mayoclinic

The Pats are 10-3. They won the AFC East after 12 games. They're on track for a bye, and possibly their third #1 seed in a row. They have scored 97 points more than any other team in the NFL through 13 games. They outscored their opponents by 198 points (over 15 PPG), over 5PPG more than any other team in the NFL. They just annihilated a very good 10-1 Texans team in one of the most complete performances we've seen in years. And yet we've heard the following this season:

Now I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy (or maybe more). And I understand that there needs to be an allowance for difference styles. But perhaps people overreacted a little bit, particularly given the sustained record of excellence that we've been privileged to witness under the Kraft-Belichick-Brady regime: the greatest example of sustained excellences since the 49ers teams of the 1980s-1990s, which occurred before free agency and the salary cap.

We may lose to SF next week. We may not win the SB this year. We may flame out in our first playoff game. But whatever happens, this team and this organization deserves more respect than it got from us earlier this year, IMHO. It's given better to us than we gave to it. And I'm not talking about constructive criticism, which is always appropriate.

We're the best *****ing team in the NFL, and the best organization in the NFL over the past 12 years. The team comes out and gives its all every week, and every week other teams prepare for us as though it is their Super Bowl. As Brady says, it's not easy to win a game, and any win is a win. But this year we have heard posters argue that this team is "garbage", "lethargic", "pathetic", "mediocre", worthy of being booed. So egregious that it makes even the bottom-feeding teams of the Sullivan days pale in comparison. Not to mention the usual posts that BB has lost his mojo and needs Viagra.

Imagine if we lived in Kansas City.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

MoLewisrocks

If you're going to identify one poster you probably should have identified all the quotes.

mayoclinic

My apologies, especially to the poster. That was on oversight. I intended to delete all identies - my intent was not to single out individuals. There were a lot of quotes. It's been fixed for now.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Gumby

Don't know about anybody else but my quote was from the first jester game which seems like eons ago now.

it was a snapshot of a moment in time. And if I went back and watched that game again I would probably say the same thing again (particularly if I had as many drinks as I did when I posted that). They played that game with completely inconsistent effort.

MAYO,
not sure if all the other posters comments are from the same or even earlier; or more recent; but taking comments like those out of context and posting immediately following a BIG STATEMENT GAME like yesterday where they played with purpose and authority is a bit contrived on your part.

Not sure what your point is in doing it.

Just because we live in an era of excellence on the part of the Pats; does that mean we cant comment or complain about when the performance falls BELOW THE SEASON AVERAGE (let alone well below the 'ERA average')

PatsWickedPissah

You just want credit for your quotes Mo

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Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH

pwes

How long ago did these people make these statements and were they after losses? I dont really think you can judge the kneejerk reactions of these people if that is the case. Also at the beginning of the season the Pats DID have a hard time closing out games

BSR

This fan base is largely regarded as one of the whiniest in the league largely because of kneejerk reactions like those quoted above. Sometimes pointing this out to people gets them to think before doing it the next time.

BlueThunder

This team has evolved and is growing together as a unit. Those comments were probably true at that moment in time. The young kids (Wilson,Jones,Hightower,Dennard) are growing up and being molded into the Patriot model. Talib is still learning the defense.

Can you imagine how good this team could be with a few weaknesses shored up next year ?

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mayoclinic

My point is the following:

1. We are privileged to be fans of the one of the greatest NFL franchises in history. We're witnessing an almost unparalleled run of sustained excellence under conditions that were unknown to previous regimes that had similar traditions (yearly roster turnover due to free agency and salary cap). We're the envy of just about every other team in the NFL.

2. In spite of that, there has been a tremendous amount of whining and bashing this season, beyond constructive criticism. I understand that people get frustrated when the team doesn't play well, and a certain amount of gnashing of teeth is reasonable. I understand that wanting the team to do better is reasonable. I understand that it's a message board, and expressing an opinion is reasonable. But there's been a lot of loading up on this team at times. Given their track record of sustained success, that didn't seem warranted.

I think that the next time we see the team struggle, we might want to temper our despair or frustration just a little bit. It's fine to say "I'm glad we won, but this wasn't our finest hour". It's another thing to say "this win feels worse than a loss", or to boo the team when they are winning.

I'm not saying that we should all hold hands and go kumbaya all the time. That would be boring, and not very useful. And I'm not saying the team is above criticism, or even reproach at times. But some of the knee-jerk reactions seem to me to have crossed a line at times. If you want "garbage", "pathetic" and the likes, go to Jacksonville or Kansas City. Or New York.

Since you referenced your own post, you claim to have been a Pats fan for 40 years, and said in that October post that the team that played against the Jets was "not a Pats team you recognize". Really? The team that beat the Jets 29-26 in OT was worse than anything the Pats sent out on the field in the Sullivan or Kiam years, when they were the worst team in the NFL several years? When we were the laughing stock of the league? We were that bad? Or have you just become so spoiled by our success that you were pouting over a game in which the team was struggling through it's early season problems to find it's rhythm, something that has happened routinely the past few years before the team went on a second half tear to end up with the #1 seed in the AFC?

The season is an evolution. It's all about "climbing the mountain", as BB calls it. They won't all be 42-14 shellackings of 10-1 teams. There will be losses and ugly wins. It's a growth process. BB is the best in the business at pacing the team and using the schedule to grow the team. The fan base cries bloody murder every time the team falls short of perfection. And sometimes it has gotten ugly this season. What we have isn't ugly. It's beautiful.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Rob0729

I know I always get slammed for being a major homer for this, but I never get upset about early season struggles. I have complete faith in Belichick fixing the problems or at least minimizing them.

I know this is a bit off topic, but when did "In Bill We Trust" become blind homerism. In fact, when did Belichick ever completely blow a season. Since 2001, his worst years have been years that he lost the AFC East by the third or fourth tiebreaker (and one was with Cassel at QB).

Sorry to go off topic there. But until Belichick proves the "In Bill We Trust" motto is a proven wrong, people should relax and not go overboard with the Chicken Little stuff early in the season.