Great Teams and Pressure Moments

Just watching the close of the Patriots win over the Baltimore Ravens and had a thought.

There are moments in a football game when the pressure forces a team to show its character. It is the essence of competition.

Think of Montana, Elway, Favre, Unitas, Marino, and now Brady and Manning. What these quaterbacks and their teams have in common is that they all trailed late in big games and regardless of how they performed to that point, they were able to focus and lift their teams in the final moments of those games.

Tonight as a week ago, the Patriots were on the ropes late in the 4th quarter. They battled back, DISCIPLINED themselves during the pressure moment, and went on to win the ball game. It is a proven fact that lesser teams just seem to find a way to lose by cracking and breaking under pressure (like a ballon blown to capacity).

I can still see Montana calmly looking over at Bill Walsh's play call late in SB 23, Elway on 4th and 17 running through the Oilers defense in the 1991 playoffs and Tom Brady slinging the ball late in SBs 36 and 38. Calm and cool as ice. This quality is not only for quarterbacks. It is a team effort and 11 men in concert with a single focus and no mental lapse under pressure win games.

In football as in EF, cooler heads prevail and those who can muster focus under intense pressure have a championship edge. This is what competition is all about. A measurement of individual and collective (team) will and technique.

[WEIRDWOLF]

I really can't stand the Pats anymore.I typically cheer for the underdog....but, I found myself cheering for the Pats in the end of this game after cheering for the Ravens for the bigest part of it. Part of it was i would like them to go undefeated so that Miami can finally lay their champaigne ceremony to rest but a bigger part was for the reason you gave above.They showed what it takes to win it when the odds were against them. Poise....knowing the other teams signals didn't hurt either...rtfl$ I couldn't resist that last comment.

[5-13 Studios]

i agree, and will add that it doesn't hurt when the opposing coach OVER-manages a game. 4th and 1 and the ravens call time out at the last second. just my opinion, but in that situation, that late in the game, and with as well as your team has played the other 59 minutes, keep the clock going and keep the pressure on the offense. chances are, they will get the first down, but burn clock while they are at it and either waste time trying to down the ball or call a time out, either way, you conserve time-outs. OR...you might have the slim chance of stopping them.
this isn't just hind-sight on my part (i don't think ), ever since week 1 or 2 when that initial last, split second time-out was called before the field goal, which in turn they came back out and missed, every coach is trying that tactic as well as trying to implement it into other parts of the game. in baseball, things like this are called over-managing (tony larussa's forte).
if your guys are playing well, then let them keep on playing! enough with the "smokescreens" and "didgery-doo's", just play!
of course, if the ravens would have come back out and stopped them on that 4th and 1, that defensive coordinator probably would have a head coaching job next year!