2007-2008 Patriots Appreciation Thread (or does it even matter anyways?)

[Soul_Survivor88]

I still think that team was better than the 72 dolphins

Different rules, different personnel. Even the philosophies don't match. Don Shula said his Dolphins were a grind-it-out group that thrived on controlling the clock. Whereas the 2007 Patriots relied on a powerful offense that could score at will. In reality, you cannot really compare the 1972 Dolphins and 2007 Patriots on a point by point basis. But you can compare their respective accomplishments. The 2007 Pats played more games against tougher opponents and won by larger margins. Even if they did lose the Super Bowl, I'd argue that the Patriots were the more impressive team.

The '72 Dolphins have always been rather vocal about their lofty place in NFL history. They praise themselves and are lionized for going undefeated on the way to the Lombardi Trophy. Perhaps the epitome of their own self-congratulation are their annual celebrations and unapologetic glee whenever a competitor falls short late in the season. I think it's plain silly that a group of aged athletes can take pleasure when another team loses their chance to achieve something historic. If the 1972 Dolphins had lost just once during the regular season, they would still rightly be remembered as a very good team that won the game’s ultimate prize. But the NFL has grown so much since then and has evolved.

For instance, the amount of medical knowledge and how we view fitness, conditioning, and strength training has all evolved dramatically. "There is no way to compare," said Manny Fernandez a defensive tackle for Miami in 1972. "The rules are all so different, it's changed the entire complexion and physical makeup of the game. Obviously, we couldn't stand up physically to guys who weigh 340 pounds for 60 minutes, week in and week out. Giving away 80 to 90 pounds a man, it would be tough.” The size and speed of players, the quality of training, and overall level of skill has become much more competitive, not to mention that players start playing football at a younger age. And unlike in the 1970s -- when teams like Pittsburgh, Dallas and Miami had a stable roster of 1-st rate players -- there's a greater turnover and balance of talent throughout the League, thanks to the salary cap and free agency. That just makes it harder for one team to dominate - yet still, the Pats went 18-0 until the Super Bowl. That's pretty amazing when you think about!

The regular season is also 12.5% longer now than it was when the Dolphins won all their games. There were only a 14 game regular season however, so they won 17 games in a row total. Pats won 18 in a row in the same season, and had to compete in an additional high-stakes game in order to win the Super Bowl Championship. Having won so many games against top-tier teams, it is quite likely that the Patriots had already peaked and were physically and emotionally drained during the Super Bowl.

In 1972, the Dolphins also happened to draw what many consider one of the least competitive schedules in NFL history. The Simple Rating System used by Pro-Football-Reference (which rates teams based on the outcome of their regular season games and the strength of the opponents they faced) rates Miami's 1972 strength of schedule as -4.3, with 0 being average. In the last 40 years, only four teams had an easier SoS: the 1975 Vikings (-5.2) the 1991 Bills (-5.2), the 1999 Rams (-5.9) and 2007 Seahawks (-4.6). The 1972 Miami Dolphins were helped along by the poor performance of their regular season opponents, whose overall win percentage fell below .400.

KC: 8-6
HOU: 1-13
MIN: 7-7
NYJ: 7-7
SD: 4-9-1
BUF: 4-9-1
BAL: 5-9
BUF: 4-9-1
NE: 3-11
NYJ: 7-7
STL: 4-9-1
NE: 3-11
NYG: 8-6
BAL: 5-9

That’s a combined record of 70-122-4 (0.367 winning percentage). They played only two teams above .500 all season, and both of them only 8-6. And none of the teams in their schedule made the playoffs. So the 72' Dolphins, for the most part, flew under the radar and generally went unnoticed until the playoffs, where they faced much stiffer opposition against top-tier teams like the Steelers.

Now let's compare that to the 2007 Patriots schedule:

NYJ: 4-12
SD: 11-5
BUF: 7-9
CIN: 7-9
CLE: 10-6
DAL: 13-3
MIA: 1-15
WAS: 9-7
IND: 13-3
BUF: 7-9
PHI: 8-8
BAL: 5-11
PIT: 10-6
NYJ: 4-12
MIA: 1-15
NYG: 10-6

Thanks to the Dolphins 1-15 weighted record, the combined record of all teams is still under .500 (0.469 winning percentage), but it's obvious that New England played much better opponents. 7 of their 16 opponents had winning records, and 6 of those 7 made the playoffs (Cleveland had the same 10-6 record as Pittsburgh, but lost the tiebreaker). In the regular season New England played the AFC #2, #3, and #4 seeds, and the NFC #1, #5, and #6 seeds. In other words, the Patriots had to contend with several top-tier division leaders, and defeated some of the best teams in League.

On top of that, the Patriots faced a lot more media scrutiny and adversity. The toughest part of pursuing a perfect season? The hype it creates. Chasing a record means finding yourself under a bigger spotlight. Win 10 or so consecutive games and suddenly a media circus develops. There were no cameras following the Dolphins' every move, no scrutiny from ESPN, 24-hour sport radio or the Internet. The Patriots were in a fishbowl all season unlike any other: a teammate dying in training camp, SpyGate, and the first serious team to challenge 16-0 in the media hype era. No team has gone through the pressure cooker that this team did for 10+ games and almost come out unscathed and perfect (given the magnitude of the SB 46 loss, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that this team rose to the occasion almost every single time it faced adversity.)

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Run Up the Score! – When the Patriots Got Mean, Everyone Else Got Scared​

"They have bullied everybody so far, flouted a few rules, run up a few scores, even kicked sand in the legendary Joe Gibbs' face. . . Bill Belichick never was going to win any Mr. Congeniality awards, but the man in the gray flannel hoodie has morphed into Dr. Evil."

- Hank Gola, New York Daily News, November 3, 2007

"They become exasperated at all the fuss from outsiders. They are not the media-friendliest bunch. ...They will not enjoy the hype to come, although there is no evidence they will allow anything to distract them. They have been accused this season of cheating and piling on points without pity. [Yet] all they do is keep playing better."

- Mike Lopresti, USA Today, November 5, 2007

"We're not trying to win 42-28, we're trying to kill [teams]. We're trying to blow them out if we can. [We] want to build momentum for each week. You don't want to be up, 42-7 or 35-7, and all of a sudden you look up and it's 35-21 … [Y]ou don't want to go into next week realizing that for the last 18 minutes of the game your team didn't play well, or didn't play up to its capabilities. You gave other teams momentum for the next time they play you, or you gave another team a reason not to be intimidated."

- Tom Brady, during a radio interview Nov. 20, 2007

​

The law of NFL physics states that on any given Sunday, nearly anyone can lose to everyone… and sooner or later will. Yet in 2007, the Patriots attempted to go against the grain, by unleashing the football equivalent of a perfect storm. That season, New England possessed an astonishingly accurate quarterback in his prime with a 70+ percent completion rate, and three or more touchdown passes in the majority of his games; a big-play arsenal of wide receivers led by Randy Moss and Wes Welker; an experienced and championship caliber defense led by the likes of Tedy Bruschi, and a zealous head coach bent on silencing his detractors and placing his team in the history books.

Following the Pats’ 2007 victory of the over the Steelers (34-13) in Week 14, Merrill Hoge went as far as to compare Belichick to General Patton, who famously said, "We don't hold our ground. [We] make the enemy hold their ground. We attack, attack, attack!" Mark Schlereth watched in awe as the Pats showed absolutely no sign of complacency, despite being 13-0 in the season. Under Belichick the Patriots remained obsessed by little mistakes and steadily worked to correct them. Even as they dominated the regular season, they did not let up on their intensity. Every player on that team was dedicated to playing his very best, every play and every day. "They can't be human!" remarked Schlereth. The statement was one of disbelief and marked the culmination of the Bill Belichick’s takeover of the NFL.

The 2007 Patriots were not like the Patriots we knew before. To the rest of the League, they were full-fledged villains bent on destruction; running up the score, taking no prisoners, and turning assistants into CIA operatives! The entire football establishment (rival teams, media coverage, rival fans) was absolutely obsessed with stopping New England! Teams around the league were focused on being the first to defeat the Pats in the season, believing that they would receive adulation. And yet the Pats kept their mouths shut and continued winning. How this winning streak ended will forever be remembered in the league's history books, but where it all began is just as incredible….

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Part I

The first catalyst was the stunning collapse at the 2006 AFC Championship game, a crushing defeat for the Patriots. During that game, the Patriots blew a big first-half lead, before falling 38-34. The sting of that game ultimately became a rallying point. The Patriots retooled their roster and vowed to never lose a shootout again; to always have the firepower to outgun the opposition, and to play a full 60 minutes of football. Starting in early March, the Patriots' offseason plan officially sprung into action. The Patriots first worked out a trade with Miami to secure Wes Welker, who would grow to become the league’s most productive pass catcher over the next five seasons. After receivers Donte' Stallworth and Kelley Washington signed on, the Patriots finished with a shocker, trading a fourth-round draft choice to Oakland for receiver Randy Moss. It was the second day of the NFL draft and Moss’ voice was booming through a speaker phone at the team’s press box in Gillette Stadium. With at least 50 reporters gathered around, Moss promised that those watching the Patriots would see things they had never seen before, capping off his thoughts by proclaiming "The Moss of old is back!" Moss was still the best wide receiver in the NFL, and once paired with football’s best quarterback, few could have predicted that Brady and Moss would be a record-breaking combination.

Four exhibition games later, it was time for the season opener, against the Jets. The Patriots opened the season with a blowout win over the New York Jets in the Meadowlands. Brady passed for 297 yards and three touchdowns and Moss announced his presence by outrunning triple coverage on a 51-yard touchdown catch. The 38– 14 win, Brady’s 146.6 passer rating, and the unstoppable appearance of the Brady-to- Moss combination made it clear to the League that it was going to be a difficult season for New England’s remaining 12 opponents. That’s when a bombshell was dropped: SpyGate!

After Week 1, Belichick and the Patriots were accused of stealing defensive signals from the New York Jets. The accuser was Jets’ head coach Eric Mangini, the man who had worked for Belichick in New England just two seasons prior. Belichick was immediately stung by accusations that cheating fueled his success as a coach. And the media quickly began to question the legitimacy of the Patriots dynasty and wondered aloud if Belichick had cheated before to gain a competitive edge. Were the Patriots just a bunch of frauds? How many times did they steal defensive signals in the past? Was Belichick actually a genius or just a scumbag who perfected the art of not getting caught?

The media was absolutely unrelenting and unforgiving, flooding the airwaves. Peter King demanded to know what was on the tapes destroyed by the NFL, and talked about the Patriots past accomplishments being tainted. He put words in the mouth of an opposing coach (Wade Phillips) who went about explaining why the Patriots had left a “black mark” on the NFL. The other columnists on the national sites lined up to take their shots at Belichick on seemingly a daily basis. From Bob Cook to John Czarnecki, Michael Silver, Mike Celizic and Dr Z. On TV, Merril Hoge, Marshall Faulk, Mike Ditka, Terrell Davis – they all did the same on the air. The list went on and on. Fans of other teams reveled in the fact that maybe, just maybe, the model organization was just a facade. “The Patriots were never that good! They were just a bunch of cheats!” Amid this media storm, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell quickly came to the conclusion that Mangini’s gripe was legit and punished the Patriots by making them forfeit future draft picks while levying a heavy fine against Belichick.

Belichick could overcome the loss of draft picks and money. The humiliation that followed the debacle, however, was a completely different story. How shameful it must have been to be accused of cheating. How embarrassing to be turned in by a former employee and friend. How humiliating was it to have everything you’ve ever accomplished questioned by the media. How degrading it must have been to have your legacy tarnished. But for Belichick, the controversy became a perfect motivational tool, as he continued to extract talent by tapping into his players' sense of indignation, and turning the NFL season into a mantra: “Us Against the World!” What transpired during the week of SpyGate was nothing short of extraordinary. With his ferocious attention to detail, he gave the Patriots total confidence in themselves and their will to win. This motivation took on a life of its own, as the Patriots started to play ‘angry football.’ Elli Hobbs said of the coach, “Bill just said, ‘Every time we step on the field, prove you're the best.’ We weren't showing any weakness...We're going to keep putting points on the board. We didn't care. With Spygate, we had to over-satisfy.” "All I have to know is, he's my coach, and I follow his lead," said an emotional Tedy Bruschi. "He didn't have to say anything in here this week. We all knew what we had to do. He's a big part of our family, and we're like his extended family. And we did what good families do when one of their own is affected."

Unfortunately, in going up against the Patriots in Week 2, the San Diego Chargers found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. At the time, the Chargers were reputed to possess the NFL's best and deepest roster, but one that was overmatched from the very outset. The New England offense, which rang up 407 total yards, scored on three of its first four possessions, including an impressive 69-yard march to open the game, a series finished off by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tom Bradyto tight end Benjamin Watson. Meanwhile, the defense limited the reputedly high-octane Chargers to 14 first downs and a measly 201 yards. The media predicted that this would be a competitive and passionate game, a contest stoked by New England's upset victory at San Diego in the divisional round of the playoffs in 2006, and by the hardly veiled suggestions from the Chargers' camp that the Pats might have been up to something illegal in that contest. But iith their second win of the season, Bill Belichick offered a statement to the world by dismantling the Chargers, proving once and for all that the Patriots did not require any extra edge in their pursuit to win. At the start of the second half, with the Patriots leading 24-0, a television camera captured a fan holding up a homemade placard that read: "New England Patriots -- Dominating the NFL, Fair and Square." "I haven't been here the longest, but I've been around long enough … [and] I know this much: You don't wave a red flag in front of this team," said San Diego linebacker Rosevelt Colvin.

After the Patriots beat the Jets and the Chargers by identical scores of 38-14, Belichick and the Patriots continued to take apart their opponents over the following six weeks. In Week 3,the New England Patriots (3-0) ripped the Buffalo Bills 38-7. Moss caught five passes for 115 yards, Welker a team-high six for 69, and the Patriots scored 38 points for the third time in the season. During the game, Moss became the first receiver in NFL history to gain at least 100 receiving yards in each of his first three games with a new team, and the 19th player in NFL history to exceed 11,000 career receiving yards (11,103). Brady, meanwhile, finished the game with a stellar passer rating of 150.9, and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 4, the Pats remained one of the NFL's four unbeaten teams when they beat the Bengals 34-13, in a performance that showed their versatility. With just four men rushing, the Patriots were able to get enough pressure to prevent the explosive Bengals wide receivers from making any big plays, and the tactic worked as they held Cincinnati to a 1-yard touchdown catch. Late in the third quarter, the crowd of 66,113 – at that point, the largest ever to assemble for a Bengals game in Cincinnati – started filing out, sensing futility.

In Week 5, Brady connected for another three scores in a 34– 17 win over the Cleveland Browns in Foxborough. Twice in the fourth quarter, the Browns cut the deficit to 10 points. And twice the Patriots came right back with touchdowns of their own. New England's offense drew defensive coordinators mad. How could you even try to stop this offense?!? If you stop Moss, you get killed by Welker, Stallworth, and Ben Watson. If you stop those guys, Moss kills you. And if you somehow stop all of them, you still have freakin' Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk! To observers, it became apparent that Belichick wanted the lasting memory of the 2007 season to be the Patriots' dominance, and not their rule-breaking.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Part II

In Week 6, New England went to Dallas where they had never won in four previous attempts. Dallas entered the game before a wildly rowdy home crowd among the league's best teams, one of three undefeated teams in the league and the only one in the NFC. The matchup between the Patriots and Cowboys was the most-watched NFL regular-season game in 10 years, in what was billed as a potential Super Bowl preview. Both teams possessed identical 5-0 records and Tony Romo was a fresh, rising star eager to stack up against the NFL elite. But barring an 8-minute spurt from 3:28 of the first half to 4:36 into the third quarter (and one great defensive play early in the second quarter) this game was a no-contest. In the so-called "Duel in Dallas," New England dominated from wire to wire and marched virtually unchallenged down the field. Throughout the game, the Patriots owned third down situation, converting 11 of 17 of their third-downs. “This might be the best offense we've seen in the past two decades,” noted ESPN, “as it can beat you in so many ways. With Dallas spread out on defense . . . [the] Patriots receivers do an excellent job of adjusting their routes based on coverage, and when Dallas played off coverage, New England threw underneath. When the Cowboys pressed, the Pats went over the top. The Patriots did whatever they wanted all day in the passing game, and the Cowboys just did not have the personnel to match up.”

Dallas led for 5 minutes, 24 seconds, and that was that. The Patriots annihilated the Tony Romo’s elite aspirations by outscoring Dallas 27-3 in the final 20 minutes to win by technical knockout, 48-27. In doing so, the Patriots became the first road team to win in a matchups of teams with a record of 5-0 or better (prior to then, home teams had been 3-0-1). Brady also tied or broke several league records. Brady became the first NFL quarterback to throw at least three touchdown passes in each of the first six games of a season when he had three in the first half. Brady added two more TD passes after halftime to set a career high with five in a game. He increased his NFL-leading touchdown total to 21, and put himself in a position to break Peyton Manning's single-season record of 49. And with this victory, Brady also tied Dallas legend Roger Staubach for the most wins (76) by a quarterback in his first 100 starts. Brady finished the game with 31 completions on 46 attempts for 388 yards. With his five touchdowns and no interceptions, he earned a passer rating of 129.6. And for the second time in the 2007 season, he was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. “The reason Brady is one of the best quarterbacks of all time? Days like Sunday,” Peter King wrote in his Monday Morning Quarterback column. “Sick. Just sick.”

With each passing week (pun intended!) it became clear that Belichick was trying to do the unthinkable: he was going for perfection! And he was going to take Brady and the Patriots with him. Belichick was tired of hearing about other teams and other players. He was tired of hearing about what the Patriots have to do to beat their next opponent. He wanted everyone to realize that it’s not about what the Patriots do, but what other teams have to do in an effort to keep pace! He not only wants to beat teams, he wanted to crush them! “He wants to obliterate everything,” wrote Anthony Stalter. “He wants everyone who ever questioned his legitimacy in the wake of the Jets scandal to take notice that he can dominate this league like no other coach or player has before” And not only did Belichick want another Super Bowl, he wanted to go undefeated in the process. "It’s not enough for Brady to have another good season; his coach wants him to break all of Peyton Manning’s single-season records!" It was at that point, that Belichick began sending sending a clear message to the League: This season, the Patriots are on a mission.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Part III

The Patriots were clearly headed for a historic season, but outside New England, many were less than enthused. Led by ESPN’s Gregg Easterbrook, a chorus of critics charged that the Pats’ unstoppable scoring machine amounted to unsportsmanlike conduct. Eastbrook pointed to the fact that in their Week 7 game against the Dolphins, the Patriots led the winless Dolphins 42-14 early in the fourth quarter. Belichick pulled Brady out of the game, who had already thrown five touchdown passes. Matt Cassel replaced Brady but after just two plays, he threw an interception that was returned by the Dolphins for a touchdown. No big deal, New England was still well ahead, leading 42-21 with only 10 minutes left to play. Cassel could go back onto the field and milk the clock. In this situation, New England could have easily cruised to victory – but that wasn’t enough for Belichick. He re-inserted Brady and just five plays into the drive, Brady threw a career-best sixth touchdown of the game. The Patriots cruised to a 49-28 victory. The game also marked the first of two times in Brady’s career in which he has posted a perfect passer rating, 158.3, for which Brady was honored with a second consecutive AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

Yet despite these accomplishments, some wondered: Are the Pats running up the score? Are the starters playing too long? Easterbrook went so far as to label the Patriots “evil” because its players had continued to score so many touchdowns against other football players whose job it was to stop them. “They run up the score to humiliate opponents,” wrote Easterbrook, “thus mocking sportsmanship. Their coach snaps and snarls in public, seeming to feel contempt for the American public that has brought him wealth and celebrity. Victory seems to give Bill Belichick no joy, and defeat throws him into fury.” Complaints about New England running up the score only grew louder the aftermath of week 8, in a game against the Washington Redskins.

Leading up to the game, the talk around the NFL was how New England was finally going to get a real test. The Redskins were coming to Foxborough with a 4– 2 record and the fourth best ranked defense in the league. They had given up just 5.6 yards per pass attempt over the first six weeks of the season and had allowed 13 points per game over the three weeks before their matchup with New England. Though Washington’s offensive production was thin, there was hope among Redskins fans that the defense could hold Brady in check. And with a game set against the undefeated Colts the following week, many were convinced the Patriots would finally be defeated.

Of course, the Redskins didn't have the ability to stop the Patriots nor their four receivers. The Pats scored on their first possession of the game and continued to score at will throughout the contest. Just 30 minutes into the game, they led 24-0 and were in complete command. By the time Brady was replaced by Matt Cassel midway through the fourth quarter, the Patriots had outgained the Redskins 451 yards to 157. By then, most of the Patriots fans had left (many of them likely rushing home to watch the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in a sweep of the Colorado Rockies!) Even that change didn’t slow them down. Cassel scored on a 15-yard run for a 52-0 lead with 5:53 remaining. Then the Patriots finally gave up points on Campbell’s touchdown pass. The Redskins entered with the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL and left with the franchise's worst of 52-7, their worst loss since 1961. To make matters worse, Joe Gibbs and the coaches lost their communication system during the game. They couldn't work the headsets. Belichick was aware of the problem but, naturally, didn't care. He was communicating his own way -- sending a message to the 31 other teams that the Pats will take no prisoners! It was a show-no-mercy attitude that carried over into the Pats locker room. "[Running up the score] is just something the coaching staff wants to do," Stallworth said. "We've been attacked since the start of the season, so we don't care. Whatever is going on out there, we just go out and play and try to execute what we are doing." “That's exactly what the Patriots are doing. They are executing everyone,” joked ESPN commentator Michael Clayton, “Welcome to Belichick's no-mercy policy.”

No team in NFL history has ever come back from a deficit such as the 38–0 score faced by the Redskins in the fourth quarter— and yet Belichick still felt the need to keep Brady in the game. Belichick was annoyed that in their previous game the Patriots beat winless Miami by only 49-28 after originally leading 42-7. So he never let up against Washington. That’s why he decided to keep Brady on the field for an 88-yard drive six minutes into the fourth quarter, despite already leading 38-0. On that 14-play drive, the Patriots went for a fourth-and-1 at the Redskins' 7 and ordered a 35-yard bomb to Randy Moss. Later in the game, Patriots went for a fourth-and-2 at the Redskins' 37 on the next possession while leading 45-0. By the time the game was over, Redskins linebacker Randall Godfrey was already seething at Belichick for running up the score. Godfrey told reporters that he approached Belichick as he walked off the field and said, "You need to show some respect for the game," adding that Belichick lacked the sportsmanship typically displayed by great NFL coaches. Asked why he would go for two fourth downs in a blowout, Belichick responded, "What do you want us to do, kick a field goal?" Belichick then defended himself against accusations that he runs up the score by saying that no lead is safe in the NFL. He has pointed to a 2003 "Monday Night Football" game in which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led the Colts 35–14 with less than four minutes remaining, only to lose 38–35 in overtime.

Still, there's no doubt what Belichick was really doing. Redskins veterans Phillip Daniels and Marcus Washington, who have 18 years combined NFL experience, both said they had never seen a team run up the score the way the Patriots are doing. Why? Belichick seemed driven by a desire to show the world that these Patriots are not just the best team in the league, but perhaps the greatest team in NFL history. Consider this: By the end of Week 9, the Patriots had become just the second team in NFL history to score at least 34 points in each of its first eight games of a season, joining the 2000 St. Louis Rams. They scored 149 points in three weeks; when more than half of the league's 32 teams did not even score 149 points all season! New England's total of 149 points in three games, against the Cowboys, Dolphins and Redskins, was at that time the highest three-game total since the 1950 Los Angeles Rams scored 163 points. Their 331 points through eight weeks put them on pace to break the NFL's single-season scoring record by more than 100 points. They had outscored their opponents by 204 points; while the Colts were the only other team that had even outscored its opponents by 100 points. By that point in the season, the Patriots had also scored 43 touchdowns, putting them on pace to obliterate the NFL record of 70, set by the 1984 Miami Dolphins.

“Face it, folks, Belichick plans to lay waste to the NFL.” wrote John Clayton, “Commissioner Roger Goodell took away a first-rounder, so the Patriots will take away your firstborn. Belichick has assembled perhaps the most dominating team in NFL history, and he's intent on destroying all opponents in his path. Anyone thinking he will rest Brady in the final month before the playoffs is wrong. He will allow his future Hall of Fame quarterback to shatter every record imaginable.”

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Part IV

With an offense churning at never-seen-before levels, the Patriots entered a Week 9 game that had been circled on the calendar of many NFL fans. It was a return trip to Indianapolis to face off against the defending Super Bowl Champions: Peyton Manning and the Colts. If the Patriots, then 8-0, were to indeed run the table, this figured to be their toughest test. The Colts entered at 7-0. Interestingly enough, a week before the Colts and Patriots faced each other in that highly anticipated showdown, Manning and Brady had a chance to set up the perfect matchup with an almost identical scenario: If each won in their separate games, and kept his respective team unbeaten, then either of them would become the first quarterbacks in league history to defeat the other 31 teams. Brady and Manning both completed this task in week 8 of the 2007 season, with Brady doing so in the blowout win over the Redskins. Technically Manning did it first since his game was played earlier in the day. However, Brady did it two years faster since he had not been in the league as long. It was quite remarkable for any player to defeat as many teams in such a short period of time, since you only could play a given team from the opposite conference once every four years. Brady, for instance, had faced Washington, only once in 7½ seasons, and had lost.

Week 9’s game of the Patriots (0-8) against the Colts (9-7) also marked the first time in the 88-year history of the NFL that two undefeated teams with seven or more wins had faced each other, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Prior to the game, there were only five previous instances in which undefeated teams with five or more wins have faced each other. The 7-0 Colts had won 12 consecutive regular-season and playoff games, while the Patriots won 11 consecutive regular-season games and 13 of their last 14 overall games. The Patriots only loss over that span was to the Colts in the 2006 AFC Championship. This time, the New England Patriots could not run up the score, could not embarrass the Indianapolis Colts, an opponent that was finally their equal. “They’re the best until you dethrone them,” safety Rodney Harrison said. “They’re world champs.” The Patriots had trailed for only 18 minutes in their first eight games. But they had never been challenged as completely as they were by the Colts, who stayed ahead of the Patriots, largely by pressuring Brady and keeping their explosive offense off the field for long stretches.

But the Patriots were in position to come back because they had limited the damage early in the game. The Colts’ first drive consumed almost seven minutes, but resulted in no points. So when Brady found Moss for a 4-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, the Patriots took a 7-3 lead, even though the Colts had dominated the time of possession. When the Colts were held to another field goal on their next drive, the Colts increased the advantage to 20-10 with 9:42 to play, and it seemed as if the Patriots once again would be leaving Indianapolis with a sour taste. One play, however, ignited the Patriots' comeback. Belichick said afterward that slowing the game down was not working, so the Patriots returned to the formula that had obliterated earlier opponents: racing to score as many points as possible! That was when the Patriots turned up the tempo on offense, stepped on the accelerator, and scored two touchdowns in less than five minutes to snatch the lead! Moss, who finished with nine receptions for 145 yards, beat double coverage to catch a jump ball for 55 yards to put the Patriots at the Colts’ 3-yard line. Wes Welker then caught a touchdown pass and the score was 20-17. After battering Manning and stopping the Colts, the Patriots got the ball back and used only 43 seconds to score the go-ahead touchdown, on a 13-yard pass play to Kevin Faulk. The Colts imploded, and the final score was 24-20.

For New England, defeating the unbeaten Super Bowl Champions was a stunning achievement. The Patriots beat back the only other team that had joined them on a plateau above the rest of the league, and seemed to present the greatest challenge to prevent an attempt at a perfect season. Brady had three touchdowns in the game. It was his ninth consecutive game with three or more touchdown passes, which broke Manning’s record of eight! He also finished the game with 33 touchdowns in the season, breaking Babe Parilli’s 43-year-old franchise record of 31. And it was time to start wondering if a perfect season really might be possible for the Pats.

Mike Lopresti of USA Today wrote following the Colts game, “No doubt, you've been noticing these New England Patriots. . . .So two weeks from now, they'll still be 9-0 and at Buffalo. The Bills are 4-4 and have won three in a row, but don't get your hopes up. Maybe you caught the first New England-Buffalo game this season. It ended 38-7. Then the Patriots are home to Philadelphia, currently last in the NFC East after losing 38-17 to Dallas. Then a trip to Baltimore, where the Ravens can have a little trouble scoring. Then a home game against 5-2 Pittsburgh, which is a promising roadblock, but would be more promising in Pennsylvania. Now the bad news. If the Patriots are 13-0 by then, they have back-to-back home games with the Jets and Dolphins. As in the 1-8 Jets and the 0-8 Dolphins. Imagine the possibilities on Dec. 23. You're watching your unique place in history flash before your eyes, you're desperate for a spoiler, and it's the Antithesis Bowl — 14-0 New England vs. 0-14 Miami. Merry Christmas. That would leave the finale in the Meadowlands against the New York Giants, currently 6-2, where New England's season and Spygate all began against the Jets in September. The Patriots could be returning to the scene of the crime, with a chance to go 16-0. So that's it on paper. Seven games, but only three against teams who as of Sunday night had winning records. Worried yet?”

In life, there are warnings that everyone is supposed to heed to: You don't step on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. Oh yeah, and you don’t wanna mess around with Bill Belichick when's he's mad!

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

^^ whew, all done for your viewing pleasure Apologize in advance if there are any typos and grammatical errors. Tenses might also be out of place, due to paraphrasing of articles from 2007.

(1) New question..... who is the better team? 2013 Broncos? Or 2007 Patriots? Will post thoughts later, but would love to hear from you guys first!

(2) Also, I'm taking request on topics you want me to look into regarding the 2007 season. Any topics you'd like me to cover?

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

*crickets*

LOL I know my posts are long and intimidating to read, but this thread is meant for forum posters and not just myself. I think 2007 was easily one of the most memorable NFL seasons we've ever experienced. Hand's down. Obviously, some of us feel better about than others, but that's the point! I want to hear youropinions....and believe me, I know how much all of you are opinionated

 

[1960Pats]

I still think that team was better than the 72 dolphins

The Dolphins cheated, and it bothers me that Don Shula had the nerve to go public with his asterisk bs after Crygate.

The 2007 Pats were guilty of taping coaches signals from the wrong place, 3 years after they had won their last SB and 10 years before their next SB win.

The 1972 Dolphins were guilty of tampering to bring Don Shula to Miami, who lead the team to 3 SBs in a row with two wins and a "perfect" season.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

The Dolphins cheated, and it bothers me that Don Shula had the nerve to go public with his asterisk bs after Crygate.

Sorry, that made me laugh!

 

[New England Pride]

*crickets*

LOL I know my posts are long and intimidating to read, but this thread is meant for forum posters and not just myself. I think 2007 was easily one of the most memorable NFL seasons we've ever experienced. Hand's down. Obviously, some of us feel better about than others, but that's the point! I want to hear youropinions....and believe me, I know how much all of you are opinionated

Thanks for posting this stuff. Brings back mostly ausome memories. What a season, definetly the most memorable season I've ever experienced. I really wish they had closed the deal, but super bowl 49 has healed some of those wounds. If you have anymore stuff, keep posting.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

2007 Patriots vs. 2013 Broncos - Whose offense accomplished more? (Part 1 of 2)

The Broncos may have lit up the scoreboards in 2013, but IMO they never quite captured the same kind of magic behind the Patriots offense. In their 18-1 season, the Pats became the first known team in NFL history to run more than 50 percent of their offensive plays from the shotgun. Theirs was the first truly modern spread-style offense to succeed wildly in the NFL. And with Moss destroying deep coverage and Welker fly-papering everything Brady threw underneath, theirs was a new and nearly unstoppable passing game. As we all know, the NFL felt their earthquake-like impact immediately. While Welker tied for the league lead in receptions, Moss posted one of the greatest receiving seasons of all time. That season, Moss hauled in 23 touchdowns to break Jerry Rice’s single-season record, to go along with 98 catches for 1,493 yards. To put his impact into perspective that season, Moss accounted for 138 points on his own.

With Moss’ career reinvigorated, Brady’s arm got stretched out like never before. Ten games into the season, Brady was 250/338 (74%) for 3,059 yards (9.1 Y/A) with 38 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and two more rushing scores. 40 TDs against 4 INTs! By the end of the season, Brady had authored one of the finest seasons ever enjoyed by an NFL quarterback, completing 68.9% of his passes, accumulating a 6.25:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and topping Manning’s single-season touchdown record (50). “To bring some clarity and perspective to Brady's season,” wrote Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN, “think of it this way: He has more touchdown passes than the rest of the AFC East (31), more than the combined totals of Brett Favre and Drew Brees (44), and the exact combined totals of Peyton and Eli Manning. He also has just five interceptions in 476 pass attempts. Dallas 'Tony Romo threw that many picks in a single game this season” These were out-of-this-world numbers that defied description. Professional football underwent radical change thanks to what Brady could do in 2007. “No longer do you say, ‘He's putting up PlayStation numbers.’ Instead, you say, ‘He's putting up Brady numbers.’”

As expected, the rest of the league struggled to keep up with the prolific Pats, who scored 30 or more in 12 games, 40 or more in four contests and 50 or more twice. New England outscored its opponents 411-157 in their first ten games of the season. The Patriots had a 25.4 margin of victory through the first ten games. Those 411 points were the most ever through ten games. How insane is that? Title or not, though, for a solid 18 weeks, New England was home to what was literally the most prolific offense the NFL had ever seen, whose + 315 point differential was 127 more than that year’s second place Indianapolis Colt’s (+ 188) and 413 more than the AFC East’s second place Buffalo Bills (-102). All told, the new-and-improved, star-studded Patriots scored an all-time-high 75 touchdowns and demolished the NFL record for points in a season with 589 —33 points better than the next-best mark—and an amazing 36.8-point average per game.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

2007 Patriots vs. 2013 Broncos - Whose offense accomplished more? (Part 2 of 2)

Since 2007, the NFL has been altered beyond recognition, becoming a league in which passing is prolific and points are cheap. For example, near the end of the Dec. 9, 2013 "Monday Night Fooball" game between Dallas and Chicago, the ESPN broadcast team of Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden discussed the scoring records the NFL was setting. During the sixteen games between Dec. 5-9, the league's 32 teams scored a combined 859 points. It was the most in league history. The scoring inflation has become so pervasive in fact, that scoreboard watchers who set point spreads -- and oddsmakers who bet against them -- were astonished by that week’s over-under totals. Of the 16 NFL games, 11 went over -- and not by a few points, either. Five games were in the 50s, two were in the 60s and three were in the 70s. Even more extraordinary, nine games Dec. 8 and the one Dec. 9 were played in cold, blustery and sometimes snowy conditions, which should have throttled scoring. “[E]ven Old Man Winter can't best the rules changes that encourage passing and penalize defenses,” wrote Bill Ordine of Pressbox.com.

The NFL has also become more of a passing league, with more and more quarterbacks throwing for 4,000-plus yards and putting up gaudy numbers on a weekly basis. In 2007, Tom Brady threw 4,802 yards. At the time, that total was the third-highest single-season passing mark the league has ever seen. Since then though, the feat has fallen to the 14th best, and even Tom Brady has topped that number twice. But it’s important to put those numbers into perspective. In the last five years, teams are averaging 239 passing yards per game and completing 61.3 percent of passes, metrics that would have been single-season records in 2007. Josh Gordon, for instance, set records in 2013 for receiving yards in a two-, three- and four-game stretch this season, and the Cleveland Browns lost each of those games. A 60 percent completion percentage was once considered a milestone for a successful season. In 1983, only eight quarterbacks completed over 60 percent of their passes. Up to twenty quarterbacks surpassed that in 2010. Now, 60 percent is the baseline. “You can forgive fans for not being impressed by gaudy passing numbers,” writes Chase Stuart of the New York Times, “when Philadelphia Eagles quarterbackNick Folesstarted the season with 19 touchdowns and no interceptions.”

In this point-pervasive, pass-prolific environment, the 2013 Broncos scored 606 points in 2013, breaking the record of 589 set by the Patriots in 2007. Denver's 76 touchdowns also beat the previous record of 75 (also held by the 2007 Patriots ), and their per-game average of 37.9 is the most since the league expanded to 16 games in 1978. However, just because they scored the most touchdowns respective to that year does not mean they were the most efficient team scoring those touchdowns. While the 2013 Broncos might have scored more points than the 07 Pats, they did so on 32 additional drives. I was inspired by a Reddit post of an image from the Patriots 2007 season, which stated that the Patriots had the fewest drives in the league (102), yet had produced the greatest number of touchdown drives (51). By the end of the season, the Patriots had increased their drive total to the third fewest in the league (170) ahead of only the Colts (166) and the Jaguars (169), but the point stood: the Patriots 2007 offense was the most ruthlessly efficient ever witnessed in NFL history, with over 40% of their drives resulting in a touchdown. Combining the 21 field goals with the 75 offensive touchdowns means that the 2007 scored on 88 out of 167 offensive possessions, giving them and astonishing scoring percentage of 52.7%. That’s insane! “If Tom Brady touched leather in 2007,” wrote one Reddit user, “the Patriots were more likely to score 7 points than 0 points.” By way of comparison, the team that ranked second in scoring percentage for the 2007 season was the Indianapolis Colts (44.6%) and the drop off from there is even more striking with the third place Dallas Cowboys more than 10 percentage points behind the Patriots. That’s insane!

Reddit user 2037764943 decided to look at Points per Drive statistics since 1991 to see which teams scored the most consistently over the course of their seasons. It's no surprise that the 2007 Patriots scored highest for PPD and set the gold standard for offenses. The 2007 New England Patriots scored 3.53 points per drive, which clearly cements them as the best offense in the history of the game. To put these statistics in perspective, the 2011 Packers scored 3.05 points per drive. The '99 Greatest Show on Turf scored 2.85 points per drive. The 1998 Cunningham-to-Moss Vikings scored 2.92 points per drive. The 2013 Denver Broncos scored 2.98 points per drive, which is still impressive, but New England’s offense was playing on a whole other level in 2007. Again, the '07 Patriots scored 3.53 points per drive! That's so sick, it honestly makes me cringe! How does that happen?!?!

So which quarterback had the better season? Manning in 2013? Or Tom Brady in 2007? Any fantasy owner can attest to the sheer volume of Manning’s stats. His 55 touchdowns in 2013 trumps Brady’s ’07 total by five, and his 5,477 yards gives him a 671-yard advantage. Manning also threw 16 more touchdowns than the next closest quarterback this season, while Brady eclipsed the field by 14 scores in 2007. Yet while Manning threw five more touchdowns in 2014 than Brady did in 07', he also attempted 81 more passes. So, while he edges Brady in sheer volume, Brady actually threw touchdowns at a higher clip in 2007. It’s close, but Brady’s touchdown percentage beats Manning’s, 8.7 to 8.3. In other words, if Brady threw the football as often as Manning, he would have heaved 57 touchdowns passes and his record would still stand. While this is purely hypothetical, it does offer some useful insight as to just how effective Brady was in 2007. The numbers show that Brady would likely have had better numbers if given more opportunities. Check out this list. It's quarterbacks with years of 400+ passing attempts over the past twenty seasons who've had a passer rating 10% greater than the league average, yards per attempt 15% greater than the league average, and who have exceeded the league average in interception rate. Brady’s 2007 season is the most impressive on the list as the only season breaking the 40% barrier. That’s insane!

But the best way to accurately judge how the 2013 Broncos and 2007 Patriots measure up, is to measure their achievements based on opposing defenses.Based on passing yards and touchdowns per game, Manning surpassed what each defense typically allowed by an average of 102 yards and nearly two touchdowns. In 2013, teams surrendered 43 percent more yards to Manning than the average quarterback and more than twice as many touchdowns than against every other quarterback they faced. Yet Brady’s 2007 ratios are even more impressive as he averaged 48 percent more yards than defenses had otherwise allowed and a mind-blowing 150 percent more touchdowns than his opponents yielded, on average to their other opponents. That means when Brady came to town, however many touchdowns you expected to give up, you could count on doubling that number, then adding half of it again! And he did so against tougher defenses than Manning.

In 2013, the Broncos faced only two top-10 ranked pass defenses across the NFL and just one of the top five, whereas Brady and the 2007 Patriots went toe-to-toe with a top-10 defense six times, including four showdowns against top-five units. Brady gains an even greater edge when you consider that not only did Peyton face very few stout defenses in 2013, but Denver’s 2013 opponents were just 110-146 (.430) in 2012. That is brought on by an AFC West that produced 13 wins from the other three teams combined! The Broncos squared off against one of the league’s 10 worst pass defenses nine times, including an astonishing six matchups against a team ranked in the bottom five in defense. The Brady and the Pats had no such luck, only netting four games against teams ranked among the 10 worst in defense and just two matchups—both vs. the Bills —against a bottom-five unit. Since Manning’s 2013-14 season came about during a more prolific offensive climate than Brady’s 2007 gem, his increased offensive output doesn't move the needle as much as Brady’s did when yards and points were at more of a premium. “Basically,” writes Sean Keane of FiveThirtyEight.com, “Brady earned his numbers by grabbing the bull by the horns and wrestling it into submission. Manning, on the other hand, never even saw the bull until it was butchered, tenderized and served to him medium-rare with truffle fries. Makes me wonder if he chants ‘cut that meat!’ to himself as he carves up a steak or a defense for that matter.”

 

[A man named Brady]

Healthy brady=SB win in 08. We own the steelers and the cards didn't have the pass rush to kill our Oline.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Healthy brady=SB win in 08. We own the steelers and the cards didn't have the pass rush to kill our Oline.

Thanks so much for bringing this up. Definitely will get to that later.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Still curious to hear other people share their thoughts....when I started this thread, I didn't intend to write a running series on the season, but I figured if nobody wanted to talk, then the least I could do is write a summary for others to read, at least until we have something to talk about

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Still curious to hear other people share their thoughts....when I started this thread, I didn't intend to write a running series on the season, but I figured if nobody wanted to talk, then the least I could do is write a summary for others to read, at least until we have something to talk about

CEO, 2007 was NO Joke! It showed us what Brady is capable of with a bonified long threat receiver like Moss and Offensive arsenal. At that time we were comparing what P.Manning had with Colts and then what Brady can do if he had weapons and Brady broke Passing TD Record.
But besides individual accomplishments to go through all 2007 to very last game and next to last play to catch a Hail Mary Heave that was answered was a GREAT SEASON, PERIOD!
Plus, It was worth price of admission to see Don Shula sweatin it out for a perfect season.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

It always will be a painful memory. But isn't it less bitter now? For me personally, when sadness is laced with bitterness, it is a profoundly different experience.

Galeb I agree it was painful at that time especially here In NY hearing how Giants Stomped us Etc. I went to that last game of 2007 season vs Giants Brady throwin to moss for his 50th TD & Moss's 23rd TD Record Breakers right in front of me and saw that game that Giants were a dangerous team especially as they gained more momentum after our game and what they did through playoffs.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Plus, It was worth price of admission to see Don Shula sweatin it out for a perfect season.

Haha. Don Shula is definitely a sore winner. I would've loved to have seen the Pats go 19-0, just to stick it to that old prick.

Galeb I agree it was painful at that time especially here In NY hearing how Giants Stomped us Etc. I went to that last game of 2007 season vs Giants Brady throwin to moss for his 50th TD & Moss's 23rd TD Record Breakers right in front of me and saw that game that Giants were a dangerous team especially as they gained more momentum after our game and what they did through playoffs.

The Super Bowl loss almost made me forget how special the 2007 really was. It was a hard loss to take. It really was. It's like having the most amazing road trip, then suddenly driving into a tree at the very end! But I couldn't imagine having to live among New Yorkers and endure all that ridicule.

But here's something to consider: In the early years of the League, qualification for championship title games was based solely on regular season records. The league decided to halt this and move to a single-elimination tournament, because all the great teams were winning it every single year. They wanted to give a chance for the lesser teams to have a shot at glory. That's all playoffs are, a chance for the scrubs to get one more shot at the elites . And sometimes the lesser team wins. The Giants beat the Patriots in the one game that decided it all, whereas the Patriots played the entire regular season to perfection, playing against multiple elite teams and beating them all.

Here's another way to look at what the 2007 Patriots accomplished: Every year, a team wins the Super Bowl. That means 49 teams in 49 years.... every year. However, only one other year has a team gone undefeated in the regular season (and even then, the 72' Dolphins had the benefit of having a shortened season format - just 14 games as opposed to 16). No other football team has ever gone 16-0 in the regular season and won 18 games in row. This is a team that truly made history with its accomplishments. And I'm glad Kraft saw to it was the Patriots were proud of it, and not made to be ashamed

Owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft presented the players with rings. On one side of the ring, it reads "16-0 -- perfect season." On the other, it reads "18-1, AFC Championship."

In addition, a banner was made to commemorate the season, and it was unveiled at the ceremony, with Kraft pulling a rope as it came down from the ceiling. It will be displayed at Gillette Stadium, next to the team's Super Bowl banners.

"We went 16-0, we won 18 straight games, and then the 19th game ended so abruptly that all of us have had a sick feeling in our stomach.... "

"I think there were two things going on from last year - and one was that it was an extraordinary year that I don't think we got to savor and enjoy," Kraft said. "We accomplished something special as a team and organization last year, under tremendous scrutiny, more scrutiny than any team has ever been under.

Looking back, the 2007 season should be celebrated, not mourned. The Pats have a lot to be proud of, for doing what they did!

 

[patriot1136]

Sweet banner