had eight of those, it’s nice to have a week where you don’t have to study, you don’t have to game-plan, and you don’t have a final exam. You don’t have all the mental adjustments you have to go through. Now this week, we’re back into that and hopefully we have a little bit of a freshness, or a better approach to it than that after eight weeks of doing it.”

--Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots, following a mid-season bye week.

Mental conditioning is certainly about focus and intensity, but is it also about staying fresh and combating mental, emotional and physical fatigue. 

Do you take regular, systematic, structured breaks to recharge?  Do you find your thinking more creative, more effective after a break?

Make sure that you plan downtime.  Make sure that you are not just escaping or procrastinating.  Give yourself permission to take a break to recharge the batteries.  Escape and procrastinating is not as satisfying as a structured, planful break to decompress. 

Bill Belichick understands this as well as anyone.  Belichick has taken his team to 5 Super Bowls and won 3 of them. 

Excerpt for ESPNBoston.com (11/6/2012).

Quiet Leadership: Eli Manning and Giants are Ready for the Super Bowl

“We got an excellent message from Eli.  It was very well-needed. For players like myself who have been to a Super Bowl, it is still great to hear someone speak with that kind of leadership. And you know, Eli doesn't say much. When he says it, he means it and you know it is coming from the heart." 

--Antrel Rolle, New York Giants’ safety, discussing a speech given by Eli Manning as they prepare for their Super Bowl rematch with the New England Patriots.   

Eli Manning’s Quiet Leadership"There's a lot of pressure coming into a season on a team like this and if you walked in and are working with a veteran quarterback, and you make a mistake and he's ripping you apart, putting you down or making it obvious on the field that it's your fault, then that would make a tough situation even worse.

"Eli doesn't approach it that way. I know that when me and Victor came in, we didn't know everything and we still don't. But when we made a mistake, ran the wrong route, he always took the time to help us. That's what good leaders do. They realize the team's not just made of vets. You have to be willing to accept other people's mistakes and Eli is great with that, one of the best.

"I don't know how he was before. But maybe because he didn't always get that when he started out he understands how important it is. Again, that's just Eli - hard worker, commander, leader."

-- Jake Ballard, the second-year tight end.

"Instead of jumping on receivers when they make mistakes, Eli is more likely to pull them aside on the sideline, explain what they had discussed in practice and tell them what he's expecting from them," said former Giants quarterback and current ESPN analyst Tim Hasselbeck. "When you have a guy who doesn't have a confrontational approach to dealing with things, that's a better way of handling things. One of the reasons he and Kevin Gilbride [Giants’ offensive coordinator] get along so well is because Eli is the way he is. Kevin can be pretty fiery."

"Eli told everybody at the beginning of the season that he's a leader," Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty said. "And he's proven that with his performance."

"I think a leader is someone who motivates someone to achieve a goal or change their actions or improve their actions, and Eli has that ability," Barden said. "Now, he's not the kind of guy who's going to get in your face or ride you and yell at you. He displays his displeasure or his emotion as anyone else does, but he goes about it in a way so that it doesn't negatively affect the game."

-- Ramses Barden, Giants’ third-year receiver, discussing Manning’s statement about his elite status as an NFL quarterback.

Elite Status as Quarterback

"That's been obvious to me, since I've been here and you want that kind of attitude out of your quarterback. Now he's had the opportunity to prove it beyond a doubt, putting up numbers that are beyond what people expected from him," said Barden. 

Solid Stability

"It's his strength," "You're not dealing with a roller-coaster guy here, you know? These are all young receivers and I know how confident they all are talking to him, trying to tell him what they see," said Sean Ryan, the Giants' second-year receivers coach.

"…But after being with him for a while, it's his consistency not only as a quarterback but as a person that you know you can count on,” Barden said.

At the outset of Manning's fourth season that Tiki Barber introduced himself as a network commentator by calling Manning's leadership skills comical. Months later, Manning led the Giants past the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. Process is all about patience.

"He's all right, he's as tough as they come,"

--Hakeem Nicks, wide-receiver.   

Intelligence and Preparation

"He has functional intelligence. He can sit in a film room and break down route combinations, pass protections, defensive fronts, and he can do it all in about three seconds. Coaches like to get into the habit of running tape over and over so players understand what you're trying to do. Eli doesn't need that. We get excited about fast-twitch athletes, guys who are really explosive physically. He's what you call a fast-twitch thinker."

--Duke offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, who coached Manning at Ole Miss.

"For us it's no surprise our offense goes how Eli directs it," Giants left tackle David Diehl said. "His understanding and grasp of our offense, his knowledge of things, the way that he's able to recognize blitzes or coverages or different things. When he is watching film, he notices things that the [defensive] line is doing. Not many quarterbacks pay attention."

A season ago, he was berated by Giants fans for not showing enough emotions on the sidelines during a difficult 10-6 season. Now, it is considered remarkable how he never looks rattled especially during the playoffs. Manning boasts an all-time playoff mark of 6-3.

"I think it is his mentality. It is his approach. Nobody sees what he does behind the scenes. He is a studier and a pounder. He is looking for every little advantage that he can get. He is just trying to be the best he can be to help this team win," head coach Tom Coughlin said.

"If we could all just remember that and use that. He loves playing against the best competition, but it is just all about doing the best for his team."

"I think we are always confident going into games. Guys understand the way to win football games against good teams. Our defense is playing great with pressure and turnovers," Manning said. "Our offense for the most part is protecting the ball and playing smart football. When we have a chance to make a big play we are making them."

Excerpts from ESPN.com (2/4/2012) nytimes.com (01/20/2012) and Sports.yahoo.com (01/16/2012; 2/2/2012).

The Ray Lewis Mentality

"For us to be here now, I'm hungry again and I'm thirsty again. Every time you go through something like this, it has to drive you. I truly believe that's the only thing that makes people great. It's not the ones who always winning that people remember. It's the ones who go through tough times."

--Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens' linebacker, after losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. 

Lewis is a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a16-year NFL veteran and 13-time NFL Pro Bowler.

"Is this my last time as a Raven? Absolutely not," Lewis said. "Let me answer that question before somebody asks me. Absolutely not. It's just too much. Life offers too much. Everytime you step on this field, it's a true blessing."
 
"God has never made a mistake. Ever," Lewis said. "Somebody is going to feel like this tomorrow, and somebody is going to feel like this in two weeks in the Super Bowl. And whomever wins it, that's their year. That's a fact, and there ain't nothing nobody else can do about it. That's the irony of sports. There is a winner, there's a loser, and when you lose, you've got to suck it up like a man and say 'You know what Father? If it's your will, so be it. As a man you got to keep moving, and a team keep building, remembering this taste."

Excerpts from http://www.hometownannapolis.com (1.23.2012).

Tom Brady's Success Is Due to the Talents and Help of Others

"To me it comes down to the mental toughness and determination of the players and coaches."

--Tom Brady, New England Patriots' quarterback, the 2007, and the new 2010 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, identifying the reason for his award.  

A unanimous choice for the NFL All-Pro team, Brady threw for 36 touchdowns while being intercepted just four times. When he won the award in 2007, Brady set an NFL mark with 50 touchdowns passes as New England went undefeated in the regular season.  Brady led the Patriots to a 16-0 mark in 2007 then and a league-best 14-2 this season.  In three other seasons, the Patriots have won the Super Bowl.  Brady is the only quarterback and the only active player to win the Offensive Player of the Year award twice. In addition, he has won 2 Super Bowl MVP awards, 1 NFL MVP award, and has been to 5 NFL Pro Bowls.     

"Tom studies a lot.  We get the bulk of it in the meeting rooms with just the players when we sit down to go over the things that he's been looking at. It carries over to the practice field as well. Tom is a dork when it comes to that, so I'm going to leave that alone, but Tom is a dork in that meeting room."

--Deion Branch, Patriots' veteran wide receiver.

• Do you recognize these qualities in your business or professional life?
• Do you acknowledge that your success is directly attributable to the talents, teamwork and help of others?
• How do you exhibit mental toughness?  
• Are you a student of your business or professional craft?

Excerpts from ESPN.com (February 2, 2011).  

For more on the New England Patriots franchise, click on the New England Patriots:  Peak Performance Case Study.  

For more on the Peak Performance System for mental conditioning, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

  

The New England Patriots Get Back on Track

"I thought all of the guys played really hard, stayed focused, and it was an exciting win for all of us, everybody in this locker room. We haven’t been this happy in a long time. We're pretty good when we play and we execute the right way, do the right thing, and when everyone is doing their job."

--New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 30 of 43 passes for 350 yards and had four total touchdownsa in a surprisingly easy 39-26 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

The Patriots (7-2) couldn’t wait to get back onto the field to redeem themselves and remove the memories of an upset lost to the Cleveland Browns the previous Sunday.

"We just wanted this game to hurry up and get here," Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said. "But at the same time, we had to take care of what we needed to take care of in practice, preparation, game planning and all that stuff. I think everybody did a good job of coming to work."

Does your team come back from adversity with a renewed focus and a sense of urgency and preparation? Does failure motivate or hinder your team?

Excerpts from http://www.nesn.com (November 15, 2010).

For more on the New England Patriots franchise, click on The New England Patriots: Peak Performance Case Study.

Key to Long-Standing Patriots' Success: Stand Behind the Coach and his Decisions

”Coach has a lot of confidence we can make a yard and a half to win the game. They showed us the drive before they can go pretty fast and score. Coach was being aggressive and I love that about him. As a coach, you’re not thinking let’s punt it to them and see if they can do it again. He’s thinking, ‘We have 450 yards of offense.’ ”

-Tom Brady, New England Patriots' quarterback, defending head coach Bill Belichick's decision to go for it in fourth down deep in Patriot territory late in the game. The decision backfired, and the Patriots' opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, got the ball and scored to win 35-34.

"It was a really bad coaching decision by coach Belichick. I have all the respect in the world for him, but he has to punt the ball. The message that you are sending in the locker room is: I have no confidence in my young guys on my defense.

"This is the worst coaching decision I've ever seen Bill Belichick make."

--Rodney Harrison, sportscaster and former New England Patriot said on NBC's postgame show.

Still, in the Patriots locker room, there was no questioning the call.

”He’s the head coach,” Faulk said. “No matter what, to us that’s the right call. We are the employees.”

If the Patriots would have made the first down, they probably would have been able to run out the clock and win the game. If the play had worked, Belicheck would have been labeled a rogue genius.

Belicheck should have been applauded for his moxie and innovative, despite the play not working. This type of decision-making and play calling has led to four Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl wins.

"We thought we could win the game on that play," Belichick said. "That was a yard I was confident we could get."

It is particularly impressive that the Patriots stuck together after the game and did not question the decision, despite the outcome. This is rarely seen in the NFL today. It is not typical in corporate America either.

How many organizations can say they do not second-guess their boss and their organization after a failure or defeat?

This type of team solidarity is difficult to find.

Should you reconsider your reactions to mistakes?


Note: The Colts are now 9-0 and have the inside track toward home-field advantage through the A.F.C. playoffs. The Cincinnati Bengals, at 7-2 and with an easy schedule remaining, seem headed for a first-round bye. The Patriots are now 6-3, and though they still have a firm grip on the A.F.C. East, their chances of a first-round bye are sinking.

Bottom line: There are seven games left in the regular season. There is alot of football left to play and many more decisions to make and plays to call.

Let's see which teams stick together and which implode.

Excerpts from the New York Times and ESPN.com (November 16, 2009).

For more on Peak Performance Teams, click on Team Pulse. For more on the New England Patriots, click on http://www.squidoo.com/patriotscasestudy.

More Tom Brady Magic: Patriots Make Last-Minute Comeback

"The interception was a really bad play. You can't do that. You learn from them, get focused and concentrate on what you have to do."

--Tom Brady, New England Patriots quarterback, discussing his resiliency and ability to bounce back after throwing a interception to defensive end Aaron Schobel was rambling 26 yards with an interception for a first-half TD by the Buffalo Bills.

How do the Patriots do it? How do they keep winning in the NFL?

Composure and Resilience

Brady threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 as New England beat the Buffalo Bills 25-24. The Patriots have not lost a regular-season game with Brady at quarterback since Dec. 10, 2006. Brady had a great game statistically. He completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards. He still has great receivers: Randy Moss (12 catches, 141 yards), Wes Welker (12, 93) and tight end Benjamin Watson (6, 77, two TDs).

Confidence

“Get your hats on. We’re gonna score before the two-minute warning, get the ball back, then we’re gonna score again and win this thing!”

--Tom Brady, in the huddle at the end of the gam.

"You see Tom coming off the sideline and he comes into the huddle, talking about 'We're going to win this game,' " Moss said. "And when you have guys like that saying positive things and then going out there and making it happen, you have to have your hopes high and really think positive."

Competitiveness and Hard Work

"We have a real competitive locker room, a real competitive team," Brady said. "When you're in a situation like we were, it's when you really have to step it up. It takes every guy on the field to step it up. Hopefully, we will continue to do that."

"It's a great feeling to have that rhythm and that aspect of the game back," offensive tackle Matt Light said. "Not that we didn't have it last year, but (Brady) was out there making all the right plays and delivering the ball downfield, and those guys were making huge catches."

"A lot of composure. A lot of great throws," Watson said. "A lot of confidence, and he would say we as an offense have a lot to work on. ... In six years, I've seen him do it plenty of times."

"I know he had to be nervous, but you can never tell with this guy. Nothing he does is ever a shocker," new Buffalo Bills cornerback Shawn Springs said. "When they say 'hard work pays off,' he symbolizes that. There are no coincidences with Tom Brady."

Sharing the Credit

"He ran two great routes," Brady said of tight end Watson. "The first was an incredible route, great protection. And the second one was an incredible catch. It was the same play. Same coverage, and the safety really squeezed him on that one, but he recognized it. I told him it was the best catch I'd ever seen him make."

On the final two drives, Brady finished 12-for-14 for 112 yards and two touchdowns. This was Brady's 29th winning fourth quarter drive of his career.

Having Fun

"Two-minute drives always are fun for a quarterback," Brady said. "Spread it out, the pass rush gets a little tired, you get a feel for the coverage, you just have to be patient.

Continuous Improvement Mentality

Still, there is much room for improvement.

"I'm glad it's over, glad we are moving on, got a win, and we'll learn from it. We've all got to improve, we've all got to make better plays," Brady said. "You can't just leave it to chance."

"We made a lot of mistakes, but we'll just look at the film, make the corrections, and move on," Adalius Thomas, New England linebacker said.

Excerpts from ESPN.com, Associated Press, The New York Times and MetroWest Daily News, September 15, 2009.

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

For more on the New England Patriots, click on the New England Patriots Peak Performance Case Study.

Tom Brady & the New England Patriots: Ready for a New Season?

"Playing these guys a few times in the playoffs, you look over and say 'Hey, we can go over and beat that team. What do they do that we don't do? We can win this game.' But then when you get here, you see his passion, you see the way he studies, you see how demanding he is of his players, the leadership. Right in front of you, it just jumps right out. You see why he's a proven winner."

--Fred Taylor, who signed with the New England Patriots after being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, talking about how he is impressed with Tom Brady, the Patriots' veteran quarterback.

Brady is recovering from an injury to his left knee that he received in the opening game of the 2008 NFL season. Should Brady be back to his old self, the Patriots are one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, despite being the oldest team in the league (an average age of 27-plus).

Excerpt from the New York Times (July 31, 2009).

For more on the New England Patriots, click on New England Patriots: Peak Performance Case Study.

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.