The NFL’s greatest coach ever in Bill Belichick - who has helmed the most successful sustained run of excellence with the Patriots for almost two decades now - lamented last year that New England was “five weeks behind” by winning Super Bowl LI. His team had just climbed to the mountain for the fifth time in 17 years and there the mark of his greatness as a leader that’s never satisfied shined through.
“If you don’t do a good job with your football team in February, March and April, you’re probably going to see that in January,” Belichick said back in February 2017.