re: OT: Pierre-Paul
You can't be serious. How many of the SB-winning players are on the team now, and are as good as they were in their prime? Brady is all that comes to mind. One and done two years in a row after good-to-amazing regular seasons and you don't think that some sort of switch turned off in the playoffs?
No, I don't think some "switch" turned off in the play-offs. That's such a stupid concept, no offense. And I think it comes from Patriots fans being totally spoiled by the remarkable success and consistency we've enjoyed over the years with Brady and BB. Look at the other dominant teams of this decade.
Peyton Manning started his career by losing his first 3 play-off games. Is the switch off? In 2003 and 2004, he finally wins a game or two but then loses (to us
). Is he starting to learn to win in the play-offs? But then in 2005 he was one-and-done again. Is the switch back off? Then he wins a Super Bowl.
So the switch is on now? No. In the next two seasons, he goes one-and-done again. So the switch is off? No, then he goes back to the Super Bowl. Is the switch on? No, he goes one-and-done again.
For Pittsburgh, Big Ben won his play-off debut and then lost to us. The next season, they win the Super Bowl. Then they don't even make the play-offs, followed by a one-and-done. Is the switch off? No. Then Ben wins another Super Bowl. Switch on? Don't even make the play-offs. Switch off? Back to the Super Bowl.
And at the start of last season, lots of talking heads had started wondering if Aaron Rodgers could ever win a big game. He had lost a lot of close games in his first season, and though he did better in his second season, it ended with a one-and-done.
Yeah, we went one-and-done twice. It really sucks. But does that mean the switch has gone off? No. It means our team wasn't good enough in 2009, and it was too young and too decimated on the DL by injuries in 2010. I don't think BB and Brady have suddenly forgotten what it takes to win, and two seasons is a pretty small sample to make stupid conclusions.