In the past decade or so, if one team emerges from the pack in the NFL at this time of year, it tends to be the New England Patriots. There's a pattern of great coaching and great teamwork built on hard work and great preparation. This year, almost as soon as they dealt with one of their Prima Donna's, Randy Moss (see Lou DuBois' article on this), things started to fall into place. (There's a lesson there on moving on individuals that deliver but are hurting the team).
"We prepare for those conditions,'' New England linebacker Tully Banta-Cain said to SI writer Don Banks for his article quoted here with the picture by SI's John Biever, "We talk about it. We don't let it be a surprise when we get to gameday. By then, we already have the mentality that going into the game we're not going to let it affect us. We don't hide from it… We practice in cold weather. This was their home field, but we were ready to play today. We had a short week, but we were prepared."
Belichick certainly gets his team physically and mentally prepared for game day. What do you do to make sure you and your team are prepared?