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Belichick corrects faults

"I've been a believer in Bill Belichick for a long time. He is a very special coach."

-- Patriots' owner Robert K. Kraft

Beautiful mind or cruel mind? Here in the hometown of Fred Rogers and Bill Cowher, where a retro-franchise values its own, where a community has survived Big Steel abandonment, Bill Belichick outsmarted the city's throwback heart and outwitted its quaint romance Sunday night.

Such is the harsh power of Belichick's methodical detachment. If Belichick were not able to separate himself from emotion, if he could not inspect his flaws with the clinical eye of a forensics expert, he would not be able to correct his faults.

He admits mistakes when his peers make excuses. And this is his greatest strength: self-evaluation. Bill Parcells can recite the Man in the Mirror, but Belichick lives by the importance of self-reflection.

Once again, he slipped on his decoder ring Sunday night to make sure that, in his second lap with the Steelers this year, he would not end up twice fooled.

Where did the Patriots go wrong on Halloween? What did Pittsburgh do so right in that game? By simply dissecting that question, the brainiac applied a chaos theory that put the Patriots in the Super Bowl after a 41-27 victory in the American Football Conference championship game.

It may sound contradictory, but this genius redux happens all the time. He is now 14-0 with the Patriots when facing a quarterback for the second time, a sign that he is able to confound and confuse the senses of an opposing team, its star and its coach.

The pressure of matching Belichick's intellect drove Cowher into a panic -- and it was only 8 minutes into the game, only a 3-0 deficit. Acting with awkward desperation, Cowher chose to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the New England 39.

Jerome Bettis played the bully who was supposed to kick sand on the Patriots' pencil necks. Instead, Bettis was stopped behind the line of scrimmage and fumbled, the Steelers' second turnover of the game.

"That was huge," said Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson. "It was huge for our psyche and state of mind."

Suddenly, The Terrible Towels were turned into lap blankets as the Steelers played into Belichick's strategy of insecurity. The Steelers were so demoralized, they were caught with their self-esteem down on the Patriots' next play, when Tom Brady threw a 60-yard spiral that hit receiver Deion Branch in stride just before he crossed into the end zone.

"The key to that play was David Givens," Belichick said. "He ran an over route that ate up the corner and safety."

Givens was the receiver the Steelers knew, the one who had 101 yards receiving against them on Oct. 31. Branch, injured and inactive in that game, hadn't entered the Steelers' thoughts. By the end of the game, Branch had become the object of Brady's affection with 116 yards receiving, 37 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.

This is what Belichick does to opponents. He jukes them with his moves of the mind, going with one player when they expect another, an implementer of decoys and deceptions. "I've been a believer in Bill Belichick for a long time," the Patriots' owner, Robert K. Kraft, said. "He is a very special coach."

striking contrast

He makes other coaches look pedestrian. All week long, Cowher went with the stale philosophy mouthed by many coaches: We're sticking with what we do best.

Great, if Ben Roethlisberger was the same rookie sensation he had been in October. Great, if the Steelers hadn't fallen behind so soon, so fast.

The Steelers made themselves predictable. How easy for Belichick.

Unlike other coaches, Belichick believes in evolution, in the opportunity to change with second chances, in lessons learned from mistakes. Other coaches point at players for losses -- as in the Jets' Herman Edwards' rant against Doug Brien. Other coaches apply the same conservative game plans in times of crisis -- see Schottenheimer, Marty. Others are stubbornly one dimensional -- as in Mike Martz in Rams Land.

Only a decade ago, Belichick was among the inflexible and the arrogant as the curmudgeon of Cleveland, where he ran off the beloved Bernie Kosar, where he trusted too many Andre Rison attitudes. He alienated the public with his grouchy disposition and imposed his authority on his assistants. Soon, he was out of a job.

He stepped back and changed. After jilting the Jets, Belichick started over in New England by consulting PR specialists about his personality flaws, selecting players with a love of the game and surrendering his many hats to his savvy assistants.

becoming lovable

So somewhere inside this socially arrested soul, there is apparently a people person. True, he is still grumpy, but he is no longer insulting. True, he is a slouch in an oversized sweatshirt, but it has become endearing.

His hoodie is like the housecoat of a cyber nerd waking up with a Big Gulp for breakfast. He is all geek, but Belichick is Bill Gates cool -- a brainiac capable of outfoxing the powers of Steelers passion.

There was Cowher, standing to disprove the attention-deficit gang of NFL owners -- as in Dan Snyder in Washington -- by showing his staying power in Pittsburgh. There was Cowher, a product of Dan Rooney's patience and Pittsburgh genetics in a land where smokestacks once popped up like cake candles on the cityscape.

Cowher had a chance to prove a franchise with an old soul still had a Super Bowl in them. Hard math is cruel, though. There is little room for sentiment in Belichick's beautiful mind.

Terrell Owens' doctor said Tuesday he will not give the All-Pro receiver clearance to play in the Super Bowl.

Owens saw his doctor Tuesday, one day after telling reporters he would play against the New England Patriots on Feb. 6.

Dr. Mark Myerson said he's pleased with Owens' recuperation, but maintains the surgery requires a recovery period of eight to 10 weeks. Myerson said in a statement Tuesday night that any attempt to accelerate the rehabilitation process poses the same risk for injury.

Owens said he plans to be in uniform for the Eagles in Jacksonville, Florida. The Eagles' doctors and training staff should have the final say on Owens' status.

"Spiritually I've been healed and I believe that I'll be out there on that field Sunday, regardless of what anybody says,: Owens said Monday night, before going to Baltimore for his weekly checkup with Myerson.

Chad Lewis also out

As Eagles fans celebrated with rapturous liberation Sunday, tight end Chad Lewis struggled off the field after his second touchdown reception and gave the bad news to coach Andy Reid.

"I think I broke my foot," he said. "I felt something pop."

A ligament sprain in Lewis' left foot will require surgery today and will keep him out of the Super Bowl, Reid said Monday.

Lewis apparently twisted the foot as he prepared to catch a 2-yard pass in the end zone with 3 minutes 21 seconds remaining. Earlier, he caught a 3-yard touchdown, dragging his feet in the end zone before tumbling out of bounds.

"He was crushed," Reid said of Lewis, a sure-handed possession receiver in his seventh season with the Eagles.

"You sure don't like to see that happen to a veteran player that's waited his whole career here to get to this thing."

L.J. Smith, who has more speed than Lewis, will become the starter at tight end. Mike Bartrum is available as a backup, but he is also Philadelphia's long snapper, and Reid may want to limit his playing time to minimize a chance of injury. Another tight end could be added to the roster, Reid said.

Charles Martin dies

Charles Martin, the former Green Bay defensive end who body-slammed Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon into the turf and ended his season in 1986, has died. He was 46.

Martin, who played for the Packers, Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons during his five-year NFL career, died Sunday at Memorial Southwest Hospital in Houston, a hospital spokesman said.

"He probably died from complications of his renal [kidney] disease," Dr. Charles Aramburo, Martin's surgeon, told Houston television station KRIV on Tuesday. "We are still waiting for the results from the autopsy which will be definitive."

In 1986, Martin drove McMahon into the ground after the quarterback had thrown a pass. McMahon was out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

Martin was wearing a towel with the numbers of Bears' players on it during the game. McMahon's No. 9 was at the top of the list. Martin was ejected for a flagrant late hit and suspended for two games.

Martin played for the Packers from 1984-1987. He also played for the Oilers in 1987 and the Falcons in 1988. He began his pro football career with the Birmingham Stallions in 1983.

Funeral services are pending with Mabrie Memorial Mortuary in Houston.

Tom Brady sues GM

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is suing General Motors Corp for allegedly using his likeness in an ad after his contract with the automobile giant had expired.

Brady filed the US$2 million lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He also is seeking punitive damages.

Messages left for officials at GM and Cadillac, as well as with Brady's agent and his attorneys, were not returned Tuesday night.

According to the suit, Brady signed a contract with GM in July 2003, agreeing to autograph merchandise, make personal appearances on behalf of the company and do ads for a number of Cadillac dealerships in the Boston area.

That contract expired Jan. 1, 2004. Brady alleges that on Jan. 30, 2004, GM asked to use a print ad featuring his name and photograph in connection with that year's Super Bowl.

Brady denied the request twice, according to the suit, but GM twice placed the ad in The Boston Globe anyway. Brady says the ads also were distributed in Texas and elsewhere in Massachusetts after the contract expired.
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