Saturday 31 January 2015 08:44, UK
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick feels the Seattle Seahawks set the standard the rest of the NFL should be looking to reach.
Belichick rarely heaps compliments on even his own team but he was fulsome in his praise for the Seahawks at a joint press conference with opposing coach Pete Carroll 48 hours before Super Bowl XLIX kicks off in Glendale, Arizona.
The veteran of three Super Bowl victories hopes to end Seattle's hopes of defending their title on Sunday night but he knows it is going to be a tough challenge.
"They compete relentlessly as well as any team or any organisation I've ever observed," said Belichick.
"The thing that impresses me the most and the thing that I guess I would like to do a better job of is just the way that his (Carroll's) teams play for 60 minutes. They play from the opening kick-off to the final whistle or the final gun.
"They play extremely hard down after down after down, week after week, year after year.
"They're just never going to let up in any phase of the game: offense, defense, special teams, the receivers, the defensive backs, the linemen, the quarterback.
"Everybody just competes at such a high level for every single second that they're out there, and I think that's a great credit and attribute to Pete and his staff. The players they brought in there, they're just relentless in the way that they play.
"I think that any coach wants his team to play that way and I think that Seattle and Pete really are the model for that. They do a better job than anybody. And I'm not saying that there aren't other teams that are in that category or very close to them, but I put them at the top."
Watch coverage of Super Bowl XLIX live on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 3 from 10:00pm on Sunday.
