During an epic, unexpected, and entirely bizarre Saturday press conference, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he was “embarrassed” to admit the amount of time he’d spent in recent days on football air pressure.
In the end, it could be time well spent.
As he turns his focus to the Super Bowl after a week that has been marred by #DeflateGate, Belichick now has everything he needs to motivate his players to have the game of their lives against Seattle.
“This is the kind of thing that he is able to manipulate minds with,” one league source said. “‘Us against the world. . . . ‘No one thinks you can win unless we cheat.’ . . . ‘The world is calling us cheaters.’ . . . ‘They don’t think we belong here.’”
The ultimate prediction from the source? “The Patriots are going to slaughter the Seahawks.”
That said, the Seahawks are pretty good. And they’ve been able to make good use of the past six days.
“This was an excellent week for us,” coach Pete Carroll told reporters on Friday. “We did it just the way we wanted to. We practiced as though we were playing a game this week so we got all the installation in as we always do so we’re ready to go.”
Carroll also realizes that he has been able to allow his team to focus fully on the task at hand.
“It’s a big deal for them,” Carroll said of the lingering ball-deflation controversy. “I know they’re dealing with it. It isn’t for us at all. It has no bearing on anything.”
But if Belichick is able to better press his players’ buttons because of the pending investigation and widespread accusations, it will definitely have a bearing on Carroll’s team in eight days.