Quote:But there are notable differences, not only in talent, but in game time situations.

 

Last year, the Patriots had at least ne good pass rusher in Chander Jones, and a FS we tried to sign in McCourty, who were better at their positions than anyone we could muster.  You could also argue Mayo-even as a declining player, was better than Poz.  FOr that matter, from a historical perspective, New England's defensive talent has been better than Jacksonville's.  Jacksonville never had CBs as good as Ty Law, Darrelle Revis or Aqib Talib like Belichick had to work with, or safeties comparable to Lawyer Milloy and McCourty like New England has.  Belicheck had the benefit of working with Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour.  Jacksonville hasn't had DTs of that caliber since Stroud and Henderson.

 

But almost as important are the situations these guys were put in.  With Brady, New England played with leads more often than not, which means opposing offense played one dimensionally to try to keep up, which made them easier to defend overall.

 

I agree with you that coaching matters, but there's more to team performance than coaching.  Talent plays a much bigger role, but circumstance plays a factor too.