Belichick keenly aware of his team’s place in history

The Daily ItemE. RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Bill Belichick’s old boss used to say that no National Football League game is meaningless when you’re playing in it.”I believe that sincerely,” Belichick said Saturday night, after his New England Patriots finished a 16-0 season with a gritty 38-35 win over the New York Giants.The answer came in response to a question about whether the Giants – or the Patriots for that matter – had anything to play for in lieu of the fact both their playoff situations were settled.”You guys may say that,” he said, “but once you’re out there, you’re competitive. That’s just how it is.”Belichick understands the significance of what happened Saturday night, when the Patriots put the final period on their 16-0 season.”That was some finish to the season,” he said. “It really is exciting to be a part of this football team, and what these guys did tonight. All the credit goes to the players. They stepped up and made a lot of outstanding plays at critical times.”Belichick said his players deserved to be happy with what they’ve done.”They’ve worked hard,” he said. “With what they did, they should be happy ? for a little while. We will have to move on.”And that was the mantra for the whole team.”We’ll get to enjoy this for about two seconds,” kidded lineman Matt Light. “Then it’ll be back to business again.”Quarterback Tom Brady also acknowledged the conundrum of playing a game “that didn’t really mean anything ? but it meant a lot.”We’ve been dealing with being undefeated all season,” he said. “We’re used to it. The pressure’s off a little bit now ? at least for this week.”Beyond this week, the Patriots will have to get into focus for the playoffs.”We have another big game coming up,” Belichick said. “We will have to turn the page.”Brady said he hope the team plays better in the playoffs than it did Saturday night.”We’re going to be playing the best of the best,” he said. “I hope we do better.”Randy Moss, who caught two of Brady’s passes for touchdowns, said he knew from the time he came to New England that the Patriots had something special.”I predicted this,” he said.At one point during Moss’s press conference, a reporter from Japan told him that this wasn’t just a national story ? but an international story as well.”Well,” Moss said, “I don’t know their language over there, but tell ’em hi for me.”The Patriots will enjoy a week off as they await the results of the NFL’s wild card round. Brady, for one, refused to be baited into answering a question about whether the season would lose any of its meaning if it didn’t win the Super Bowl,”I just want to win the divisional game for now,” Brady said. “I don’t want to look ahead.”