FOXBORO -- No "some things we did well, some things we could do better". No dead-eyed, mumbling monotone. No, this was not your weekly Bill Belichick at the podium after the Patriots' 45-10 win over Denver Saturday night.
He wasn't exactly dancing around up there. But by Belichickian standards, he was positively giddy."I just cant say enough about the players today," was how he started his postgame press conference. "They obviously did a great job. We had a good week in the bye week and I think we got a lot of things done. Once we found out who we were playing, I think these guys really did a good job of focusing on the target and they were obviously ready to go today.
"You have to give the players all the credit in the world. They stepped up and they made a lot of big plays throughout the game for 60 minutes. We got contributions from everybody. Great job on special teams. We had a lot of good field position. We played on a short field, the offense got the ball in the end zone. We got some stops on defense, turned the ball over early. It was a good, solid team effort."
He certainly had reason to be pleased. The Pats dominated play from opening kickoff to the final gun as they advanced to their sixth AFC championship game since Belichick became coach in 2000. They won four of the first five -- their only loss was at Indianapolis in 2006 -- and they'll spend Sunday afternoon like the rest of us, watching the Ravens play the Texans to see who they'll be hosting next Sunday with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
"Well enjoy this one for a little while and then well find out who we have in the AFC Championship," said Belichick. "But its an honor to be in that game . . .
"It's been a lot of hard work this year, but Im really happy for the players. I'm really excited for them."
And, for once, it showed.
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