PATRIOT64

It does seem weird but for most of this decade the teams who have won the Championship since going back to at least 2000 are the teams that no one really gave a chance to.

If we are the favorites to win it all this year that brings fear more than happiness,No team expected to win it all has actually done so in the past 7 years.

That includes the 2006 Colts who for the first time in years no one thought going into the playoffs that they were going to be any threat to win it all with the Defensive line woes showed most of last year...Thats when they fooled all and suddenly became a defensive force and literally destroyed all opponents against the run.

In 2005 Pittburgh showed absolutely no reason why they were going to have any chance of winning it all..Especially playing the hot teams going in the playoffs that year..Denver and Indy..and what happened?-They won it all

In 2001,2003 and 2004 New England won all 3 SBs but even despite having 14-2 records in 2 consecutive seasons,no one really expected them to win any of those,especially the 11-5 2001 team...In 2003 and 2004 it was either Indy or Pittsburgh that were expected to win it all and in the 2001 campaign no one was to get by the Rams - and what happened? NE won all 3.

In 2000 and 2002 seasons The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Bucs each had one of the best defenses ever seen in NFL History (in that order)..But no one outside of their respective cities really thought with offenses run by QBs like Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson (in that order) were good enough to win it all and again the odds were against them but they won the SB those years in respective order.

We need the Patriots to fly under the radar this year and no favorites to win it all crap is said..It has not been that way this past 7 years and probably won't be this year...The 2007 Champion will likely once again be a team no one even thinks has a shot going into the playoffs

I hope the Patriots are one of those teams that no one talks about come January,Its our only chance to sneak back into the limelight again as we do best...Quietly ....

solman

If you think that heading into 2004, Pittsburgh was expected to win it all while the Patriots were flying under the radar, I'm going to have to accuse you of some VERY selective memory.

VJCPatriot

Disagree. The Colts were the odds on favorites to win the Superbowl in 2006 before the season started and people started noticing how bad their run defense was. Particularly versus the Jags. But right before the playoffs some key members of their defense returned healthy, those guys being Rob Morris and BOB SANDERS. The Colts defense finally performed and they won the superbowl as predicted in the preseason. Course Mediots have been kissing the Colts nuts for years so they had to keep picking em, but you can't deny they always had the talent on offense but their defense couldn't keep up with the offense until 2006.

I think it's too late to avoid people talking about us with the free agent splash the Pats have made. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. People see the moves, and how much sense they make for this team, and it's hard not to say that this team has one of the best chances of winning a superbowl since our 2003 squad.

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PatsFan24

I disagree. in 2004 the pats were still the favorites even with the injuries. they were favored AT pittsburgh. Indy was said by some to beat them because of their offense and the pats banged up D, but the pats were still the favorite in that game. 2003 started out bad but come playoff time nobody overlooked the pats

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Patriots Dynasty!!!!

Super Bowl XXXVI XXXVIII XXXIX Champs

"Stats are for losers, the final score is for winners." - Bill Belichick

stinkypete

The '06 Colts and the '04 Pats were very similar teams in that they were both preseason favorites to fill it all, but be season's end they were considered an afterthought in the playoffs (injuries in NE, innefective D in IND).

TomBrady'sGoat

I'm confused by this. The Patriots are being lined up as preseason favorites, yet you're using examples from after the season had already started. You have to go back 4 seasons to NE in '03 to get a surprise winner based on how the teams looked before the season started:

'06 - Indy - preseason favorite and won.
'05 - Pitt - coming off of a 15-1 season where they made the AFC championship game. If not the favorite (assumably NE was) they were close.
'04 - NE - defending champs. Any rational thinker called them the favorites (lots of media experts picked against them, but only due to the desire to see someone else on top or to start conversation. these opinions were biased by the fact that their job is about ratings before accuracy).
'03 - NE - didn't make the playoffs the previous year and hated their coach (though that wasn't until the season started).

You could say the current trend is success the previous year. The last 3 champions played in the AFC championship game the previous year.