- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
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I'm funny that way AJ. I'm generally very optimistic about players, thinking more about why they'll succeed than why they'll fail. However when it comes to the actual games, I revert back to my coaching days, when all you could think about was, "what could go wrong".In the last 11 years, the Patriots have won
16 once
14 3 times
13 once
12 3 times
11 once
10 twice
How can you consider 11 excellent and 10 OK?
The worst year since 2002 would be OK? The second worst excellent?
One of the best things about this game is generally how close teams are in actual talent on the field. Like I've said many times, EVERYONE who makes an NFL roster, from 1-53, is an extremely competitive, well trained, dedicated, superior athlete. The athletic gradations at that level between players, IMO, are much thinner than most think, and even thinner if you exclude the QB position.
There was an old adage that if you break down a game after the fact, you can generally pick 5 plays that would have changed the results if they had come out differently. Football is a strange game. the wrong bounce, or bad call, and everything changes. Every time we play Buffalo, I can see all the scenarios where they can win, even though they beaten us only 2 or 3 times in the last 13 years (IIRC). Think about the many times they have come so close. That's why even the worst teams win a couple of game, and play close in several more.
Its a funny game AJ, teams with playoff talent can go 2-14 like the Texans, and Teams who are perceived to have "bad talent" like the 2001 Pats or the 2013 Jets can win a superbowl or go 8-8 respectively. And football coaches are even funnier. There is no player that they think they can't make better. Yet they are wired to expect the worst in every game, and then spend a week preparing for it.
In the end, if the last decade has taught us anything, getting to the playoffs is all that matters. Once there, anything can happen if you get a few breaks. The Ravens and Giants have taught us you don't even have to be hot in December to win it all. Both those teams where limping badly going into the playoffs. So while I'd much rather be the #1 seed, with a bye and home field all through the playoffs; if 10-6 gets us into the playoffs relatively healthy, I'm good with it.