despite lose in playoff game , Pats had a great season

[Saltheart]

Yes the loss to NY hurt. We expect a lot each year. They got to be the only team in the league who's fans think Superbowl every single year.

I thought they played a great season. far better than originally expected. Young D and a tough schedule really made it look like 10 wins would be tough. instead they outplayed everybodies expectations. Best record in the league despite a very tough schedule.

New England Patriots , congrats on a great season. Lets hope the youngest D in the leagure matures and are terrors next year!

Tom Brady , congrats on a great season. By far the best QB in the league this year. A great consistant player. i wouldn't want anybody else in the league but him to lead the team.

Whole organization, thanks for a thrilling season. its been a long time since we weren't the big favorites every game. great job coming up with big plays and some very big and unexpected wins.

Go Pats. We expect another best in league record next year too.

[BigFish]

Yes they did! It was a great season and the team is young again! Look out NFL....we are only going to get better! They gained some great experience and it will only make them better going forward!

[Raven]

the Thanksgiving Game was stupendous
one i'll never forget
i was delirious with JOY
and admiration

[flyvice11787]

Almost as good as when they went 16-0 .
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[BigFish]

Harry I can guarantee no Patriots fans are disappointed with how our team has performed over the past 10 seasons. They have been consistent winners and perennial playoff contenders, been to the big dance 4 times and won 3 times....in 10 seasons.....and we are not done yet. They call these teams, who are dominant consistently over a period of time "Dynasties"......and no other team in the NFL can come close the past 10 seasons. Would we like to have won the Superbowl to close the undefeated season? Sure it would have been nice but man......I know I have no complaints! I love my Patriots!!!

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by BigFish

They call these teams, who are dominant consistently over a period of time "Dynasties"......and no other team in the NFL can come close the past 10 seasons. Would we like to have won the Superbowl to close the undefeated season? Sure it would have been nice but man......I know I have no complaints! I love my Patriots!!!

The Bills went to 4 straight Super Bowls. Does anyone consider them a dynasty?

Dynasties are measured by a string of championships over a short period. 7 years between the last and the closest possibility of another---no dynasty.

[BigFish]

Thats your definition Mike! Mine is to be a dominant contender, to be a perennial playoff team and to appear pretty darn regularly in the Superbowl (does not have to be in a row) and the Pats have done all that! Did the Cowboys or the Steelers do it much differently than the Patriots during the decades they dominated?? No they did not. So I think we can agree...to disagree. In my opinion they are a Dynasty in every sense of the word. Show me where it needs to be consecutive Championship appearances?? As for the Bills???? Pa-leeez.....you can't be a Dynasty if you have never won the brass ring Mike!! 3 Superbowl wins in a 10 year stretch makes it as far as I am concerned. Not to mention to be a dominant as they have been.

[The Dad Fisherman]

3 SB Wins in 4 years makes the Dynasty...they are now working on another one...I hope

[BigFish]

Go check out Dallas, SF and Pittsburg.....similar scenario.

[Raider Ronnie]

I think we can put to bed all the talk of Pats fans and sports radio show host all the talk of greatest team ever, Brady greatest ever, Belichick greatest ever ect.......................
Super bowl loss to Giants & 3 straight playoff loss ends that talk.
As much as I hate the Steelers, have to say right now they get greatest team ever, especially if they win another one this year as many expect them to. Won both before salary cap and after !

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Go check out Dallas, SF and Pittsburg.....similar scenario.

SF never loss a super bowl !

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Thats your definition Mike! Mine is to be a dominant contender, to be a perennial playoff team and to appear pretty darn regularly in the Superbowl (does not have to be in a row) and the Pats have done all that! Did the Cowboys or the Steelers do it much differently than the Patriots during the decades they dominated?? No they did not. So I think we can agree...to disagree. In my opinion they are a Dynasty in every sense of the word. Show me where it needs to be consecutive Championship appearances?? As for the Bills???? Pa-leeez.....you can't be a Dynasty if you have never won the brass ring Mike!! 3 Superbowl wins in a 10 year stretch makes it as far as I am concerned. Not to mention to be a dominant as they have been.

You're as bad as those Yankee fans who kept on with that stupid "26 and counting" routine when they went 10 years between WS wins.

Sure, they won 3 in 4 years too at the end of the last decade---but by 2004 that dynasty was cooked, even though they contended every year in between.

[The Dad Fisherman]

Sad Day indeed...when I agree w/ Raider Ron

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

3 SB Wins in 4 years makes the Dynasty...they are now working on another one...I hope

The Packers won 5 NFL titles between 1961 and 1968. 5 in 7 years, that was a dynasty.

The Montreal Canadiens won 5 straight Cups in the 50s. The Islanders won 4 in a row in the 70s and early 80s. Those were dynasties.

The old Steelers won 4 over a 6 year span. If they win their 3rd over a 6 year span this year, they'll have their second dynasty.

The Niners won their 5 over a 12 year stretch. The only argument that they have for a dynasty is that they won two back-to-back. They had some brutal playoff losses to the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys along the way.

The benchmark dynasty in sports history was Russell's Celtics. 8 NBA titles in a row, and 11 over 13 years. You can't call the Celtics of Bird's era a true dynasty because they traded titles with the Lakers.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I think we can put to bed all the talk of Pats fans and sports radio show host all the talk of greatest team ever, Brady greatest ever, Belichick greatest ever ect.......................
Super bowl loss to Giants & 3 straight playoff loss ends that talk.
As much as I hate the Steelers, have to say right now they get greatest team ever, especially if they win another one this year as many expect them to. Won both before salary cap and after !

The problem that I have with the Steelers as the greatest franchise ever is that they had zero NFL championships in the pre-Super Bowl era. They were the joke of the league for many years.

The Packers had 9 to go along with their 3 Super Bowls.

[BigFish]

Originally Posted by Mike P

You're as bad as those Yankee fans who kept on with that stupid "26 and counting" routine when they went 10 years between WS wins.

Sure, they won 3 in 4 years too at the end of the last decade---but by 2004 that dynasty was cooked, even though they contended every year in between.

Mike you are a Giants fan aren't cha?! You guys are silly. Believe what you like.

[Saltheart]

I think had the Pats gone undefeated and won that superbowl game , they would have been refered to by most as the Dynasty of the modern era in football. I think you need to look at it that way too. With so many teams now and the draft rules and compensation for players leaving teams , etc , there will never again be a Dynasty as clear cut as Russel's Celtics. It just cannot happen that way anymore. So I don't think the same definition of a "Dynasty" that was used in the formative years of each pro sports league can be used to describe the modern professional sports teams. There will never ever be another team in a well established sport that wins the way those Celtics did. Too many teams diluting the star power of even the best teams. Too much money to lure away perhaps the number2 or 3 guys on a team (they will pay to keep their top star but that means less money for number 2 and 3 and without depth , no superteams anymore). Too much spreading out of new talent by the modern draft systems. etc , etc. Rather than the term Dynasty as it has been viewed in the past , maybe truly great organizations like the Pats over the last 10 years will be called 'Teams of the Decade" or something similar.

Back on topic, How about the good season the Patriots had?

I'm curious as to what next year will bring. Who stays , who goes. What the very good draft positions they have will end up with in terms of starters. All that needs to be considered of course but to me , i think they are real terrors on D next year.

I also think this whole new rules thing about no hitting with the helmet and all the scrutiny about what was always considered a "good hit" has raelly changed the game as we know it. I believe it has taken half a step away from the best , most fierce guys on D. Its totally swung the game around to an Offense Dominant game. Traditionally , football has always been a D dominated game , especially in the big games and championship rounds. I wonder if the new O dominated game will have a big effect on how the coaches will be putting together future teams and if it will have a more immediate effect on what the Pats do with their draft picks this year.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

I think had the Pats gone undefeated and won that superbowl game , they would have been refered to by most as the Dynasty of the modern era in football. I think you need to look at it that way too. With so many teams now and the draft rules and compensation for players leaving teams , etc , there will never again be a Dynasty as clear cut as Russel's Celtics. It just cannot happen that way anymore. So I don't think the same definition of a "Dynasty" that was used in the formative years of each pro sports league can be used to describe the modern professional sports teams. There will never ever be another team in a well established sport that wins the way those Celtics did. Too many teams diluting the star power of even the best teams. Too much money to lure away perhaps the number2 or 3 guys on a team (they will pay to keep their top star but that means less money for number 2 and 3 and without depth , no superteams anymore). Too much spreading out of new talent by the modern draft systems. etc , etc. Rather than the term Dynasty as it has been viewed in the past , maybe truly great organizations like the Pats over the last 10 years will be called 'Teams of the Decade" or something similar.

Back on topic, How about the good season the Patriots had?

I'm curious as to what next year will bring. Who stays , who goes. What the very good draft positions they have will end up with in terms of starters. All that needs to be considered of course but to me , i think they are real terrors on D next year.

I also think this whole new rules thing about no hitting with the helmet and all the scrutiny about what was always considered a "good hit" has raelly changed the game as we know it. I believe it has taken half a step away from the best , most fierce guys on D. Its totally swung the game around to an Offense Dominant game. Traditionally , football has always been a D dominated game , especially in the big games and championship rounds. I wonder if the new O dominated game will have a big effect on how the coaches will be putting together future teams and if it will have a more immediate effect on what the Pats do with their draft picks this year.

I think the new rules are being applied mainly because of new brain technology that shows the destructiveness of concussions and they (NFL) Can no longer turn a Blind eye and SAY

Hey? It's football, they are top athletes and get paid to take hits like that. Because years after they retire suddenly they are in a pre Alzheimer state of brain functionality
long before they should be.

[Saltheart]

We could argue the why's of it but I am saying regardless of why , the new rules have significantly changed the game by making it very hard on the Defense.

[nightfighter]

Since 2000, I think the Patriots have to be considered to have been the dominant franchise in the league. I will even go so far as to say they are the model for what many franchises are trying to put into place for themselves. But when there is another New England Super Bowl championship team, it will not be related to the champions of the past on the field by anything other than possibly the same coach and same quarterback. It will be a different era of champions. Dominant, yes. Dynasty, no.

But I do know that this has been the greatest era for the Boston sports fan. I often wish my father could have been around for some of these championships.....


And then there is the looming labor agreement to be dealt with..... I think we're going to see a lock out.

[Slipknot]

I agree Saltheart



the Pats' dynasty ended the moment Tyree caught the ball with his helmet

I don't think any dynasty has to last a decade

if the steelers win this year, I will go into a serious depression


I am happy for what the Patriots have accomplished in recent history, and grateful

[MarshCappa]

I don't consider this season a good one at all. They play for one reason. To win the final game. They got bounced hard. I'm sure no one associated with the team feels it was a successful season.

[Raider Ronnie]

Have the Pats won a playoff game since the "Spygate" cameras were shut off ..............
Pats fans are so quick with the "Dynasty" title and calling themselves greatest team ever, Brady & Belichick greatest ever...............
Great run they have had but some flaws doing it like spygate ........
Not exactly like they had a convincing win in their 3 super bowls (maybe against Eagles)
Plenty of luck over the run they have had also.
Why not just enjoy if for what it has been , a grreat run !
My opinion. NE / Boston fans have a Nepolean complex , especially when it comes with New Yorkers !

[The Dad Fisherman]

#^&#^&#^&#^& New York!!!

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

Have the Pats won a playoff game since the "Spygate" cameras were shut off ..............

I'm pretty sure 2007 was the BillBelichek "FU" tour when they made it to the superbowl after the whole Spygate thing

[BigFish]

Ya.....they were cheating....thats why they are a great team. If anyone believes that they can't possibly be more ignorant!

[ProfessorM]

I think they had a great year. I had them for 9 wins this year so I was impressed. We are spoiled and think they should go to super bowl every year. Not that easy. It is impressive they have been in contention most of the last several years but I can remember the suck, door mat years. I am a what have you done for me lately kind of guy, which isn't much as far as the main goal every year. I am happy if they are part of the conversation every year because it makes it enjoyable to watch. All this dynasty and my dog is better than your dog stuff is just talk and not worth the waste of breath it requires really.

[MarshCappa]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

I think they had a great year. I had them for 9 wins this year so I was impressed. We are spoiled and think they should go to super bowl every year. Not that easy. It is impressive they have been in contention most of the last several years but I can remember the suck, door mat years. I am a what have you done for me lately kind of guy, which isn't much as far as the main goal every year. I am happy if they are part of the conversation every year because it makes it enjoyable to watch. All this dynasty and my dog is better than your dog stuff is just talk and not worth the waste of breath it requires really.

Football is different in my eyes than the other sports. 16 games which is a much shorter season and then the playoffs are if you lose you're out. It's different if you play 80 plus games and then have a few rounds of best of 7 in the playoffs. Every player in the NFL plays for one reason or at least they should.....to get to the big game. Anything else is failure. Just sayin......

[luds]

I'm just hoping r-burger rapes the jests like he doe innocent women. Probably the only time I'll root for that scumbag.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Ya.....they were cheating....thats why they are a great team. If anyone believes that they can't possibly be more ignorant!

I guess Belichick getting fined 500 K, Pats another 250 K and a #1 draft pick taken away says different about the cheating.