New England is done

[Galian Beast]

Im from massachusetts and obviously I'm a cowboys fan.

I hate the Patriots, but without bias I can say, they and Tom Brady are done.

I can't wait for the randy moss experience to end. Thats really the only thing keeping their offense going. When it ends Wes Welker will be exposed.

I'm hoping that Moss is already on the down end of his career, and that this will be the last year he has in new england.

 

[Rampage]

where did that come from, GB?

 

[DallasCowboysRule!]

where did that come from, GB?

I don't know but I agree with him. They may still be competitive but their championship days are over. That team is on the downward spiral.

 

[StevenOtero]

*sigh* The regular season hasn't even started yet. Give me a break!

 

[CowboyMike]

I agree. They're done.

Tom Brady doesn't have that fire, desire, or dedication anymore. And Belichek is so focused on thinking he's a genius that he keeps downgrading his own defense to do so.

 

[burmafrd]

It really was the D that was key to their championships. Just like most top teams. And it has been sliding for years. 2007 covered it up because that was Tom Brady's last great year. They thought they could just plug new people in and keep doing what they were doing. I got news for ya: only one coach rebuilt his team and won another SB and that was Tom Landry. And even there he had the same QB. The 49rs are the only team that really rebuilt completely from its first championship to its last but that was under different coaches.

 

[jimmy40]

I agree. They're done.

Tom Brady doesn't have that fire, desire, or dedication anymore.

yeah I can't believe he just gave up after wrecking his knee.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I've been reading Pat Kirwan's great book 'Keep Your Eye Off The Ball' and while he doesn't mention SpyGate at all, it just further solidifies how the cheating by the Patriots helped give them a HUGE advantage. I think the 'experts' that claim it didn't help were either:

1) Pats fanboys or former Pats players
2) They don't fully understand how the coaching and scouting work in the NFL
3) They are just ignorant.

If you remember, the great thing about the Pats back then was how they 'guessed right' on plays..particularly big plays...all of the time and that they 'didn't have any tendencies.' In today's NFL, it's impossible to 'guess right' that often and not have any clear tendencies.

This is where I agree with guys like Parcells that execution is so important (although I think Parcells goes overboard with that idea). Teams generally have an idea of what's coming and you're not going to fool teams that often, so you need to out-execute them a large part of the time. But there's a difference between 'having an idea of what's coming' and 'knowing exactly what's coming' and that's the difference between being a HC who continually lost in Cleveland and then his first year in NE to becoming a HoF head coach.

Of course, you'll get the 'they went undefeated when they got caught in the first game.' My belief is that the one thing Belichick and Pioli did that was stupendous is use their success to their advantage. We heard about all of this nonsense of 'The Patriot Way' and how the Patriots were a different organization. Well, other franchises bought into this crap as well and hired their coaches (and failed), traded for their players (and failed) signed their free agents to big contracts (and failed). Meanwhile, the Pats were able to get the better end of deals and eventually wound up with Moss (the greatest deep threat of our generation) and Welker (the greatest slot receiver of our generation). By then, Brady developed into a great QB and they could just throw the ball all day and score a billion points. Plus, the refs just happened to be awful that year and give the Pats every break they could. But, notice how the running game stunk that season and the defense was really more or less mediocre. They didn't stockpile those areas with massive talent and no longer had Ernie Adams telling them with the exact playcall was.

I compare it to playing poker with somebody who has been cheating the entire time and then gets caught. But by now they have such a huge stack of chips that they have put themselves in such a favorable position that it makes it difficult for them to lose...but they are nowhere near as good as they were when they were cheating.






YR

 

[rynochop]

Im from massachusetts and obviously I'm a cowboys fan.

I hate the Patriots, but without bias I can say, they and Tom Brady are done.

I can't wait for the randy moss experience to end. Thats really the only thing keeping their offense going. When it ends Wes Welker will be exposed.

I'm hoping that Moss is already on the down end of his career, and that this will be the last year he has in new england.

Whats going on with Bradys contract? With whats mentioned below and the CBA mess, i wouldnt be completely surprised if they dont extend him

 

[zrinkill]

I do not understand this thread.

The Pats have not won a SB in 6 years ...... they have been done for a while.

 

[Vtwin]

I actually see more Steelers stickers on cars then Pats stickers on the drive to work now.

I live in New England.

 

[burmafrd]

It will always be a question just how much the cheating helped; but it was more that they had the right guys at the right time. Vrabel and Breushi and the rest of those guys made a top flight D; and Brady was as cool as you could get in the pocket; what was also not mentioned is that while not talked about much they had a very good O line. But it is noticeable that despite all their stored up draft choices (they have had multiple first and second rd picks for several years now) they do not seem to be picking them all that well. Frankly they have not been able to replace Harrison and the other D guys and that has made the most difference; they have a good D but no longer a championship D. And they do not have a real good RB either.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

They'll be competitve. They're not likely going to make another championship run but I won't totally rule things of that nature out. All they have to do is be competive, get hot at the end of the year, and next thing you know they're winning a championship.

I don't think they're anywhere near the favorites in the AFC anymore, and probably haven't been in 3 years, but stranger things have happened in the NFL.

 

[mldardy]

I see the Patriots like we were in the mid to late 90's. Still good but not championship good. Just good enough to win the division make the playoffs and that's it. They lost a lot of experience,talent and leadership(McGinest, Bruschi, Vrabel, Law, Samuel,Seymour, etc) and haven't done well with replacing them.

 

[Galian Beast]

Brady is the franchise, he will certainly get resigned. That said his career is over after Moss, and so is their franchise.

They're basically where we are In probably 1998 or 1999. Offensive line is falling apart.

Not to mention the resurrection of that division. I don't know whats going on with the bills, but the jets and miami are becoming more legit. The Jets need to resign revis badly.

 

[Blast From The Past]

I actually see more Steelers stickers on cars then Pats stickers on the drive to work now.

I live in New England.

I also live in New England and I rarely see any nfl anything unless it says Patriots on it.

 

[DallasCowboysRule!]

I see the Patriots like we were in the mid to late 90's. Still good but not championship good. Just good enough to win the division make the playoffs and that's it. They lost a lot of experience,talent and leadership(McGinest, Bruschi, Vrabel, Law, Samuel,Seymour, etc) and haven't done well with replacing them.

That's exactly how I see them. But they're a few retirements away from being the 2000-2002 Cowboys.

Alot of people forget that Belichick wasn't exactly a world beater up in Cleveland. Which begs the question, did Belichick create the Patriots or did the Patriots create Belichick.

 

[big dog cowboy]

did Belichick create the Patriots or did the Patriots create Belichick.

Great question. Picking the latter and throwing in Tom Brady makes a lot of sense.

 

[Signals]

This has been true for about two years.

 

[mldardy]

That's exactly how I see them. But they're a few retirements away from being the 2000-2002 Cowboys.

Alot of people forget that Belichick wasn't exactly a world beater up in Cleveland. Which begs the question, did Belichick create the Patriots or did the Patriots create Belichick.

He wasn't a world beater until Bledsoe got hurt against the Jets. If I recall his first season in NE he finished 5-11 and started the next season 0-2 before Brady came in. Also another factor is the coordinators, gm(s) that they have lost as well over the years. That was another factor that is similar to the mid to late 90's Cowboys. We lost a lot of key on and off the field personnel and didn't replace them with good enough people to maintain that high level of success.