FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – There is no legitimate list of best coaches in the NFL that doesn't begin with Bill Belichick. He has been named league coach of the year three times. There are three Super Bowl titles and that 16-0 regular season, a shot at full perfection ruined by a helmet catch, of all things.

He's put together 13 consecutive winning seasons in New England, reaching the playoffs 11 times. The Pats don't slump.

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Sunday, in Denver, he'll lead them into the AFC title game for the eighth time, including three years running. He's seeking his sixth Super Bowl appearance. He'll eventually give a big speech on an August afternoon in Canton, Ohio.

So the guy isn't lacking for recognition. No one says he isn't good at his job. None of this is new info.

And with that body of work, it's also probably wrong – or at least impossible – to say this season has been the best coaching performance of Belichick's career. It may be, though. If nothing else, it's one more reminder of the all-time greatness that is currently playing out season after season here in Massachusetts.

"I mean," said a somber Chuck Pagano late Saturday night after becoming Belichick's latest playoff victim, "he's done it, obviously, for a long time."

That's worth noting too, because this isn't just doing the same thing – win football games – over an extended period. This is the ability to adapt to football's fast modern evolution and the league's commitment to a level playing field.

Once the game changed slowly – Belichick likes to marvel at things like Gen. Neyland's Maxims from the 1930s. Now it shifts in warp speed. It's Belichick coaching deep into January that doesn't.

There were no (or few) read option quarterbacks in the NFL in 2001, when Belichick won his first title. There weren't really any spread offenses. Defenders used to be able to maul receivers. A franchise running back was highly valued. Coaches talked about controlling the clock, not forcing tempo.

Yet no matter how things change, Belichick's success stays the same – "the plan is always to move the ball and score points."

He's done that with an inexperienced late-round draft pick that was just a "game manager" – Tom Brady in 2001. He's done it with high wattage air attacks – Brady's then-record 50 TDs, 23 of them to Randy Moss in 2007. There were seasons when he turned a crew of small, scat back receivers into an unlikely check down innovation – Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Danny Woodhead. There were others where physical, two tight end sets were the difference – Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

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