PatsFans.com Article

The 2003 New England Patriots: The Best Patriots Team Ever
By: Russ Goldman

Which Patriots team was the best ever? Read which year I think stands out above the rest....

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#12G.O.A.T

How is the 2007 team not even mentioned in this article? They came within one miracle catch from going down as the greatest team of all time.

PatsSox363804

Superbowl or no, the 07 Patriots are the best team in the history of this franchise. If you hesitate to put them #1 because of a crappy timekeeper and a miracle catch it's the 04 team.

Brady_to_Moss

would still have to put 07 as my #1...what a season

supafly

Interestingly enough, I too was kind of surprised to learn that a recent Sporting News "Top 10" teams of all-time did not even have the 2007 team in the top 10 list at all. I agree that they should have been somewhere on there, even if it were #'s 8-10. That damn sequence of flukes/bad luck/and weird events, coupled with the NYG strong pressure led them to remove the '07 team from the list altogether.

I can understand not being in the equation for 'best team of all time,' that's fine. What I don't understand is that one catch should not bring them from an obvious and unanimous #1 selection, all the way down to removal from the list altogether.

For what it's worth to anyone, the Sporting news list had the following teams as their top 3

#1. 1972 Dolphins (sigh)
#2. 1984 49'ers
#3. 1985 Bears (another sigh)

1972 Miami Dolphins - NFL's 10 Greatest Teams - 125th Anniversary - Sporting News

If I had to choose the best NEP team ever, it would be the 2004 team. I believe that team was the best all around team here, and the fact that they won 3 SB's in 4 yrs makes it even more special.

supafly

I understand your frustration, we all do. But when you look at it in a different light, one that shows you that Brady became the only unanimous MVP ever, and yet another coach of the yr for Belichick (one that many considered one of his greatest accomplishments), you will see that last yr's team was indeed..special.

I believe that 1/3 of the roster was consisted of 1st/2nd yr players, and that the team itself was one of the youngest overall teams in the entire league, in other words--it was almost essentially a rebuilding yr. Remember that 5 of the 6 PFW writers picked us to lose at MIA in the 3rd game of the season, and that we had just lost to the NYJ, and BUF had played us very tough too. At that point in the season, no one expected them to be anything special, and many had already given the AFCE title to the NYJ. Then, to top it off, we traded away what everyone in the world perceived as our best WR in Moss. If you remember, many mediots had them pegged as having a very negative turn on the scoring output, and some even felt that the season's potential was already lost. All the team did after that was continue to fight every inch of the way, and prove everyone wrong. All the while continuing to make the most out of a 'bad' situation in the IR/injury losses of some very key players. It was actually the first time since 2002 that a defensive unit had lost 2 or more starters before the season even started since ARZ did it.

When you take all of that into account, and remember the patchwork DL that we had going into the NYJ playoff game, you will possibly see a different side of things.

In my opinion, it still was a very special team, a very special season. Yes, the rival Jets beat us in the playoffs by a TD score, and yes--key mistakes were made, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, as they made Sanchez look like Joe Montana. But that happens sometimes, and the NYJ fielded a very good team, who matched up well in many areas, particularly on defense. You can't expect to win the SB every yr.

This yr's team has the potential to be a lot better in many ways, has another full yr under its belt for the 2nd/3rd yr players, made some key improvements in the draft, has some key returning starters back, and has fully accomplished the offensive move from the Randy Moss days. This yr's team is not the 'rebuilding' team that many thought last yr's team was. They have another yr of experience, and remember that the defense was one of the best in the NFL down the stretch in the last 6 games (factoring in competition of course).

If one's thing for certain, last yr's team damn sure proved to the entire NFL that the New England Patriots aren't going away any time soon.

jmt57

Everybody is going to have their own interpretation of "best team ever". For many winning a championship automatically trumps not winning the championship, in which case there are only three teams to consider - and at that point it's either the 2003 team or the 2004 team.

For others like myself, I tend to look at the entire body of work, from week one to week 21 and not strictly at the final game of the season when this topic comes up for discussion. So in this case not only would I consider the 2007 Patriots, but I would also give serious thought to the 1976 team as well. Other squads like the ones from 1996, 1985, 1978, 1966, 1964 and yes, even 2010 get an honorable mention - but clearly fall short in the 'best ever' category.

I think somebody can make a very compelling argument for any one of those four teams (five if you include the thrilling 2001 team) - as Russ did for the 2003 team. But to me I think I would choose the 2004 team as the 'Best Patriots Team' ever. Although they did not have to overcome as much adversity, they were more dominant and - as Russ readily pointed out - more talented.


Again, it really comes down to each individual's own definition of the term "best team ever"; there's not really a right or wrong answer to this question.

Rob0729

Although the 2003 was my favorite team and clearly the Pats' best defense in team history, I don't think it was the best team. I think that goes to the 2004 team. That team was great on both sides of the ball. The 2003 team had a great defense, but the offense was average at best.

jmt57

Add in a third heavy sigh for SN's choice at number 10: the '76 Oakland Raiders. Ben #@[!ing Dreith!

TruthSeeker

I think the point of the article ('03 Pats the best ever) is totally undermined by the content of the article which goes on to detail game after game that they just barely eeked out a victory. The '07 Patriots team that blew teams out week after week in the beginning of the year and only played a few close games late in the year fits the definition much better. But, as noted by others, an 18-1 team doesn't seem to get any respect over a 17-2 team when that one loss denies them the Championship.