Why the NFL changed forever last weekend

My generation is different. Way different. Not march-to-the-beat-of-our-own-drum different, but march-to-the-beat-of-some-new-cool-instrument-you've-probably-never-heard-of-before-that-we-invented-so-we-didn't-have-to-be-pigeonholed-into-marching-to-a-drum different.

For instance, I met some high school friends at the beach the other day and discussed what everyone is doing with their respective lives. One is working a standard 9 to 5 job. Of the other four, one is starting a local organic baby food company, one launched an online alcohol venture, one created their own line of handbags, and the other started making and selling handmade stationary. As I said, different.

We Millennials - the stupidest name ever, only marginally preferably to the original moniker, Generation Y, though I suppose it's telling and a positive sign that our collective independence warranted a name other than "The Generation after Generation X" - are incredibly skeptical, independent, impatient, romantic and determined, a result of constant bombardment from advertisements and growing up with the Internet, which provided us an unprecedented amount of information and made it possible to do anything from anywhere at any time. We question everything. We refuse to do something solely because "that's how it's always been done". We require sufficient motivation and rationale to accomplish a task but, once provided justification - no matter how small - we're doggedly determined and fiercely loyal to our convictions. We are a bizarre hotbed of emotional angst and entrepreneurial inspiration. As I said, different.

Until now, society could ignore our quirks and hope that we would normalize once we began graduating from college and entering the "real world". But, that never happened. We never lost our sense of myopic independence. We kept doing things our own way and the impact of this notion is appearing all over society, including sports. In fact, this weekend's NFL Divisional Playoff games were a microcosm for our generations quirks and a changing of the guard that ceded control of the NFL to our generation. We planted our flag in the league and we're not giving it up any time soon.

The past decade was ruled by stoic, calculated, brilliant tacticians. Tom Coughlin. Tony Dungy. Andy Reid. Bill Belichick. They dominated by implementing systems that forced individuals to submit their personalities to that of the team and won with execution, not emotion. They never boasted about their success. They were too busy winning.

But now, everything has changed.

Dungy is retired. Coughlin didn't make the playoffs. Reid lost in the Wild Card round. Even Belichick, almost unquestionably the NFL's best game day tactician, is 0-3 in the his last three playoff games, each of which involved heavily favored Tom Brady led teams. Meanwhile, Rex Ryan is 3-1 in the playoffs the past two years, each game played as a road underdog; Mike Tomlin is 4-0 in the playoffs with a Super Bowl win in 2009; Lovie Smith has a Bears team many called the worst in the NFC North at the beginning of the season a win away from the Super Bowl; and Pete Carroll somehow pulled off one of the most stunning playoff upsets in recent memory with an utterly crapulous Seahawks team playing without a single Pro Bowl player.

What secret do these four coaches share that differentiate them from the previous generation of coaches? They value the love of their players as much as their respect.

Belicheck's players respect him, but Ryan's players love him. They'd crawl a mile through a sewer pipe, like Andy Dufresne breaking out of Shashank, for him. Lovie Smith couldn't coach his way out of a three sided paper bag, but his players would bear his children. Today's young people are more emotionally fragile and independent than the previous generation. They don't just follow orders. They need to be invested in the cause. Giants cornerback Antrel Rolle says he wishes Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was more like Rex Ryan. A modern NFL head coach needs to connect to his players emotionally as much as professionally.

This skill doesn't manifest as much during the 16-game NFL regular season where grueling schedules negate the effects of emotion. Similarly, long playoff series of the NBA and Major League Baseball generally lead to a triumph of talent and strategy over emotional solidarity. But, in one game - winner take all - the ability of a team to rally around a common goal and impose their will on their opponent is vastly magnified and a coach who can successfully wield this emotional hammer has a powerful weapon at his disposal.

After their stunning upset of the Patriots, Jets linebacker Bart Scott gave one of the best post-game interviews in sports history. He channeled his inner pro wrestler and launched into a minute long vitriolic tirade about the Jets frustration with the pre-game praise lauded on to the Patriots wherein he rips the New England defense to shreds saying, "they couldn't stop a nosebleed". If that sounds familiar, it's because it's the exact same thing Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan said about the Jets defense after their week 16 loss to the Bears. Only three weeks later, minutes after an intensely emotional victory, the Jets defensive emotional leader angrily parroted the words of his head coach.

Rex Ryan didn't just provide his team an excellent game plan, he provided them the inspiration they needed to execute it. When Rex wages war in the media, he does not do it to intimidate the opponent. He does it to incite his own team and deflect any pre-game criticism onto himself, instead of his players. That, my friends, is the brilliance of Rex Ryan and exactly what makes him a successful football coach in the modern NFL.

Our generation is a weird bunch, prone to insufferable bouts of narcissism and intense individuality and we'd be the first to admit it. But, it's time to start getting used to it.

Expect more of us wanting to work from home. Expect more of us starting our own businesses. Expect more melodramatic television shows starting vapid, emotionally challenged protagonists. Expect more tattoos, more weird hair-dos, and more jeggings, lots and lots of jeggings. Also, expect more NFL teams succeeding on emotion instead of execution.

That's just how we roll. As I said, different.

We Believe

Easy there, Chicken Little.

The sky isn't falling, just the sale of pink Patriots jerseys. The Patriots chances of winning haven't plummeted, only the NFL's viewership among women. As much as I would love to tell you that Tom Brady's season ending knee surgery effectively ended the Patriots season, it's simply not true. They're too deep, too talented, too driven and too professional to let an injury to one player, no matter how important, derail their season. They're no longer the favorite, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. In fact, I'm here to tell you that, without a doubt, the Patriots will make the playoffs for the following three reasons...

1. Bill Belichick

My feelings on Bill Belichick are well documented. I think he's a liar, a cheater and a jerk. That said, I'd still want him coaching my football team every Sunday. He'll have to scale back his offense to account for the loss of his Hall-of-Fame signal caller, but the loss of Brady has no effect on his defensive game planning. Belichick will reach deep within his playbook, continue to utilize the talent at hand better then anyone in the league and the Patriots will most likely revert to a more conservative, ball control offense and rely on their defense to to win games 21-10 instead of 52-0. This leads me to my next point...

2. They have the best supporting cast in the league

No team has more talent and depth then the Patriots. They have one of the top 5 defenses in the league, the best offensive line in the league, the best receiving corps in the league and a solid cadre (yes, that was just an excuse to say cadre) of running backs to pick up the slack in Brady's absence. That's not to say Matt Cassell will pick up where Brady left off, just that no quarterback in the league will have to do less in order to lead his team to victory week in and week out then Matt Cassell. Hell, the Patriots supporting cast is so good, they could score 10 points with me playing quarterback. (They'd undoubtedly revert to an all running attack, which, between the solid play of their defense and special teams could undoubtedly get me close enough to the end zone to punch in one touchdown and kick one field goal. Plus, since Belichick knows the opponents signals beforehand...ok, ok, I'll let the Spygate jokes go. For now...)

3. No one believes in them

Over the last 8 years, no team has done a better job then the Patriots of finding some way to convince themselves that they've been disrespected and using that supposed disrespect as motivation. No matter that they have won more games, more championships and garnered more respect, both on and off the field, then any other team in the league. No matter that the Patriots claiming that no one believed in them is like WalMart claiming that no one believed they could outsell Old Ferguson's Corner Store or Michigan claiming that no one believed they could beat Appalachian State (oh...wait.). According to the Patriots, no one ever believed in them. Even last year, amid discussions that they were the best team in the history of the NFL, the Patriots rallied around the belief that no one respected them in light of the Spygate controversy. I thought that after they went 16-0 in the regular season, they'd finally lose the ability to play the lack of respect card, but now that the Patriots have lost the services of Tom Terrific for a season (I'm sorry, I tried to say to say it, but I can't. Tom Terrific sounds like Gary and Ace's long lost brother, not one the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time.), I have no doubt that we'll hear a steady stream of "no one believes in us" coming from the Patriots camp.

So no matter what you do over the next few weeks, believe in the Patriots. Tell your friends you think they're going to win the Super Bowl. Call up the team and let them know that you never stopped believing. Send letters to Belichick to let him know you never lost the faith. Because a motivated Patriots team is a dangerous Patriots team.

So if you're listening, Bill; If you can hear me, Tom; If you get the message, Mr. Moss;

We believe. Now more then ever.