"I see the Patriots play and I say you don't have to look too far to see why this team is able to sustain. It's not that they have better players, but when they line up, each player through execution of assignments — all 11 players — can contribute.

"That was one of the things we did, one of the things Lombardi insisted on. If you wanted to get him upset, just have a breakdown.

"I measure the similarities in the product they put on the field. That product is a winner."

While Lombardi and Belichick won with stunning regularity, they used divergent approaches to get there.

Lombardi's squads were more star-oriented, although the Patriots certainly have their share of headliners in Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi and now Corey Dillon. Davis is one of 10 Hall of Famers who played for the brusque, emotional Lombardi, who was inducted in 1971. How many of the Patriots might be headed to Canton is mere conjecture at this point, but it's not likely to approach the number of Packers who got there.

Belichick is one of the more stoic coaches in today's NFL. Lombardi was so excitable he often had a running conversation on the sideline with coaches, players, officials and ball boys.

Lombardi was involved in every facet of the team. So is Belichick. Lombardi understood his deep knowledge of offense translated to helping his defense. Belichick knows that, too, simply in the opposite direction.

Belichick's coaching skills have gotten him labeled a "genius" by many. Lombardi?

"I don't know if anyone ever called him that," says Packers historian Lee Remmel. "I was around him the years he was here, I never heard that word used. I don't think I would take exception to it, and I don't think he would have.

"He had a substantial ego and a right to have it. Vince was a man apart."

Belichick probably has not faced the kind of pressure Lombardi felt before the first AFL-NFL Championship against Kansas City. There might not have been a more significant game to pro football's old guard than that first meeting between the champions of the upstart AFL and the traditional-laden NFL.

Lombardi fielded calls from coaches, general managers and team owners from around the NFL, all with the same message, Remmel says: "Don't you dare let those people beat you."

Lombardi didn't, and after the Packers took down the Raiders in 1968 for the third straight title, Lombardi stepped aside as coach.

Should Belichick, 52, get the ninth consecutive postseason win in Jacksonville, he's not likely to go anywhere. He's at the top of his profession, and his club shows no signs of weakness.