For those who haven't heard: There is a Salary Cap.
The Salary Cap acts as a constant and relentless force of Erosion, robbing all 32 Teams of Depth every Year.
As such, forging a Dominating Force that will tower over the rest of the League ~ like the 1985 Bears or the 1989 Miners or the 1992 CowBoys ~ has become virtually impossible: Every Team, every Year, even the Elite, is but an Injury or two away from falling out of legitimate Championship Contention.
There is no Superman Team. This Kryptonite ******** suggests a Reality that doesn't exist.
I stopped the quote there because it would cut off anyway, but the rest of your post is the opposite of the beginning. There
is a Superman team, over the last 15 years, and it's us.
We got ahead of the league for 4 years - well 3 of them - while Tommy was still cheap. We made the most of it. We stayed relevant in the "down years" when we fell off the perch (and still made the playoffs.) We had a playoff-caliber year when Brady went down (how often do you win 11 and not make it?)
This team has been full of win since it was actually cool to say "full of win," before the Typhoid Mary of AIDS ruined every phrase about "winning" for everybody.
And that's
despite the league conspiring to break up the Pats by off-the-field means.
Bottom line, I agree with you. People occasionally mention the Cap/Free Agency era. But by and large, the coverage is like it was pre-Patriots... they assume there will just be another dynasty when we're gone.
I don't see a combination like Belichick/Brady/(hate me if you want) The Krafts in my lifetime.
And this year Brady's made me a believer in his "I'll play until I collect social security" mindset. This year, at the age of 128 or something, he's decided to study how to extend plays with his feet. Last season he decided he'd get rid of the ball as fast as necessary if his line is having a bad day. He was raw talent in 08, by comparison. Now he's learning every trick in the book to extend his run of greatness, or dare we think it, improve... he's now had the advantage of watching his bete noire Manning fall off the cliff, and I wouldn't be surprised if lil Manning is out of the game before Brady at the rate things are going.
I really want that last ring for Brady this season... and then some. I can see a day in the future where I'm thinking "too bad about that Garapolo guy, he had promise, but the timing wasn't right."
Maybe, maybe not. An injury could make all of this bullcrap in short order. I'll say this for him though, he's worked like hell to be the best and I don't see him slowing that down. That's saying something.