scott99

This is not a "woe is me" or a "the sky is falling" thread. It's more of a reality check. Some people may not agree with me or may attack me or may flame me, but some may also agree.

The team is now 6 years past the days of the Dynasty years, and several massive blunders have been made in drafting and coaching in those 6 years. Our defensive co-ordinator, who happens to be our head coach, has seen the NFL pass him by. He is no longer the mad scientist who took a mediocre defense and came up with a scheme to beat the 15-1 Rams in SB 36. He is no longer the "genius" who is able to make half time adjustments to beat "Good-Great" teams. The Pats score a lot of points in blow out wins, and can't score when they face good defenses (sound familiar ?, Colts of the early 2000's).

The destruction of the Dynasty started with horrendous drafting in the early 2000's which has continued to this day. The Bethel Johnson's over the Anquan Boldin's, The Chad Jackson's over the Greg Jenning's (though that looked good at the time). Picking up a quantity of draft picks instead of picking quality has hurt this team big time. Though every year, the pundits seem to praise Belichick for going off of the board by making the "interesting" pick instead of picking the good player available, proclaiming, this is the "Patriot Way", this is why the Patriots win championships, yet they are talking about Ghosts. Every year, I see the Pats highly graded post draft, yet every year, I wait to see these players perform, yet they almost always wind up as terrible players (Tate, Crable, Butler, etc), or they can't make it to the field (IR, street clothes, etc). It reminds me of the Emporer's new clothes, the way the pundits praise Belichick's drafting. Yet I don't see it. So many of us have justified not picking certain players, because "they wouldn't fit" in the Patriot's system, I think that is a load of BS.

Now please note, I'm not complaining, I'm a Patriot's fan since 1975. I've seen the 1-15 and 2-14 teams, and stuck by them through thick and thin, and will stick with them during the impending decline. It's unfortunate, but sports is very cyclical, for instance, look at the 49er's. 5 Championships in 14 years, and then at least 10 years of mediocricy until they are back on the upswing. Same for the Raiders and Redskins, both winning 3 SB's in a 10 year period, and then dissapearing off of the face of the earth. As long as we have Brady/Belichick, the Patriots will be competitive, may even win a few more AFC East Titles, hopefully a few playoff games. But the game has passed Belichick by, the glory years are a distant memory. Unless Belichick can start drafting players that can help this team become a champion again, and can start getting back to smashmouth football, we are destined to fade away like the 49er's. Hopefully that's not the case, but that's what I'm seeing.

RhodyPatriot

Spot on!!!! I think what's so unfortunate is that the Pats won SB's early in Tom Brady's HOF career. Oddly it's been during Brady's prime that Belichick has blown opportunities to build on the dynasty. This has not been a case of an aging QB dragging the team down. Brady has been in his HOF prime and we're not winning championships because the guy buying the groceries has done a lousy job.

R_T26

DaBruinz should be here soon to scold all the non-believers in 3-2-1...

mgteich

I suggest you find a better team to root for.

RodThePat

Yes, because we all know true fans would NEVER criticize this team in any way, and should all just be deeply grateful for all those recent regular season wins that amount to absolutely nothing when the marbles are on the table.

Bertil

I second this. Why should we ignore what is plainly evident? I agree with everything expressed in the first post in this thread. We've all looked for some change in the trajectory of the Patriots' fortunes, but there is exactly NO change from year to year. It continues to be "what it is"... and that is no good if you want Championship contention to be the goal. If you want to be better that the Rod Rust era, then, Woo Hoo, we're there!

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IllegalContact

I've had none of the kool-aid........

this is still a good football team..........but given teh resources available to the team such as draft picks and sound cap management, it baffles the mind that this organization and staff would produce the worst defense in the NFL

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Sometimes I really wonder if Belichick wakes up in the morning and doesn't realize that Bruschi,Harrison,Vrabel and Seymour are no longer putting thier uniforms on in the Gillette locker room.

Sure seems like that sometimes.....

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Patriot_in_NY

No, true fans should be critical....... You only become less believable as a "true fan" when all you are is critical. A quick glance at your posting history reveals you as OVERWHELMINGLY critical on almost every post. Therefore, as a poster, the continuous negative crap you post become just background noise and you look less like a true fan and more like a troll.

That's MG's point. If all you are gonna be is critical, then find another team that you are less critical of, and then you'll be free to "enjoy" the game, your team and the sport in general. Posters who just post negative crap pretty much rule themselves out of the discussion because they are less believable. Even when they have good points to make.

This team isn't horrible. We certainly have issues that we need to overcome and certainly some of the moves we've made personnel wise are peculiar to say the least, to sit here and post a thread titled "The Koolaid is tasting a little stale" is beyond silly.

We lost to a 5-2 team in an away game to a team that was in the Super Bowl last year. It's not like the Steelers are not an elite team or anything. It's not like this was like the Cleveland loss last year to a crappy team. The biggest surprise to me is not that we lost (most reasonable fans knew this was gonna be a tough win), it was how anemic we looked coming off a bye. That is something that is is uncharacteristic for us.

So yeah.......... if the Kool-aid tastes a little stale after a tough road loss to one of the best teams in the AFC, then perhaps you do need to move on to one of the "trendy" teams where the Kool aid is fresher.

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mgteich

Bertil and Rod,

I'm sure that there are teams that better meet your high standards. Find one.

Those who think that the game has passed by Belichick should find a better coach.

No one is suggesting that the team should never be criticized. The decision with to cut both Sanders and Meriweather was an awful decision.

However, anyone we have the best team in the nfl over the past decade, and the best franchise in all of sports. We have the best ownership in all of sports. We are not the team of 2003 and 2004. No one is. Over the past five years, we are one of 3 top teams in the entire nfl. We have OWNED our division for a decade. We were 11-5 even when Brady was out.

I do understand that this just isn't good enough for some. They think that the league has passed us by, and that Belichick has made terrible choices.
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As of Friday, we were one of the 3 best teams in the nfl THIS YEAR. As of Friday, we were one the top 3 teams of the last decade, and even the last 5 years.

Yesterday, we were beaten by one of the other 3 best teams in the nfl, and ofne of th other top 3 teams of the last decade, and of the last 5 years.
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That is reality.
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HOWEVER, we each have the choice to spin the reality in any way we wish. My suggestion is that those who find that this team is a failure should find a team that is better fit for what they think a team should be. The patriots are not changing much anytime soon, not as long as the team is built around the best coach-quarterback combo in the history of the nfl.
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This nonsense has happened after every loss since 2004. Many don't bother responding. I guess that is better than trying to suggest sanity.