Patriots coach Bill Belichick hasn’t had much to be happy about this season, but he appeared as happy as he’s been in a very long time after Thursday night’s win over the Steelers.
“Great job by the players and coaches this week, obviously a short week, a tough, disappointing game last week, but we had a good week of preparation. I though the guys played with a lot of effort, energy, toughness, resiliency,” Belichick said. “Our guys really stepped up. We had a lot of guys come through with some big plays in the game that we needed. Happy for our team, happy for the coaches, it was a short week, not much sleep this week, but they put a lot of work into it. Very satisfying to see the results.”
The Patriots’ previously woeful offense scored three first-half touchdowns on the way to a 21-3 halftime lead.
“Always great to see the offense put it in the end zone,” he said.
This may still prove to be the worst team Belichick has ever coached, but for one night they showed they haven’t quit on the season, and Belichick liked what he saw.