TruthSeeker

Excuse me. I thought the definition of a bandwagon fan was someone who only followed the team when they were winning. Since that's what I heard you say (If my honest answer was "no" I wouldn't even bother following the team.), I thought the term fit. I must have misunderstood.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Perhaps they should sit and crochet?

I may be crazy,but I as a fan want my players to practice and stay in shape throughout the year.

Injuries happen...it's a part of the game.

If injuries were not a big issue then we wouldn't need 53 guys + the practice squad

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patsfaninpittsburgh

The 2007 defense was #4.

It seems to be continually overlooked that the last time the defense was on the field for SB XXXVIII.....they got promptly lit up for a TD that tied the game and witnessed the 29th point scored.

The difference between 2003 and 2007 was getting the ball for the final realistic scoring chance.

Based on the June standing, the Patriots are much better than any team in the AFC.

PatsSox363804

Absolutely. That and Ty Law picks off Eli or at the very least doesn't give up on Tyree on the catch like Asante. You're right though, the biggest difference in both of the last 2 games was not having enough time although in 2007 I'd argue that they had time to get into field goal range but instead went for the bomb to Moss, which much like the Welker play, I thought he caught on first glance.

Elijah T.

Yes.

2012 New England Patriots = 2011 Miami Heat.

Just as

2011 New England Patriots = 2010 Miami Heat.

mgteich

WOW!

I agree that we are the clear favorite to go to the Super Bowl.

OFFENSE - better than last year, by more that people think?
We were the 2nd or 3rd best offense last year.

DEFENSE - better than any since 2004?

You do realize that we had a team since 2004 that was 4th in defnese (both in points allowed and in yards allowed? You think that we will have better than the #4 defense in the league?

BOTTOM LINE
If, as you say, our offense is much better than last year, and our defense is better than 4th best in the league, then we should be strong favorites to win the division, and favorites to be Super Bowl favorites. If this be true, we will be comparing the team to 2004 and 2007.

Rob0729

And the Jets' defense was 5th this past season and they clearly weren't the fifth best defense. I don't think the Pats' defense was nearly as good as their stats made them to be. The Pats were consistently up by 2-3 TDs by HALFTIME in a lot of games that year. It made opposing offenses become incredibly one dimensional. Also, the pressure on the opposing offenses to score on every drive lead to a lot of decision making and just a lot of mental errors in general. When the Pats' offense slowed down at the end of the season, the defense started to give up a lot more yards and points.

PlainOldEd

The Jets do it every year.

Guimond3434

This is a very interesting question to me, as it forces me to try to separate my biased feelings towards the Patriots.

Let me start off by saying that if you take the current Patriots team and put them in last years Superbowl, we would of won. I truly believe that.

Looking at this team now, and looking at the rest of the AFC....has any team really gotten any better? One can make a case for Denver (adding Manning), Pitts and Balt will always be hanging around and tough, Houston should be good again (but even they lost signifigant pieces). Then I look at the Patriots....and they have drastically improved their already-contending team by leaps and bounds. Not trying to sound like a homer here, but it's really hard to imagine anyone in the AFC truly competing with them, outside of Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Can they make it back to the Superbowl? I definitely believe they can. They didn't lose a single signifigant player this off season that isn't being replaced by a younger, better stud.

Light > Solder
Anderson > Jones
Guyton > Hightower
Ihedigbo > Gregory
Molden > Dennard
Ocho > Lloyd
Solder > Fells (TE-wise)

Unless I'm missing someone, every single player we lost this offseason was replaced by a younger, faster, or better overall player. This team picked off all it's scabs and didn't regress at any position. Not to mention you'll be getting a healthy Spikes, Chung, Carter (i'm assuming), and Dowling.

I see no reason why this team can't make the Superbowl next year. They made it last year and almost won it, and with a team that is arguably better? They definitely have the chance.

patsfaninpittsburgh

They gave up 17 points in SB XLII.........29 points in SB XXXVIII.

A TD was given up the last time the defense was on the field.

Ofcourse, if you sat around a VFW twenty years ago, one would get the impression the WWII years were the greatest ever.