Speed bumps or not, Belichick simply knows how to win

The more I study the list of players elected to this year's Pro Bowl the more I appreciate Bill Belichick as a head coach.

You will, too, when you notice that the only New England starter is none other than the kicker, Stephen Gostkowski. Remove him from the equation, and New England is as well represented as the New Orleans Saints.

All of New England's bad luck only solidifies Bill Belichick as a tremendous coach. (AP)

Which means they have one reserve. Period.

Now, New Orleans is 7-7 and going nowhere, so having one guy on the roster is not exactly a surprise. But New England? The Patriots lost Tom Brady. They lost Adalius Thomas. Rodney Harrison. Tedy Bruschi. A stable of running backs. Defensive backs. You name it, they subtracted it.

Yet they're 9-5 and tied for first in the AFC East, and we were just served another reminder why. Bill Belichick, please step forward.

Look, I wouldn't want Belichick as a next-door neighbor any more than most of you outside the 617 area code. He can be surly. He can be uncooperative. And he can be combative. But the NFL doesn't measure coaches by personality contests.

It's just win, baby, and nobody does it better than Mr. Bill.

New England was supposed to win the AFC East because New England had the league's best player in MVP Tom Brady. But that lasted one quarter, or only as long as it took Kansas City's Bernard Pollard to crash into Brady's left knee, sidelining him for the season.

So Belichick turned to Plan B, which was Matt Cassel, and the Patriots continued to push ahead. They beat the Jets. They walloped Denver. They finished off Buffalo.

Yes, there were speed bumps along the way -- with lopsided losses to Miami and San Diego notable examples -- but, by and large, this season has been about Bill Belichick overcoming enormous odds and demonstrating that it's not so much the players as it is the system that makes the difference in New England.

The Patriots might have lapped the field with Brady. But they were supposed to flounder without him. Only they didn't.

In fact, they won four of their first six with Cassel in command and three of their last four -- including a 48-28 defeat of Miami where Cassel threw for a career-best 415 yards, his second straight 400-yard game.

Cassel deserved to take a bow then, just as he deserved to take a curtain call last weekend after throwing for four touchdowns following the death of his father.

But now it's his head coach's turn.

When you look up and down the AFC roster all you find from New England are Gostkowski and wide receiver Wes Welker, and there's a reason: There isn't anyone else who deserves to be here.

Belichick is winning with a virtual rookie at quarterback, a couple of top-notch wide receivers and a lot of bailing wire to tie the whole thing together. Yet he's winning often enough to have the Patriots in a familiar position.

Now there's talk of New England making the playoffs, but the Patriots must beat NFC West champion Arizona this weekend and Buffalo on Dec. 28 -- in Buffalo -- to stay in the conversation.

Is there anyone out there who believes that doesn't happen? That's because you trust the head coach, and you trust his system.

The Pro Bowl just reminded us why.