'Do Your Job 2' is Two-Tissue Patriots Porn
I get accused once in a while of being a shameless homer for the Patriots. And as unfair as those scurrilous and unfair accusations are, there are two things that every non-Pats fans have to comprehend. One, that every Pats Super Bowl comes down to one play that changes the course of football history. And B) because of that, the difference between another championship and a loss that causes the world to bathe in New England’s blood is some minor detail the coaching staff identifies. That was the premise of NFL Film’s landmark 2015 special Do Your Job. And something confirmed by tonight’s premiere of it’s sequel, Do Your Job 2.
And both explain why an entire NFL market can’t stop pleasuring ourselves like bonobo monkeys to Patriots porn like this.
Like any great sequel, DYJ2 has all the elements that made the original an instant classic. The practically unfiltered access to otherwise obscure Patriots’ assistants like Ivan Fears, Joe Judge. Dave Zeigler and Ernie Adams. Right down to repeating the bit from DYJ1 where Adams – who I didn’t really believe existed and thought might just be a figment of Belichick’s imagination like Paul Bettany in A Beautiful Mind – having the unexplained “PINK STRIPES” written on the white board behind him. But more importantly, it gives the football world a look into the thought processes that turned humiliating defeat into historic, obnoxious, opponent-teabagging victory.
Do Your Job 1 had the Malcolm Butler goal line interception. The behind-the-scenes coaching tape in which the Pats walked their defense through the exact same formation the Seahawks would run with the fate of the world riding on the outcome. Part II has about a half dozen such plays. All the product of a coaching staff trained to dig through hours of tape looking for the subtle nuances and hard-to-spot tells that are everything in tackle football. And what we discover is that the difference between a 28-3 blowout and a historic turnaround were as simple as a couple of injuries and scouting the officials.
For one, with the Patriots facing a 25 point deficit (which Mr. Kraft describes as a 99.6 percent chance of losing at the team ring party) Josh McDaniels realized that Atlanta’s defense had showed a tendency to focus on the Y and F receivers and leave the halfback uncovered. And while the original plan was to exploit that with Dion Lewis, once he went out of the game, James White became the ringbearer who would find the way to Mt. Doom, repeatedly exploiting the Falcons scheme with catches out of the backfield.
For another, we find out that with the Pats trailing 28-12 and Tevin Coleman out of the game, the Falcons were vulnerable to blitzes. To the point Defensive Coordinator/Barstool t-shirt aficionado Matt Patricia flat-out dialed up a blitz that split Dont’a Hightower out wide on Devontae Freeman hoping to force a Matt Ryan fumble. Which is exactly what happened.
Not to mention the offensive holding call against Jake Mathews on Chris Long, which Patricia felt they could draw from scouting this same officiating crew. A correct call all day long. But one the refs had missed in that same possession against Hightower.
But the most brain-melting coaching decision in DYJ2 actually comes not from Super Bowl LI, but from the 2015 AFC championship game. It’s Belichick telling his coaches that they needed to draw up more 2-point conversion plays after running out of them in the conference title game against Denver. Which is why they had the quick out to Amendola. The direct snap to White. And the game winner, a play designed for Lewis which White had never practiced.
And that, in a nutshell, is why this kind of video is pure porn for Patriots fans. Because while the world is convincing themselves the Pats win because of air pressure, jammed radio signals, spying and the luck of hitting on a draft pick in 2000, these shows proves what we’ve been saying all along. It’s about preparation. Care. Situational awareness. Diligence. It’s about outworking your opponent and being more ready than they are when the stakes are highest. Mainly it’s about Doing. Your. Job. And there is no better reward than these in-depth looks at how that is accomplished. At least until they get us to Do Your Job 3. No. Days. Off.