We try to win the game and wait to see what happens in anot

(SportsNetwork.com) - There is a reason that Bill Belichick is the best coach in professional football and everyone else is fighting for second place. Baltimores John Harbaugh is among the scrum who can be considered for the runner-up spot but the chasm between those two positions only grew after the Ravens coach objected to what he called a substitution trick by New England in the third quarter of the Patriots eventual 35-31 divisional-playoff win. The wrinkle was unveiled on the Pats second drive of the third quarter after rookie center Bryan Stork was forced to leave with a knee injury. New England kicked Ryan Wendell inside to the pivot and lined up just four natural offensive linemen, declaring a normally eligible receiver like blocking tight end Michael Hoomanawanui or running back Shane Vereen as ineligible, all in an effort to keep Baltimore off balance. There was a lot to the plays, Hoomanawanui said. I have to report as ineligible. I cant go down the field. I can only block. So as hard as it is for them to figure out, theres a lot that goes into it on our side, too. You could see how frustrated they were on who to cover and this and that, so it turned out to be great plays for us. The strategy worked as Ravens defenders were often confused when trying to substitute and match up, causing Harbaugh to blow his stack and draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. (The officials) didnt understand what was going on, Harbaugh claimed. We wanted an opportunity to be able to ID who the eligible players were. What (the Patriots) were doing was they announce the ineligible player and then Tom (Brady) would take them to the line right away and snap the ball before we had a chance to figure out who was lined up where. That was the deception part of it. It was clearly deception. Predictably Brady disagreed with Harbaughs description. Maybe those guys gotta study the rule book and figure it out, he said. We obviously knew what we were doing and we made some pretty important plays. It was a real good weapon for us. Belichick also explained the tactic, which he used on three different occasions. Its a play that we thought would work, the veteran coach said. We ran it three times, a couple different looks. We had six eligible receivers on the field, but only five were eligible. The one who was ineligible reported that he was ineligible. No different than on the punt team or a situation like that. On the surface Harbaughs objections seem like sour grapes. After all, a big part of football in general is about deceiving your opposition whether its disguising a blitz or coming up with a trick play like Julian Edelmans touchdown pass to Danny Amendola is this very game. So if most of you missed the memo where deception in football was disallowed, youre not alone and Harbaughs true complaint reveled itself later when he blurted out (its a tactic) nobody has ever seen before. The league will look at that type of thing, and Im sure that theyll make some adjustments and things like that, he continued. Harbaugh has had plenty of success over the years, especially in the postseason. The arrogance to that, however, is the assumption that thinking what you did yesterday will be sufficient for everything that is thrown at you tomorrow. Belichick was a power pitcher who pulled the string on Harbaugh on Saturday in Foxborough and the Ravens mentor froze in the batters box, unable to react. You can blame the officials and even trot out Don Shula to call Belichick Beli-cheat again but all the Pats coach did was take advantage of an on-the- books rule that others have failed to utilize in the past. So label the strategy as anything you want -- deception, a loophole -- but understand its real title is innovation. And Harbaugh was under the learning tree on Saturday. Hopefully he figures that out. Cheap Adidas Shoes Australia . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. Adidas Shoes Australia Sale . Rodgers was ruled out on Friday by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Matt Flynn will make his second consecutive start for the Packers. http://www.cheapadidasaustraliashoes.com/ . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Custom Adidas Shoes Australia . Cabrera-Bello shot a 1-over-par 73 and was caught by Webster, who carded 70 at Doha Golf Club for three-round totals of 12-under 204. They were only one stroke ahead of Adrien Saddier of France, the biggest mover with six birdies in his opening seven holes in a round of 64, South African Thomas Aiken (70) and Denmarks Thorbjorn Olesen (68) on a packed leaderboard. Adidas Shoes Australia . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season.Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is confident Dele Alli can handle the hype after Sir Alex Ferguson described him as the most talented midfielder since Paul Gascoigne. Alli has seven goals and 12 assists already in his debut season in the Premier League and he impressed on the international stage last weekend with a commanding performance in Englands 3-2 win over Germany.England boss Roy Hodgson has likened Alli to former midfielder Bryan Robson and Ferguson has added his own praise for the 19-year-old, believing him to be among the best young midfielders to emerge since Paul Gascoigne. Pochettino has been eager to play down the hype his young star has been garnering but the Argentine has no concerns about Alli wilting under the weight of expectation.Its very good praise from one of the best managers in football history. I can only agree with him, Pochettino said of Fergusons comments.Am I worried about the hype? No, you can see the whole season how he has managed the pressure. He is very calm, very mature.He has managed the pressure and the popularity and how to be a senior player and play for the national team. He is very calm. Alli (right) has had an impressive season with Spurs We always need to be aware and look after him. We have a lot of control about that. Only he can go down if you are not aware but we look after him in a good way.Now he is fresh, at a good level, he has a good mentality. He is mature enough. We have no worries about his future.On Saturday Night Football Spurs take on Liverpool, a club Alli came close to joining when he was on the brink of leaving MK Dons. Why Tottenhams title challenge could hinge on their game with Liverpool Alli was driven up to Anfield by Dons manager Karl Robinson and even met then-manager Brendan Rodgers, only for the Merseyside club to stall on the deal.Liverpools loss has been Tottenhams gain but Pochettino admits even he has been surprised by the speed of Allis progress.There is always a question mark with a young player, he added. Alli (left) impressed while on international duty with England You can assess his left and right foot, his performance on the pitch and in training.dddddddddddd But how a young player can be affected by the big things that happen in football, being a senior player, being in the national team, this is always a question mark.You can be aware and try to support him but I think that all the same it has surprised us how he has shown maturity.Victory at Anfield would see Tottenham reduce the gap behind Leicester to two points, with the Foxes facing Southampton in the first match of Super Sunday. It is the only time in the run-in Spurs get to play before the league leaders but Pochettino insists his side must focus purely on their own performances.We need to try and win every single game and wait for Leicester to drop points, Pochettino said.But we have no focus on the seven games, we are focused on Saturday, the most important game. We try to win the game and wait to see what happens in another stadium. At 101 years of age Irene McBride is Tottenhams oldest season ticket holde We are focused on our game try to perform well and win and wait to see what happens because it doesnt only depend on us but 99 per cent it depends on us to fight until the end of the season for the title.Meanwhile, Pochettino has been given a welcome injury boost, with news Toby Alderweireld has recovered from a stomach bug and is expected to be fit to face Liverpool.Fellow defender Jan Vertonghen is back in training after overcoming a knee injury, and while this weekend will come too soon for the Belgian, he could be available to face Manchester United on April 10.Watch Liverpool v Tottenham on Saturday Night Football. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 5pm. Or watch live for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. Also See: Pochettino praises England Alli can be 10 times better Poch: Top seven in title race Tottenham fixtures ' ' '