24 hours later, do you consider the Pats season a success?

[ivanvamp]

Probably more than any other Patriot team since BB took over, the 2011 Pats were able to benefit from having a strong team organization. In a year where there was no dominant AFC team, a team that is well run and consistently good wen't into a playoff season that was wide open for any team that was playing well and peaking at the right time. The 2011 Patriots were that team.

They were a play or two away from stealing a championship with hard work, and a front office that makes good decisions.

This is how I feel. They were not the best team in the NFL this year. I think either the Packers or Saints were. I think the Patriots were one of the best teams (top 3-5), but not the best. For them to have come thisclose to winning it all, given their youth on D, their injuries, etc., was remarkable. Of course, once you get to the Super Bowl you desperately want to win it. And every time you don't it feels like a huge missed opportunity. So I get that.

But a step back from the ledge will reveal this to have been one of the most enjoyable and successful seasons the team has ever had, especially given the expectations.

I really think that 2012 is the season this Pats team will go on another dominant run. The D, which was rounding into form at the end of the year, will continue to improve. Gronk will be healthy again. They will, I'm convinced, add a big-play WR like Lloyd. Vollmer and Solder will be even better. I think we could be looking at a dominant 14-2 record...something like that.

 

[IllegalContact]

I said other.......ultimately, it was not a success although they exceeded expectations.

It is not a success because they could have won that game

 

[ensoul]

I am in the minority here but the goal for all 32 teams is to win the Superbowl. If your team does not make the playoffs, makes the playoffs and losses or loses in the last second the Superbowl then season was not a success. As far as I am concerned the only team that has a successful season is the one that wins the SB. I don't believe in moral victories.

 

[ivanvamp]

I am in the minority here but the goal for all 32 teams is to win the Superbowl. If your team does not make the playoffs, makes the playoffs and losses or loses in the last second the Superbowl then season was not a success. As far as I am concerned the only team that has a successful season is the one that wins the SB. I don't believe in moral victories.

Hmmmm...

Well, I am guessing you aren't really familiar with the process of developing a franchise. Or that you've never coached a team yourself. I've coached a ton and know that sometimes, you just don't have a team that's ready to compete for a championship. So you look at the process of development. You say, if we can finish above .500 with this team, that's success. Then maybe the next year you say, if we can win our division, that's success. Then, if we can get to the championship, that's success. Etc.

Obviously the Patriots as a franchise are very good. But their defense was very young and had a bunch of new parts. Goodness, they played the SB with guys that weren't on the team earlier in the year, and guys that played earlier in the year weren't on the team anymore. I think we were all (or most of us, anyway) surprised that the Pats made it to the Super Bowl.

The point is: it's possible for success to be defined apart from winning it all.

 

[Bertil]

I'd consider a success any season that doesn't leave me feeling like I feel today...

 

[captain insano]

no no and no. the patriots are about winning super bowls. they didnt win. they are no moral victories.

 

[Zeus]

I'd consider a success any season that doesn't leave me feeling like I feel today...

Colts went 2-14. Their fans don't feel the way you feel today ...

 

[Ice Cold Bruschi]

Re: 24 hours later, do you consider the Pats' season a success?

I say no just because the patriots let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers. The road to the superbowl was laid out for the Patriots, Pittsburgh going down, Matt Shaub going down, the Packers, Saints, and Niners all losing to inferior teams. If the Pats didn't beat themselves in the superbowl I would look at this differently but I just can't. There are no moral victories in the NFL.

 

[Stoke city patriots]

Hate to see people on here when BB or TB retire and we have the inevitable bad season. Probably start supporting the giants

Please leave now, if you aren't going to support the team through thick and thin.
:bye2:

 

[vyrago]

Probably the team, the coaches and maybe Robert Kraft don't agree, but I certainly do. I thought the season was a success when they got past the first round of the playoffs.

 

[JMarr]

I guess you could recite the "anything less than a championship is failure" thing, but c'mon. This was an incredibly successful season, especially considering how the secondary was in complete disarray to start the year and that we had serious question marks at linebacker and D-line--yet the D improved all year long and peaked at the end of the year.

The Pats have exactly one position (WR) in need of a serious upgrade over the offseason--ONE. How often does that happen. They have exactly zero positions where there are players on the decline. This is the only season I can remember where you can say without a doubt that the team as a whole will be even better next year.

 

[Spiral]

This team is still in a rebuilding mode. To most people looking at this team during pre-season, it was obvious that the defense wasn't championship-caliber. This team reminded me a little of the 2001 team, which got to the SB ahead of schedule.

When the team with a defense this bad for most of the year goes 13-3, you have to have had a fair bit of luck. The two TEs stayed healthy for most of the year, TB started all 16 games, the NFC East wasn't that strong, and SD and Indy had down years. In the playoffs, the Steelers got really banged up, giving the Pats a bye into the AFCC game, in which they were mostly outplayed by the Ravens.

The team may be better next year, but not as lucky.

 

[Bertil]

Colts went 2-14. Their fans don't feel the way you feel today ...

The Colts had no real opportunities for success. Their season was doomed early on.

The Patriots had tangible real opportunities that were squandered. I realize that we all need to salvage something positive out of this emotional investment. That is human nature. Whether or not this is a success ultimately depends on where the team goes from here, as the '04 Red Sox taught us. If the team ascends to a Championship having been steeled by this defeat, then it will have been a success. If the team falters again then this season will have been a failure.

Judged on it's own merit, the '11 Patriots wasted the high seed and easy path afforded to them by the NFL schedule and fate, a confluence of events that does not often occur. Then they rewarded this good fortune by repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot throughout a closely contested game, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory time and time again. In the end, they got exactly what they deserved, a silent trip back to Foxborough.

My guess is that there will have to be a major turnover to complete the journey to a SB win. This is for a reason which I hesitate to even type, because I can hardly believe that I'm saying this. I don't mean to be a downer, but I don't believe in Tom Brady anymore. I just don't think he has it anymore, from a "fire in the belly" standpoint.

He comports himself in all of the requisite ways, playing the part as he always has. I just saw the look in his eyes during the fourth quarter on Sunday, and I didn't see determination. I saw something else...pain from his shoulder perhaps. It looked like he just wanted it to end, rather than wanting the moment. He has nothing to gain. He will always be "Tom Brady, 3-Time SB Champion, 2 time MVP, sure-fire HOFer, etc.". The thought of him at 35 surviving uninjured through another rigorous 18 NFL contests just to get back to that point is unrealistic. The Championship TB12 we all know and love is on the wane. And, like I said in another post, I hope that I am wrong...sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl.

 

[IllegalContact]

the team went further than I though it would

I'll take that

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I still have too many memories of "The Patsies" to take any of the Kraft era for granted.

This was before my time, but just to give you an idea of how well-respected the Pats were back then: when the Steelers were in the NFC, there were NINE consecutive Pats-Steelers games played in Pittsburgh.

 

[Patspsycho]

the team went further than I though it would

I'll take that

Me too. With all the changes we made in the secondary, and with the defense, I had no idea we'd reach the superbowl or end up going 13-3.

I just wish we'd lost to any other teams but the Giants.

 

[IllegalContact]

Me too. With all the changes we made in the secondary, and with the defense, I had no idea we'd reach the superbowl or end up going 13-3.

I just wish we'd lost to any other teams but the Giants.

I'm over that...to me it would not have mattered what team it was.

time to start arguing about how this team will be improved

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Probably the team, the coaches and maybe Robert Kraft don't agree, but I certainly do. I thought the season was a success when they got past the first round of the playoffs.

In my mind, any team that wins a playoff game/series can call that season at least a relative success.

 

[grux]

Yes, the season was a success. I am so proud to be a fan of the pats and especially the 2011 team. The entire team came together and tried to win a championship for the late Myra Kraft. After the dust settles from the loss, the players and coaches will be proud of their accomplishments. I am already looking forward to the draft and training camp.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Probably the team, the coaches and maybe Robert Kraft don't agree, but I certainly do. I thought the season was a success when they got past the first round of the playoffs.

Actually they all do agree and they've said so...as recently as the last 48 hours. There is a difference between disappointment and failure. Everyone would rather win but just getting there and competing represents success for any NFL franchise. Getting their for a 5th time in 11 seasons represents incredible success. This team sets incremental goals every season and all season because unlike fans they know it's folly to get too far ahead of yourself. First goal, get to the playoffs as any seed. Second goal, win your division. Third goal secure a bye. Fourth goal advance through the playoffs. Fifth goal get to the final 4 or conference championship for a shot to compete for the sixth goal of advancing to the Super Bowl and competing for every teams ultimate goal. Then win or lose, start the process over again.