Pewsterbaby

It's 5 Super Bowl appearances in 12 years, not 11. That's the stat I throw out there in arguments with fans of other teams. That's a sweet run.

And the blame doesn't rest on Samuel dropping that high ball. No doubt he was shocked the ball came right at him and not the receiver, who was a good 2, 3 yards away on the sideline. I mean, that Eli pass was way off target, or the receiver chumped the route. Samuel was like,"Holy crap. What was that? Oh man, it was the ball. What was it doing there in the first place?"
You wanna blame somebody, blame MANKINS for getting *****slapped by Tyree all game long. Mankins was a turnstyle. Tyree spent the whole game in the Pats backfield.

Pewsterbaby

That's just spin. He's not gonna discuss legacy & stats until he's retired and they're finally tallied. Anyone who thinks Bill, or any pro coach, doesn't look at past season numbers of teams and individual players (like on pro football reference.com) throughout the years, is paying to much attention to what's said by Bill to the press.

letekro

I blame Justin Tuck's catch.

eom

change thread title to quarter century of somewhat better, plz.

borg

You and Polian can circle jerk each other over regular season wins. Add Shula in there for a triple handy. History will look back final games, not week 3 standings.

PatsFanSince74

I don't look at it that way and neither do most observers of the NFL. You're conflating too many periods with too many great teams. (And, it's five SB appearances in 12 years.)

Taking the 1985 season as a starting point (people usually talk of "seasons" when doing this kind of analysis, so the period you are referencing begins with the 1985 season), the Niners won three SB's between 1986 and 1994 and the Cowboys won three between 1993 and 1996. The Broncos, Giants and Redskins all won two each between 1986 and 1998. Saying that the Pat's "dominated" that time is just silly and more than a little embarrassing (this is the kind of statement that other teams' boards pick up, like we picked up the Jets prediction that they will go 15--1 this year).

There is no doubt that you can make the statement that the Pats dominated the 2000's with five trips to the Conference Championship, four trips to the SB and three rings. Only the Steelers with two Rings can even claim to be in the discussion, and then only briefly.

Your use of 10 AFC East Championships in 25 years in comparison with other teams is specious. Of those 10, seven came in the nine years between 2001 and 2009. The Bills won five between 1990 and 1995, a period of time that the Patriots hardly dominated.

I think the broader statement that can accurately be made of the Pats is that since the Krafts acquired the team in 1994, the Pats have become one of the premier franchises in the league. Then I think it's fair to place the Pats in the context of the history of the SB era by observing that only the Cowboys (eight) and Steelers (seven) have gone to more SB's and that only the Cowboys (five), Steelers (six) and Niners (five) have won more. I also think noting, as you do, that only the Pats, Steelers and Giants have gone to SB's in each of the preceding three decades is a good and fair point that can be made in this context.

Those statements would stand scrutiny and be accurate. Conflating a 24 year period in which many fine teams "dominated" at various times and saying that one team "dominated" the entire quarter century is just wrong.

Finally, to me the great unwritten story of this team is that Belichick and Brady have a chance to do what no other HC/QB tandem in the history of the SB era has accomplished: win a SB together in a second decade. That's where I'm focused.

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RayClay

Nice snapshot, but we've hardly had a quarter century of dominance.[/rodrust].

I'm happy Billy Sullivan got to see a Super bowl run before he died in '85, he certainly deserved it.

If you're talking dominance, the late 70's Fairbanks teams rivaled the current outfit, but they couldn't cash it in.

We certainly have a great team this decade but combining that with two teams from the previous two decades that had nothing to do with each other is just a statistical coincidence.

And they had a dominant Defensive line starting in '61 anchored by all time great Houston Antwine, so go vote!

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PATSYLICIOUS

I wouldn't call it dominance, but it is very nice to have had the best overall team of the last 25 years.

Just hilarious that the Jets are tied with the Colts in fewest AFCE titles since '86 when the Colts haven't been in the division for the last 9 years.

The team is also in good shape for the future if our last 2 drafts pan out the way I think they will and we make good use of the 2 1sts + 2 2nds next year. Both are favorable if's IMO.

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livinginthe past

I don't know.

I look at all those playoff appearances and SB wins one one hand.

On the other I look at belichicks habit of drafting 'midget corners' and various other picks I didn't have in my my mock draft.

I think its about even.

borg

I chose 25 years because it is the Silver Anniversary of the Patriots first Super Bowl appearance.
Sure, dominance is a subjective term. The fact is that the Patriots were playing in the Super Bowl 24% of the games over last 25 years. No one was better.
Over the history of 44 Super Bowl games, only Pittsburg and Dallas had more appearances. The fact that the Patriots are #3 on that list, all because of their past 25 years, is pretty impressive as well.
As far as the AFC East goes, NE and Buffalo were the only real deals, converting regular season success into the bid dance card. Miami was a fraud.