Lets talk about the positives of this season.

Most are talking about the negatives but I'd like to focus and talk about the positives this season.

BB has found a gem in Deion Lewis, that guy is going to be something special next year when he comes back, he will be better than ever. I just hope we can get a bruiser back that can go for 3 downs and use Lewis exclusively in the pass game and maybe few runs here and there, but our running backs must share the workload.

Malcom Butler, this guy has impressed me this whole season, the guy is durable, plays hard for 60 minutes, and I can see him getting 10x better next year, this year was his first year starting and I think he played much better than any other corners on their 2nd year.

Jamie Collins, this guy keeps impressing me, of course he missed several games due to his illness, but I am confident to see him getting even better next year, when I think about Collins I keep thinking about that blocked fg he had against the Colts, this guy is a freak of nature.

Hightower, the guy keeps getting better every year, one would think he has reached his full potential but he has gotten better and took over this team from Mayo who has been a non factor but a reliable backup when needed.

Hicks, this guy should be back next year, I like his run D, I hope to see more out of him next year, but he has been solid for us.

Malcom Brown, this guy has been solid for us all season long, hopefully he keeps learning from Alan Branch because that veteran came up big against the run game this year.

Brady, the guy is probably the most mentally tough player in the league, and physically too, its amazing how he has been taking so many hits over the years but still manage to play 16 games every year except one year. Just shows how much he invests in his health, diet, lifestyle for the game. People use to joke around that he won't last much longer but I can honestly say he has another good 2-3 years left in him as long as improve our O-Line.

Andrews, this guy while Stork was out he was solid for us, I wouldn't be surprised if he beats out Stork next year for the starting position.

Edelman/Gronk/Amendola looking forward to see the bunch back again and make some awesome plays, Jules and Amendola and Gronk should be ready to release havoc on this league next year.

Lets face it, this is probably Mannings last year, we will once again run the board in the AFC, of course the Denver D is scary, but I can say our D will be even better next year with all these young guys developing into their 2nd and 3 year.

We'll have a top 3 defense at every level next season.

VectorPrime said:

We'll have a top 3 defense at every level next season.

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Indeed, I want our defense to be more important than the offense. I am sure our offense will get the job done, but when you have a killer defense it will make all the difference in the world.
Look at Carolina the past 2 years.

Positives for me

Defense in general, new guys (at least in new roles)

Butler
Ryan
Brown
Easley

And then obviously Deion Lewis


Gonna need some outside help though. O line and outside receivers aren't good enough

Agree with everyone, defense is again the strength of this team and why they "new dynasty" has officially begun. Look for another championship in the next 2 seasons.

I'm not sure if this defense is good enough to start another dynasty, but it's so much better than the turds we saw from about 07-13

I had fun right up to this evening. I do not live in the Northeast so I had to watch a few of those ghastly "live streams" but I had fun.

The most impressive aspect of this season is how ****ing sharp and brilliant Brady played after dealing with the biggest distraction ever for 9 god damn months.

His play completely made deflategate (which was completley dragging his legacy/reputation through the mud) a non-story by about week 2.

Making it to the AFC Championship with a completely depleted, injured team was impressive. Our defense was stout most of the time. Butler is a probowler who should be extended immediately before he becomes too expensive.

Need a big body WR and another CB.

It was really cool to see what having so many capable players on the DL did. No Chris Jones playing every snap. No Joe Vellano playing ever. No Jones and Ninkovich playing every single snap. No signing Alex Silvestro in order to just have a third DE at all. Being able to run a lot of defensive groupings with three DEs on the field at once.

I know people have soured on Jones a bit, but it'd be a shame to get rid of him without having a capable replacement and then go back to the same two DEs every single play. Similarly, it'd be great to see Hicks back if he's willing to accept a contract that reflects the limited snap count but high efficiency that they'll want from him.

AvocadoIceCream said:

I'm not sure if this defense is good enough to start another dynasty, but it's so much better than the turds we saw from about 07-13

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A bit of an odd comment in my opinion.

1) The 2007 defense allowed 17.1 points per game, and that was with a ton of meaningless garbage time points. They were dominating at every level. DL, LB, and secondary.

2) The 2008 defense allowed less points per game than this year's did, while also producing more turnovers.

3) The 2009 defense allowed 17.8 points per game, which is about 2 full points less than this year's, and was good enough to come in 5th.

4) The 2010 defense allowed less points per game than this year's did, while also producing more turnovers.

5) The 2012 AND 2013 defenses were both ranked in the top 10 in terms of points allowed as well, although I agree with you that this year's in definitely better than those 2, as well as the 2011 defense that was the most flawed of any of them (and yet still almost won us the SB, holding 3 opponents to 20 points or less in the postseason).

While there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future path of our defense, I think some are taking it a bit too far in terms of "this is the best defense we've had in 10+ years" comments. Yes, we had more sacks, but way less turnovers, and about the same top 10 points allowed that has been seen in 9/10 past years.

This defense is better than all of those. No question about it. Those defenses got INSANE turnover luck. This years defense got nothing handed to them and they still performed great. They will be even better next year.

Dam deflategate totally sucked this year and made the offseason crap. The team and Brady's play made the critics who put it down to deflated foottballs look like idiots. I am glad about that.

VectorPrime said:

This defense is better than all of those. No question about it. Those defenses got INSANE turnover luck. This years defense got nothing handed to them and they still performed great. They will be even better next year.

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First off, when you are able to cause turnovers so consistently for many years, it shouldn't be considered "luck." That was certainly something that would've made a big difference this season. I agree that the current defense has improved and that the ceiling is higher than most of those other years, but a lot of people (likely newer fans or posters) seem to have a bit of a memory lapse when it comes to the "everything is better right now" mentality.

I just showed you 5 seasons of defenses that allowed less points and produced more turnovers than this one, which the poster included in his grouping. We allowed 20+ points this year in 11/18 games, including 6/8 post-Thanksgiving, which is obviously opposite of what most of those other Belichick teams did.

No doubt that the core group of players are there, especially if they're able to retain most of them. The defense should continue to improve if we're able to keep key players.

The defense, they actually got better compare to last year,and boy didn't they play great today yet again?

Tom Brady. He was hit all season long and was a few plays away from leading the team to another Sb.

Dion Lewis is going to be special

And our defense finally givese confidence to keep us in games

All the I don't care I can't stand it posts waited until after week 11?

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What a great year. It sucks that they lost, but this team was a fun team to root for with some new faces. It got to be a grind once all the injuries hit, so I was pleasantly surprised to see them beat KC. The future looks really good. I find myself indifferent if the Broncos win the SB this year which is odd because I have always despised Peyton. Maybe it is because I respect what that defense was able to do to the Pats yesterday. I can't explain my sudden change of heart, maybe my thoughts will change once the SB starts. I sure hope so, otherwise I probably won't pay attention much.

One more thing, as the game was going later and later into the second half, I kept thinking how cool it was to see a game dominated by both defenses. That was great playoff football, like it was meant to be played.