Is this a championship team?

[cstjohn17]

I am of two minds with this one...

Feels like the same old recipe, they team will win or lose with Brady. If he can play elite football they have an excellent chance, if he is not elite the other units are not strong enough to carry the team.


Bright Side
- elite quarterback
- elite offense
- elite coaching
- no dominant teams in the NFL
- relatively healthy

Sour side
- defense is average or below average
- pass defense is poor (This has become self-fulfilling, teams know they are poor and boldly abandon the run to attack the Patriots)
- league is competitive, at least 5-6 teams have true shots at the Superbowl
- run game is inconsistent, against light boxes they can run but when asked to man up and run against base defenses they struggle

 

[randomk1]

Yes but if we're healthy.

 

[olschool]

If they hadn't forgotten how to play pass defense for the past few years, Eli Manning wouldn't have two rings now.

Anyone who thinks they can win the big one with this pass defense is smoking too much wacky tabacky.

 

[dannydyn]

If they play like they played against the Texans - Yes
If they play like they played last night - you've got to be kidding me.

I'm not used to seeing so much inconsistency in this team.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If Talib/Dennard/McCourty are healthy and able to play their CB1/CB2/FS positions where the defense has been able to play at it's peak, then I like our chances. If not, our offense is good enough to give us a shot but I don't see it happening.

 

[jmt57]

I wonder how much of a change there would be to the responses to this question if yesterday's game was played two weeks ago, and the Pats had just defeated the Texans 42-14 last night.

 

[PlainOldEd]

If not them, who?

 

[Ivan]

Given that they are better than last year's team and that team won the AFc Championship i would have to say yes, but the only thing that will demonstrate it is winning a championship. There isn't a team in the league that doesn't have flaws and weaknesses, and any team that wins it all will still have to address those areas in the offseason, as will the Patriots, so yeah, the Patriots are a championship caliber team. Whether or not they can prove that is still a question.

 

[Salva135]

As presently constructed injury-wise, they may not get out of the first round. If the OL can get its **** together, and Talib/Dennard/Gronk are 100%, we have as good a shot as anyone. The Broncos are great but not some superteam, and the Texans have been flailing in the second half of the season. The AFC is wide open if the Pats can put it all together.

The NFC/Super Bowl is a different story.

 

[Brady2Gronk]

If we can get Dennard and Talib back healthy for the playoffs then yes.

 

[mgteich]

IMHO, there are two championship quality teams in the AFC: New England and Denver. There are three such teams in the NFC: Green Bay, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

There are no dominant teams. Of course, being a dominant team does not mean that you win the Super Bowl.

 

[JackBauer]

IMHO, there are two championship quality teams in the AFC: New England and Denver. There are three such teams in the NFC: Green Bay, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

There are no dominant teams. Of course, being a dominant team does not mean that you win the Super Bowl.

Seattle says hello.

On the topic, IMO this team could easily go all the way if they have the horses to play McCourty at safety - i.e. a healthy Talib and/or Dennard. I think this team will likely not survive in the playoffs with a Chung/Gregory tandem at safety unless pretty much everything happens to go their way.

 

[livinginthe past]

Yes.


Absolutely, yes.

No team in this league is perfect - i'm sure some of you guys were looking all google-eyed at the 49ers after last weeks game - wishing our team was a little more like that.

And what now? How do we feel about them after the 30 point beatdown to the Seahawks?

Recent history has been littered with SB winners who got hot at the right time - who were able to bring their 'A' game when their opponent failed to - think of the Giants, Steelers and think back back to the 2001 Patriots.

Newsflash: All of the teams that will compete in the playoffs are flawed - the Patriots included.

Winning in a knock-out scenario is all about executing better than your opponent on the day, and hiding your weakness.

For all those who seemingly can't comprehend that the 2 SB losses to the Giants were not due to simply poor pass defense - I don't think I can help you.

The previously awesome offense failed to execute to its highest level on the day - just the same as the 2001 Rams failed to execute on the day.

I expect the D to step things up in the playoffs - they nearly always do - last year was a good example of that.

Brady et al will need to keep key components healthy (Gronk/AHern/Lloyd) and then execute like we all know they can.

 

[mayoclinic]

IMHO, there are two championship quality teams in the AFC: New England and Denver. There are three such teams in the NFC: Green Bay, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

There are no dominant teams. Of course, being a dominant team does not mean that you win the Super Bowl.

I'd add Houston and Seattle to make it 7 teams, and give us a 1/7 chance of winning it. No team is dominant:

- Atlanta got their buts whipped by Carolina
- Green Bay got clobbered by the Giants, who dominated them physically
- Seattle is a different team on the road, and could lose Richard Sherman for the playoffs
- San Francisco is a different team without Justin Smith, and can't play from behind
- The Texans aren't a come from behind team, and Arian Foster has been banged up from too many carries and isn't the same as he was earlier this season; they peaked too early
- Denver hasn't really beaten anyone good and has fed off weak competition.

Any of them could win it, and I would want to lay a bet on any of them.

That leaves us. At our best, I'd take us against any of those teams. But we're not exactly consistent, either. Injuries have obviously taken a toll. Things that we need to win it all:

- The OL has to get healthy and play better
- We need Gronk back
- We need to clean up the turnovers on offense and get back our running game from earlier in the season
- We need to get Talib and Dennard back and go back to the kind of secondary play that we showed against Houston
- We need to show a little intestinal fortitude, after coming out flat the last 2 games

That's a lot to expect. We've gone from 1/32 to 1/7. Let's see if we get to the AFCCG and 1/4 odds, and then I'll re-assess.

 

[ALP]

We're a pretty decent team with all the injuries, were easily the best team in the league if we can stay absolutely healthy

 

[JackBauer]

I'd add Houston and Seattle to make it 7 teams, and give us a 1/7 chance of winning it. No team is dominant:

- Atlanta got their buts whipped by Carolina
- Green Bay got clobbered by the Giants, who dominated them physically
- Seattle is a different team on the road, and could lose Richard Sherman for the playoffs
- San Francisco is a different team without Justin Smith, and can't play from behind
- The Texans aren't a come from behind team, and Arian Foster has been banged up from too many carries and isn't the same as he was earlier this season; they peaked too early
- Denver hasn't really beaten anyone good and has fed off weak competition.

Any of them could win it, and I would want to lay a bet on any of them.

That leaves us. At our best, I'd take us against any of those teams. But we're not exactly consistent, either. Injuries have obviously taken a toll. Things that we need to win it all:

- The OL has to get healthy and play better
- We need Gronk back
- We need to clean up the turnovers on offense and get back our running game from earlier in the season
- We need to get Talib and Dennard back and go back to the kind of secondary play that we showed against Houston
- We need to show a little intestinal fortitude, after coming out flat the last 2 games

That's a lot to expect. We've gone from 1/32 to 1/7. Let's see if we get to the AFCCG and 1/4 odds, and then I'll re-assess.

Atlanta is a perennial paper tiger, IMO.

 

[dannydyn]

Atlanta is a perennial paper tiger, IMO.

I agree. Their win over the Giants was more about the Giants taking a dump in their diapers than the Falcons cleaning them up.

 

[DarrylS]

Without a doubt....

Yesterday we played without 3 of our defensive starters, and there were a lot of players moving around.. so the D was not as good as it should have been, but got better as the game went on.

The O is puzzling, but as long as Brady is our QB, stuff will get figured out..

Do not worry, stay the course...

 

[MoneyFX]

All I know is that the offensive line needs to give Brady time. Brady needs to be on his game.

 

[Guts]

Amazing to see that we are 11-4 with the Boston TE Party playing only one game both healthy together this season God can't wait til they are on the field together again