Over the last several weeks, I have sampled a lot of media spin on the NFL playoffs, mainly from the sports radio perspective. One aspect that has emerged in the ongoing chin waggling has been the place of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in the all-time elite of NFL coaches.

Bill Belichick now has the same win-loss record in the postseason as fabled Green Bay Packer head coach Vince Lombardi: nine wins and one loss. Belichick?s only loss happened when he was coaching in Cleveland, which is understandable because, well, it was the Browns.

My apologies to Browns fans for that jibe. Within twenty to thirty years, you may emulate the example of long-suffering Red Sox fans last autumn and exorcise your playoff demons (within ten if Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennell is hired as new Cleveland field boss), but until then, allow me to get a free one in.

Nevertheless, virtual shrines of hot air have been built to herald Belichick as the greatest football mind-slash-walker across Buzzard?s Bay ever. Look at what the Pats have accomplished in the era of the cap, Pats Nation resonates in one voice.

Indeed. Two Super Bowls and their third championship appearance in four years next Sunday in Jacksonville is the hallmark of a capital-D Dynasty ? not a Falcon?s Crest or Notts Landing, even.

This is not in dispute: A victory by the Pats on Super Bowl Sunday will elevate Belichick past Lombardi in terms of postseason success (meaning victories). His place as the leading gridiron guru of this era is not in question, even I would argue if the Philadelphia Eagles pull off a big upset and up-end the Bostonians? bandwagon.

However, permit me to be the devil?s advocate, post-Al Pacino. I too am a fan of man, but not of the tuck rule. Us Raider fans will go meet our silver-and-black destinies from this orb insisting that Tom Brady did fumble the ball before the Foxboro Fudge set in and Pats kicker Adam Vinatieri was allowed to be, well, money.

Given that Zapruder film equivalent of competing throwing arm geometries, one could argue it should have been Oakland that should have moved on after that infamous January 2002 evening. To Belichick?s eternal credit, he was able to lead the Pats through the fallout from that game to an eventual triumph over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI where Adam Vinatieri was, well, the jackpot.

The next year, the Patriots struggled with their consistency and were unable to make the playoffs. Last year, we witnessed their rebound run to Super Bowl XXXVIII and a victory over the Carolina Panthers. Some guy named Vinatieri... well, you remember.

I don?t doubt for a moment that Bill Belichick ? with incredible assistants like offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss and the aforementioned Crennell ? has assured himself a place at the front of the Parthenon of NFL coaches. What I do doubt is that not enough has been made of the opposite side of the equation, arguments which place Belichick?s achievements in a more balanced perspective.

One only has to look at the Pats? run in this year?s playoffs so far to see some glaring examples of where Belichick?s coaching rivals frankly dropped the ball.

The Colts seemed to be America?s Surrogate Team (sorry Dallas) since they sent the Broncos to the pigskin equivalent of the packers (not Green Bay) on the fast track of the RCA Dome on Wildcard Weekend. Head coach Tony Dungy and offensive coordinator Tom Moore looked like they were going to ride NFL MVP QB Peyton Manning?s arm into becoming the biggest thing in Jacksonville since Lynryd Skynyrd.

One glaring point that wasn?t picked up much in the post-mortem of the Colts? dismantlement at the hands of the Pats on Divisional Weekend in Foxboro was that Tony Dungy inexplicably had the Colts prepare for the Pats game indoors during the week at the expense of experiencing the elements before an outdoor date with Belichick?s boys.

They have winter in Indy, don?t they?

When the Colts did get a taste of New England hospitality and the elements, they proceeded to try to out-Pat the Pats. The deep passing game that had been the scourge of opposing defences throughout the 2004 season evaporated faster than preliminaries in an extended Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie phone-a-graphic session. Tom Moore set out to establish the running game and Edgerrin James one series, then go no-huddle hurry-up 5-receiver set the next with no deep balls. It was a confusing first half to say the least ? almost as confusing as the Peyton Manning illegal procedure call as Pey-dirt went in motion into something like the single wing circa 1940. Being 2005 and in the Belichick universe, too much random cleverness and not enough consistency doomed the Colts offence as so many Foxboro Flakes falling.

Advantage Belichick, obviously. Three seven-minute plus scoring drives drove the proverbial stake through Indy?s hopes for a dream season.

The AFC Championship game pitted the 15-2 Pats against the 16-1 Pittsburgh Steelers. As before, it was Tom Brady and the Patriots offence which seemed to capitalize on virtually every mistake the Steelers made ? the 60-yard TD bomb from QB Tom Brady to WR Deion Branch immediately following the key hit by LB Tedy Bruschi on the Steelers? RB Jerome Bettis in the first quarter that caused a huge fumble recovery and swung momentum to the visiting New Englanders. Nonetheless, the Steelers got themselves back into the game with a furious comeback in the second half, cutting the Pats? 24-3 first-half lead to 31-17 in the fourth quarter. With the ball on the Patriot 2 on fourth-and-goal and about thirteen-and-a-half minutes remaining, Steeler field boss Bill Cowher opted for a field goal. His reasoning was that his top-ranked defence could hold the fort and his team would be able to score at least 11 points to tie in the time remaining.

If only he had the Steel Curtain to turn the trick. On that day, defence played more like Jane Curtain instead. All I have to say in my best Dan Ackroydism is: "Bill, you ignorant ______" ? well, fill that in as you wish.

Scoring a touchdown at that would have made it a one-score game. By going for the field goal, the Steelers needed 11 points to tie ? a TD, two-point conversion, and a field goal. That?s effectively three scores. Even if they had gotten the TD by gambling, the Pats would have been pinned deep at their own goal line facing the possibility of a safety or a possible turnover in their territory.

The Pats proceeded to march down the field methodically and iced the game away. By playing it safe, Bill Cowher played his way to a coaching stint at the Pro Bowl in Honolulu?which has its advantages over Jacksonville if this weren?t about winning the Grail.

Does this make Bill Belichick look like some coaching colossus? No, but the guy with the goofy headband and gray hoodie is head and shoulders over today?s crop of competitors because he is both cunning and audacious in an era where mediocrity gets you into the playoffs like the Vikings did -- on the backstroke with the grace of Mark Grace, not Mark Spitz.

Belichick is for the Patriots as Oscar Goldman was on the Six Million Dollar Man. And yes, he can rebuild them. Year after year after year. Heck, watching WR Troy Brown at cornerback shut down Colt standout WR Brandon Stokely was astounding, Stokely running his patterns with the same breakaway ability in slow motion as Lee Majors did as Steve Austin, the TV Bionic Hombre, not the Stone Cold variety. I even heard the funny acceleration music that the Six-Mil Man would run to as Stokely seemed stuck in the turf against the teeth of the Pats? secondary, as did his teammates that Sunday.

Belichick is to this cap age what Lombardi was to his no-cap era ? although Vince faced loaded for bear opposition on the way to five NFL titles and two Super Bowl championships. Would Lombardi be as painstaking in his preparation as Belichick has been over the years if the two could square off today? I believe so ? mainly in stressing the fundamentals, winning the one-on-one matchups. It would be like Chuck Noll versus Tom Landry on an even higher plane.

For all the talk about Belichick having a gazillion wrinkles in his defensive schemes, it is really not the case. He stresses a number of base coverages, but disguises them pre-snap as well as any defensive system ever has in NFL history. Like Lombardi, he has assembled a highly intelligent cast of players who have bought into his philosophy and limit their mistakes in money games.

Tom Brady finds himself on a career track to set marks in terms of championships along the lines of Bart Starr?s five NFL titles. His road to Canton will be even easier if New England does vanquish Philadelphia next Sunday. For Bill Belichick, surpassing Vince Lombardi for most postseason wins may come as early as next week?s game. But Bill Belichick writing his ticket to the Hall of Fame and the moniker of "Greatest Coach Ever" will still be in the context of the enduring Lombardi mystique.

When I see Belichick in the hoodie sometimes, I think of Friar Tuck. That danged tuck again. And so it goes!

My Super Bowl XXXIX prediction: New England 24, Philadelphia 13.