HOUSTON – No-names are in, and egos are out on Bill Belichick’s team.
That’s a major reason why the New England Patriots have won 14 straight and will attempt to claim their second Super Bowl in three seasons Sunday against Carolina. Despite a rash of injuries, they have been able to plug in obscure substitutes and keep on winning.
”A guy who comes in and wants his name on a scoreboard that says, ‘Joe Blow, No. 28,’ is probably not going to be a New England Patriot,”
Belichick said. ”A guy who wants to play for a team and not worry about being a star is likely to be one.”
The run of no-name backups actually began two years ago when Tom Brady stepped in at quarterback for the injured Drew Bledsoe and led New England to the Super Bowl in a thrilling 20-17 upset of St. Louis. Two years later, he is, as owner team owner Robert Kraft put it Tuesday, ”the poster boy for our team.”
Unlike Brady, most of this year’s injury replacements will never be poster boys for anything. But in a league where almost every team suffers when starters get hurt, the Patriots have thrived; 43 different players have started in 18 games and almost all have done well.
In Sunday’s Super Bowl, New England will be missing three offensive linemen who were starters when training camp began: center Mike Compton, left guard Damien Woody and right tackle Adrian Klemm.
Replacing them will be center Dan Koppen, a rookie; guard Russ Hochstein, who started the season on the practice squad; and tackle Tom Ashworth, who was inactive for 15 games last season and a tight end in the one game he did play.
No one seems concerned, even though the Carolina defensive line is arguably the best in the NFL.
Belichick’s no-star approach wasn’t lost on Carolina, which landed in the championship game a mere two years after finishing 1-15.
”We’ve noted what the Patriots are doing, and our approach is pretty much the same,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. ”It’s a team concept rather than a star concept, and it works.”
It certainly has for New England, for whom short- term stars have popped in from nowhere.
For example:- Mike Cloud, a career backup, replaced the injured Antowain Smith at running back in his first game back from a four-week substance abuse suspension and carried seven times for 73 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-30 win over Tennessee. He rushed for only 45 yards the rest of the year.
– Linebacker Matt Chatham, strictly a special teamer previously, got his first four starts in a four-season career. Against the Titans, he had eight tackles and the following week returned a fumble 38 yards for a touchdown in a 17-6 win against the Giants.
– Little-used defensive end Jarvis Green, who had just 4 1/2 sacks in two NFL seasons, got three on Peyton Manning in New England’s 24-14 win over Indianapolis in the AFC title game.
One aspect of the Patriots’ success is age – 21 of the 53 players on their roster are over 30.
Many are major contributors like Smith; linebackers Willie McGinest and Tedy Bruschi; wide receiver Troy Brown; defensive end Bobby Hamilton; and safety Rodney Harrison. Others, like linebackers Ted Johnson and
Roman Phifer are backups who also serve as part-time tutors for the younger players; six rookies played major roles in the team’s success this season.
Perhaps the typical Patriot is Mike Vrabel – middle-aged at 28.
He became a full-time starter at outside linebacker when Rosevelt Colvin was lost with a broken hip in the second game of the season. Colvin was supposed to be the final ingredient to an upper echelon defense – a top pass rusher who would wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks from the wing of Belichick’s complex 3-4 defense.
So in stepped Vrabel, who had started just 25 of the 83 NFL games he had played in six seasons in Pittsburgh and New England. He was solid all season.
”I never considered myself a celebrity, and I don’t want to be. I’m certainly not a star,” Vrabel said.
One reason backups respond so well for the Patriots is that everyone is considered a starter during practice. That’s rare in the NFL – on most teams, starters practice against reserves, who simulate the offenses and defenses of that week’s opponent.
”We have 53 men in here,” said right guard Joe Andruzzi, one of the two remaining starters on the offensive line. ”When called upon, you do your best.”
For most teams, that may not be enough.
For the Patriots it is.