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Alaska

Well it's official they really suck! Lol!

12/29/2020 12:46:35 AM

Grittyville, WA

I guess that means the non-patriots must be winning? lol.

12/29/2020 1:04:22 AM

Upper Strasburg, PA

It’s inevitable for there to be some ebb and flow of which teams are good and bad. That’s the whole point of a salary cap and making the draft order based on teams records, with the worst teams picking first. The Patriots are definitely in a rebuilding phase and that’s just a part of what makes the NFL interesting to follow. It would be really boring if the same team won every year.

12/29/2020 1:05:29 AM

Merrimack NH

I agree. Just think if the same team won year after year for 20 years, every other fan base in the country would get pretty sick of them. Imagine if that team won their division every single year and was in half the super bowls over that 20 year span and won 6 of them. Good thing the NFL is designed so that can't happen.

12/29/2020 9:01:58 AM

Upper Strasburg, PA

There was a pretty long period in those 20 years where the Patriots couldn’t get much done in the playoffs. They would win their division every year in large part because that division was trash for 20 years. You’ll never hear a Patriots fan admit it, but they won their championships at the beginning and the end of Brady’s career by playing defense and running the ball. All those years in the middle where they tried to have Brady carry them, they couldn’t win in the playoffs.

12/29/2020 12:19:54 PM

Merrimack NH

All true. Somehow they were in the mix almost every year, and us folks up in New England were incredibly spoiled for sure.

I think the good times are over for now.

12/29/2020 2:45:35 PM

Merrimack NH

One last comment to TruckinPunkin's post- I would point out in both the Giants Super Bowl losses, Brady had a lead with 2 minutes left in both games and the defense gave up the lead. Brady also threw for a Super Bowl record 500 something yards in the loss to the Eagles after the defense failed to make even one stop in that game. Let's also not forget the comeback against Atlanta after being down 28-3 late in the 3rd quarter and Brady brought them back and won the game in OT. I think Brady had a little more to do with their success than some people want to give him credit for.

12/29/2020 3:09:45 PM

Alaska

Dynasties come and go however none have lasted as long as the Patriots has. I posted eairler who needs who the most. Well I think thaths been answered. Brady was the franchise. Belacheck will soon retire in order to keep his wining percentage in tact. Great QB's are the dynasty coaches ride their coat tails.

12/29/2020 3:23:05 PM

Alaska

Vince Lombardi-Bart Starr
Tom Landry-Roger Staubach
Chuck Noll-Terry Bradshaw
Joe Walsh-Joe Montana
Bill Belacheck-Tom Brady
Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes in the making.
There are others I left out but you get the point.

12/29/2020 3:48:26 PM

Upper Strasburg, PA

That’s a good point about the big comeback against Atlanta- Brady does deserve a lot of credit for that. At the time, I was more astonished by the Falcons not trying to eat the clock by running more in the second half. They were able to run the ball pretty well in the first half of that game, but they got more pass happy after building a big lead. Stuff like that drives me crazy.

The Patriots will be more competitive next year. They’re getting a lot of players back who opted out of this season and I suspect they’ll add some playmakers to their offense through the draft and maybe get a veteran QB with more to offer than what Cam had left. That division won’t be the cakewalk that it used to be though.

12/29/2020 8:17:50 PM

Upper Strasburg, PA

Spudley, there are some pretty good counter examples to your point about the QB being the dynasty. There have been some QBs who played for years at a level similar to the guys you named, but their teams fell short because they were lacking in some other way. Look at Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Ben Roethlisberger, all Super Bowl winning QBs with several great seasons, but none of them had a dynasty. Every one of those guys won when their teams played well on defense, but couldn’t overcome the poor defensive play in the years that they failed to win championships. That’s definitely a coaching and scouting issue. When your QB is throwing for 5,000 yards in a season but the team is getting bounced in the second round, it’s pretty clear that coaching and scouting make a big difference. Put any of those 5 guys on those New England teams that had top-10 defenses and a first round bye and you might have seen similar success to what Brady delivered.

One more thing: let’s not get carried away talking about a Chiefs dynasty. That’s the same way Seahawks and Packers fans were talking after they won and neither one of those teams has won a championship since. It’s really hard to sustain that level of success.

12/29/2020 8:34:16 PM

North Smithfield, RI

the comeback begins next season !!!

12/30/2020 10:43:24 PM