Has Coach Bill The Mad (Genius) Jumped The Shark??

[Off The Grid]

I think we have to ask this.

To be clear:

1 ~ No, I'm not one of those fools who thinks everything he does is wrong.

2 ~ Nor am I one of those fools who thinks everything he does is right.

He is the greatest Coach of this young Century ~ one of the very best ever ~ and one of the best General Managers, as well, in my opinion.

He is, far and away, the greatest blessing this team has ever had.

And his impact on this region has been revolutionary.

But Greatness...does not mean Perfection.

***

Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the man.

Perhaps he set the standard of excellence too high.

But his moves, ere the last few years, are striking me as increasingly eccentric.

And I'm really starting to wonder if the man is simply burning out.

In a QB driven league, this is what happens when your franchise QB doesn't play like a franchise QB.

Likewise, coaching doesn't turn the ball over 4 times.

It's always best to go with the obvious answer.

Sorry, Brother Pitt, but you just tried to turn a Rule of Thumb into an Absolute...and that is a bridge too far, my friend!! :nono:

It is OFTEN best to go with the obvious answer.

***

As to your point: You're talking about last week's game, or perhaps this entire half season.

But your context is out of whack, because that's not what the OP is about.

I'm referring to what I've been seeing going all the way back to 2005.

 

[Darolyn72]

Sorry Honks, Belichick is one of the great coaches of all time, but not the greatest, if you think that, then you are ignoring key facts or aren't knowledgeable enough in the history of football. But, you can't lose a Super Bowl where you are undefeated and an overwhelming favorite, especially when you are outcoached and be the greatest. Spygate, even though I believe was overplayed, was embarrassing to the team, to the fans, and has always left the door open for criticism. The whole 2007 season you had to hear Spygate, spygate, spygate, Bill was warned by Goodell and he ignored it. He's arrogant. That never goes away, it is brought up on every Belichick historic discussion. And also, his last 4 years of coaching have been just ok.

It's the same arrogance that leads him to draft Ras I Dowling over dissenting opinion, bring in Albert Haynesworth and to draft one linebacker in 6 years in the first round. Bill refuses to bring in an experienced DC, because he doesn't like the fact that someone else could get the credit.

An analogy I like to draw is Bill and Steve Jobs. Jobs was as good as it was in the technology world, his arrogance and blindness eventually forced him into being fired at Apple, the company HE created. He got his mojo back and became probably one of the great visionaries of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Bill lost his mojo. He's been outcoached in his last 3 playoff games. That undisputed. From having no gameplan to counteract the Giants pass rush, to no game plan against the Jets, that somehow allowed Pat Chung to fake a punt. He had chances to get it back but failed this year.

If Bill wins it all in 2007, he cements himself on par with Walsh. But he lost. Just like Bird lost to Magic twice in the finals. That's why Magic goes a tick higher than Bird. Let's also not forget 2006 having no Wide outs for Brady.

Bill Walsh was the greatest coach ever. He was revolutionary, went 4-0 in Super Bowls.

Chuck Noll, 4 Super Bowls, secures him #2

Belichick goes into Shula, Landry, Parcells category.

Lombardi, Paul Brown are from another era so its hard to compare 1960 to 2004.

Bill's coaching arc, is getting very close to Shula. Once Marino finally started getting beat up and injured Miami began to fall apart.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Time will tell. It's interesting to compare the Patriots under BB to the Miami Dolphins under Shula. Pro Football Reference has the offensive and defensive team rankings (points and toal yards being easiest to see) broken down for each year. Shula's 1960s teams and 1970s teams dominated on defense--ranked number 1-10 almost every year. Super Bowl winners. BB mirrors that, with some variations, with Giants in 1980s, and Patriots through 2004 ( 2007 defense actually pretty highly ranked too). Super Bowl winners.


But both coaches later in their careers had quarterbacks Marino and Brady, considered all time greats. To get the best out of them, they remolded the team into offensive machines. Draft picks and trades focused mostly on players for the offense last few years for Patriots. I don't think it makes them lesser coaches. But it is interesting to compare the defensive Super Bowl legacies of those teams with the offensive firepower that did not bring home the same SB titles. If Shula and BB are A+ on the defensive side, maybe they are B+ on offense. And that is the difference between Super Bowl winners and 1st round exits on yoour home field for 2 years in a row (something else Miami in the 1980s was known for).

I still love this team and think they can win, but being designed to score 30 points a game makes me yearn for days of Corey Dillon running and a nasty New England defense swarming like a jail break.

The difference now is the 2011 NFL is a QB driven league.

The Patriots are essentially tied with Green Bay for having the "statistically worst" defense.

Furthermore, the playoff losses do not support your opinion.

In those two loses, 6 of 9 scoring drives started with the opponent already in field goal range.

What those losses prove is you can't give opponents turnovers and very short fields. That's universal since the first pigskin was handed off.

It's obvious this year.

It's not obvious if you are on patsfans.com.

 

[Off The Grid]

When you consider that BB played center/guard for a small college, it's not so puzzling, that he likes small school coaches.

Plus, he always seems to have a good o-line, because he obviously knows the position.

His draft problems always seem to be the skill players.

It could come down to it just being the scouts.

Maybe he needs scouts who know how to pick good wide receivers and defensive backs, instead of focusing on the line.

I think the Steelers always seem to have good linebackers because their scouting dep't focuses on that position.

In the end, I think the constant drain of coaches and front office personnel, since Weiss and Crennel left, has been BB's biggest problem.

Indeed!!

The SECOND thing I'm gonna do, after I make my Billions and buy out the Kraft family ~ ALSO just discussed with Brother Mayo!! ~ is POUR money into the Scouting Department!!

This missed Opportunities ~ that a few bucks spent on that Department go a long way towards solving ~ probably cost FAR more, due to overpaying for Free Agents, than the cost of investing in the Scouts, themselves.

 

[SyN65]

What were seeing here is BB's ego consuming him. I don't think he wants to admit that he's a terrible drafter and needs help building a better defense. He's BB after all, the mad genius.

It's alarming to me that over the last few years we've had:

1st round pick, Meriweather - Cut
1st round pick, McCourty - In a slump, juries out on him
2nd round pick, Butler - Cut
2nd round pick, Wheatly - Cut
2nd round pick, Chung - Average
2nd round pick, Dowling - Injury prone

Thats A LOT of HIGH picks on secondary help...and we STILL have the worst secondary in the league! We have undrafted guys STARTING in the secondary right now...it's getting WORSE. Not better. You can't argue these FACTS. There is a serious drafting or coaching issue here.

And that's not even taking into account other high picks used on defense:

2nd round pick, Cunningham - About to be cut, healthy scratch two games in a row
2nd round pick, Brace - Useless, injured every year
3rd round pick, McKenzie - Cut
3rd round pick, Crable - Cut

Plus all the perplexing moves BB makes...

1. Constantly trading back to get guys who never play (Price) or guys he misses on

2. Year after year IGNORING the need of a pass rush

3. Drafting two RBs when we have Woodhead/BJGE/Faulk?

4. Drafting Dowling despite injury history (Yes it worked out for Gronk but Dowling has been injured since High School...and surprise surprise he couldn't make it out of TC without getting injured)

5. Releasing Bodden when he knew Dowling was headed to the IR.

6. Releasing players and replacing them with worse players. (Ex. Release Meriweather, replace with Brown. Release Bodden, replace with Adams/Molden)

He's FAILED as a talent evaluator. As a COACH I'd take him any day of the week but he NEEDS help. Hopefully BB takes a look in the mirror after this season is over with and sets his ego aside to bring in some guys to help.

I hate to say this but we're wasting Brady's career right now...

 

[Off The Grid]

Time will tell. It's interesting to compare the Patriots under BB to the Miami Dolphins under Shula. Pro Football Reference has the offensive and defensive team rankings (points and toal yards being easiest to see) broken down for each year. Shula's 1960s teams and 1970s teams dominated on defense--ranked number 1-10 almost every year. Super Bowl winners. BB mirrors that, with some variations, with Giants in 1980s, and Patriots through 2004 ( 2007 defense actually pretty highly ranked too). Super Bowl winners.


But both coaches later in their careers had quarterbacks Marino and Brady, considered all time greats. To get the best out of them, they remolded the team into offensive machines. Draft picks and trades focused mostly on players for the offense last few years for Patriots. I don't think it makes them lesser coaches. But it is interesting to compare the defensive Super Bowl legacies of those teams with the offensive firepower that did not bring home the same SB titles. If Shula and BB are A+ on the defensive side, maybe they are B+ on offense. And that is the difference between Super Bowl winners and 1st round exits on yoour home field for 2 years in a row (something else Miami in the 1980s was known for).

I still love this team and think they can win, but being designed to score 30 points a game makes me yearn for days of Corey Dillon running and a nasty New England defense swarming like a jail break.

Ain't it the truth??

Seems to me that Coach Bill has become infatuated with Brady's extraordinary passing abilities...and forgotten that it was actually Brady's quarterbacking abilities that led us to those 3 World Championships.

The difference between an explosive Offense ~ like we now have ~ and a dominant Offense ~ as we once had ~ is the difference between making the PlayOffs...and winning the PlayOffs.

 

[Darolyn72]

Here's the thing on the draft. You know if you miss on a Ray Rice or LaMarr Woodley or Jones-Drew that happens. The question on Belichick is when he is missing within one pick at the same position.

2008 - Brandon Tate (misses most of the season was ACL) vs Mike Wallace One pick apart, Randy was 2 years past his great season, and you take the hurt guy. Tate tears another ACL first year, has a couple of good plays in 2010 but that's it, cut.

2010 - Jermaine Cunningham vs Carlos Dunlap. Dunlap was the better player. Cunningham had less baggage, but let's face it baggage is less of a factor these days and what has happened.

2011 - All night to discuss who to take on Day 2. Given how fragile the Patriots defense has been and the need for a defensive lineman, remember their was no free agency. And they go with Dowling.

Not to mention passing on Conor Barwin, in the 2nd round taking Brace and Butler.

If these bad picks were spread out over 5 years its natural. But they are missing big every year.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Sorry, Brother Pitt, but you just tried to turn a Rule of Thumb into an Absolute...and that is a bridge too far, my friend!! :nono:

It is OFTEN best to go with the obvious answer.

***

As to your point: You're talking about last week's game, or perhaps this entire half season.

But your context is out of whack, because that's not what the OP is about.

I'm referring to what I've been seeing going all the way back to 2005.

Actually, no

In the mid 1980's, AC/DC sold ten's of millions of the "Back in Black" album. The follow on album "merely" sold 8-10 million. As such, people wanted to know what was wrong with the band.

The "Behind the Music" is actually quite interesting.

Abnormal success is not normal. Football dynasties are rare. If it's abnormal don't expect it to be normal.

Also, people underestimate how arbitrary outcomes are.

What if:

We had used the challenges during the "Tuck Rule".

Pittsburgh doesn't repunt in the 2002 AFCCG

Carolina doesn't put us on the 40

Tyree

Brady doesn't have a high ankle sprain before SB XLII

Welker doesn't blow out his knee Week 17.

In the end, the coach and management can only get you there. Fate and play make the final decision.

Here's a question to ponder.

Name another coach in football history that went 14-2 with a team that saw over half of it's snaps taken by 1st/2nd year players.

Here's my summary

2005- down year and explainable. The dynasty years were alot of football. It's zero suprise nobody "three peats" in the NFL.

2006- "Face Guard" Bowl.

2007-Miracle catch. However, I still maintain absent the high ankle sprain, we beat the Giants handily. Many open throws missed.

2008- ACL

2009- ACL is a two year injury

2010- Rebuild

2011- TBD but is it soon time to turn the page?

Arbitrary and explainable.

 

[Off The Grid]

What were seeing here is BB's ego consuming him. I don't think he wants to admit that he's a terrible drafter and needs help building a better defense. He's BB after all, the mad genius.

I'm afraid you may be right, Brother Sin.

I HOPE note.

But his support system ~ as others have noted ~ HAS shrunken considerably.

 

[FalconHeavy]

the Pats did bring in Dom Capers to coach the DBs and from my point of view that was not particularly successful. Goes to show you that there are no "magic bullets" here, be that bringing in a "name" player or a "name" coordinator.

to be honest, Dom Capers was not brought in as DC. Dan Pees was the DC at that time and he was just a consultant of some sort and not sure what kind of contribution he was allowed to make. Following year, Dom Capers left us to join as DC to Green Bay as (my assumption) he realized he is not going to be elevated to DC here with us !

so the jury is still out there about bringing in a "FULL TIME " DC i guess..

 

[Wilfork#75]

The difference now is the 2011 NFL is a QB driven league.

The Patriots are essentially tied with Green Bay for having the "statistically worst" defense.

Furthermore, the playoff losses do not support your opinion.

In those two loses, 6 of 9 scoring drives started with the opponent already in field goal range.

What those losses prove is you can't give opponents turnovers and very short fields. That's universal since the first pigskin was handed off.

It's obvious this year.

It's not obvious if you are on patsfans.com.

The difference between the Pats and the Packers is Green Bay leads the league in Ints. The key to defence in the NFL now, like you said is creating pressure and forcing turnovers. I'll be posting my analysis of the issues surrounding the team both for 2011 and beyond tomorrow, and one of the things I looked at was the success of teams in the playoffs and the turnovers their defence created. Each team that has made the Super Bowl since 2007 has been in the top three in total turnovers for the playoffs. The Pats last 2 playoff games, 0-2, 1 Int, 0 FF and 0 sacks. I don't think its a coincidence and I don't think you can win a Super Bowl in the current NFL, playing a conservative defence.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Indeed!!

The SECOND thing I'm gonna do, after I make my Billions and buy out the Kraft family ~ ALSO just discussed with Brother Mayo!! ~ is POUR money into the Scouting Department!!

This missed Opportunities ~ that a few bucks spent on that Department go a long way towards solving ~ probably cost FAR more, due to overpaying for Free Agents, than the cost of investing in the Scouts, themselves.

Finding the right players on the front end makes your job a lot easier than trying to coach up the wrong ones on the back end. Ultimately, all this stuff starts at the top, if you have a nutjob like Al Davis running the organization than the people on the bottom won’t be in a position to succeed, no matter how good they are, with the right people on top the people on the bottom have much more opportunity to succeed, look at the dramatic difference in the 49ers from the change of head coach. Having a good OC/DC will amplify the effectiveness of a good HC.

I think in order for BB to be great he needs certain people around him, there was a certain chemistry with BB/RAC/Weiss and how they then interacted with Vrabel, Bruschi, ect, that just worked, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon series, try to replace either of those guys with anyone else and it’s just not there. While it’s possible that BB would work brilliantly great with Spags as his DC it’s also possible that they just don’t mesh, personally and professionally, you just don’t know. Since the golden era things just haven’t been the same with the replacements, if you can’t develop that coaching talent in house then it makes sense to look outside. I’d try to poach best linebacker coaches from the Steelers, they seem to know what they’re doing in that department, WR coaches from the Packers, etc. Genghis Khan wasn’t shy in the slightest about getting Chinese engineers to work for him, siege equipment tactics were not strong points of the Mongols so they brought in people from the outside who were expert in that, the Romans were never great archers so they hired Assyrian archers, who were the best, etc.

If I’m in charge of football operations I get the best coaches I can find, including position coaches, then I get the best trainers/therapists, the best scouts, etc. I’d also be more aggressive with contracts, if I’m certain I want to keep a guy I resign him sooner rather than later. Some people speculate that BB selected Brace as insurance/leverage in dealing with resigning Wilfork, if I know I want Wilfork long-term I wouldn’t wait till his contract is about to expire, I get that wrapped up beforehand, which insures better leverage for me and also doesn’t make me try force a fit with my drafting. Look at Green Bay, they extended Rodgers in the middle of the 08 season, when GB was losing a lot of games and Rodgers was heavily criticized even though the defense was non-existent, no matter, people always blame the QB and HC. So they locked up Rodgers and right now he’s relatively underpaid, he signed a 6yr $65 million deal. I think the Patriots would be in a better situation right now if they resigned Welker before this season, after he had a down year (by his standards). Resigning him now is going to cost a whole lot more.

If one continuously stacks the deck in one’s favor, at the top, the things at the bottom matter a whole lot less and success will be VASTLY more likely to be sustained.

 

[Ron Sellers]

In my opinion the whole 'Belichick is arrogant', 'his ego gets in the way of smart decisions', etc. angle is way over played, and so speculative it's not worth consideration. Belichick doesn't care for reporters who ask dumb questions, or for reporters that may ask a question that an answer would reveal too much and be counter-productive to respond to. Reporters take offense, and say he's arrogant because he doesn't pal around and joke with them, giving them lots to write about like Parcells did. Going further back Cleveland writers detested him because when he came in he scaled back locker room access, and tried to shut down the overflow of information after Modell would reveal pertinent injury updates that helped the opponent, and therefore hurt his team's chances. Michael Holley in his book revealed that Cleveland reporters whom he had never spoken to previously went so far as to contact him out of the blue and bad mouth Belichick when he was named coach of the Pats. Fans hear and read the reporters slanted commentary and accept it as truth without questioning its validity, or the motivation of those reporters.


Just because 'Belichick is arrogant' is brought up in discussion about him so often, that does not make it true. It's just as likely, if not more so that it's one of those falsehoods that has been repeated so often it is incorrectly accepted as fact. If he was so arrogant and had such a big ego, how does one explain his shunning the spotlight, accepting blame after every loss, and giving credit to others after every win?


There are reasons why the Patriots rank only 20th in points allowed per game, but the possibility that it is due to Belichick's ego and arrogance is flimsy speculation based on either a biased agenda or on misinformation.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Actually, no

In the mid 1980's, AC/DC sold ten's of millions of the "Back in Black" album. The follow on album "merely" sold 8-10 million. As such, people wanted to know what was wrong with the band.

The "Behind the Music" is actually quite interesting.

Abnormal success is not normal. Football dynasties are rare. If it's abnormal don't expect it to be normal.

Also, people underestimate how arbitrary outcomes are.

What if:

We had used the challenges during the "Tuck Rule".

Pittsburgh doesn't repunt in the 2002 AFCCG

Carolina doesn't put us on the 40

Tyree

Brady doesn't have a high ankle sprain before SB XLII

Welker doesn't blow out his knee Week 17.

In the end, the coach and management can only get you there. Fate and play make the final decision.

Here's a question to ponder.

Name another coach in football history that went 14-2 with a team that saw over half of it's snaps taken by 1st/2nd year players.

Here's my summary

2005- down year and explainable. The dynasty years were alot of football. It's zero suprise nobody "three peats" in the NFL.

2006- "Face Guard" Bowl.

2007-Miracle catch. However, I still maintain absent the high ankle sprain, we beat the Giants handily. Many open throws missed.

2008- ACL

2009- ACL is a two year injury

2010- Rebuild

2011- TBD but is it soon time to turn the page?

Arbitrary and explainable.

Great success isn’t arbitrary. It wasn’t arbitrary that the Roman Empire dominated for as long as it did, as did the Mongol Empire, there were reasons for their success and also for their failure, and what makes these kinds of discussions interesting is sifting through a bunch of data in order to find common themes that produce success and failure. Is consistent failure any more arbitrary than consistent success?

Grid is outspoken in his belief, which I share, that the game is won and lost at the line, which it is. The ability of the line has a disproportionate impact on the game relative to other positions (QB is an exception IMO), give an ok QB enough time and he’ll probably look very good, make sure Dan Marino doesn’t have enough time in the SB against the 49ers and suddenly he doesn’t look like Dan Marino anymore. At what points where the lines neglected? What about coaching? Personell?

Long story short, while there might not be an exact formula for success there is at least a blueprint, so long as the blueprint is strong an arbitrary can lead to a lost battle but not a war.

 

[ralmat55]

For a little perspective, the Pats are 5-3 and tied for their division lead. But, I can't help but feel the Belichick era is on it's downhill side with the championships behind us and not ahead. And I doubt seriously whether Belichick will allow himself to reverse it. Hey, good things don't last forever.

How long do you let things slide before you start a new era is the question Pats fans should be asking and the question Bob Kraft should be wondering how he's going to answer. Peter Gavitt did the Celtics and their fans no favor hanging on to the past by not breaking up the Big 3 to begin rebuilding. Kraft will be doing himself and us no favor if he hangs on to the glory too long and doesn't transition into the future by moving on from Belichick.

I'd like to be a billionaire and an NFL owner, but I would not like to be the one who has to make this decision.

 

[Wilfork#75]

For a little perspective, the Pats are 5-3 and tied for their division lead. But, I can't help but feel the Belichick era is on it's downhill side with the championships behind us and not ahead. And I doubt seriously whether Belichick will allow himself to reverse it. Hey, good things don't last forever.

How long do you let things slide before you start a new era is the question Pats fans should be asking and the question Bob Kraft should be wondering how he's going to answer. Peter Gavitt did the Celtics and their fans no favor hanging on to the past by not breaking up the Big 3 to begin rebuilding. Kraft will be doing himself and us no favor if he hangs on to the glory too long and doesn't transition into the future by moving on from Belichick.

I'd like to be a billionaire and an NFL owner, but I would not like to be the one who has to make this decision.

I think the new era starts next season, but with BB still at the helm. I think he may have been too close to the problem to really see it the past few years. I think this offseason he takes a step back and gains some perspective, and 2012 will be the evolution of the New England Patriots. The game is continually evolving, and while BB was so far ahead of it for a long time, he now needs to figure out how to beat it again. I think 2012 will be a new philosphy for BB and the team and it will lead to new success. And lets not give up on 2011 yet, we're still tied for 1st and got a pretty good run home.

 

[Bostonian1962]

What were seeing here is BB's ego consuming him. I don't think he wants to admit that he's a terrible drafter and needs help building a better defense. He's BB after all, the mad genius.

It's alarming to me that over the last few years we've had:

1st round pick, Meriweather - Cut
1st round pick, McCourty - In a slump, juries out on him
2nd round pick, Butler - Cut
2nd round pick, Wheatly - Cut
2nd round pick, Chung - Average
2nd round pick, Dowling - Injury prone

Thats A LOT of HIGH picks on secondary help...and we STILL have the worst secondary in the league! We have undrafted guys STARTING in the secondary right now...it's getting WORSE. Not better. You can't argue these FACTS. There is a serious drafting or coaching issue here.

And that's not even taking into account other high picks used on defense:

2nd round pick, Cunningham - About to be cut, healthy scratch two games in a row
2nd round pick, Brace - Useless, injured every year
3rd round pick, McKenzie - Cut
3rd round pick, Crable - Cut

Plus all the perplexing moves BB makes...

1. Constantly trading back to get guys who never play (Price) or guys he misses on

2. Year after year IGNORING the need of a pass rush

3. Drafting two RBs when we have Woodhead/BJGE/Faulk?

4. Drafting Dowling despite injury history (Yes it worked out for Gronk but Dowling has been injured since High School...and surprise surprise he couldn't make it out of TC without getting injured)

5. Releasing Bodden when he knew Dowling was headed to the IR.

6. Releasing players and replacing them with worse players. (Ex. Release Meriweather, replace with Brown. Release Bodden, replace with Adams/Molden)

He's FAILED as a talent evaluator. As a COACH I'd take him any day of the week but he NEEDS help. Hopefully BB takes a look in the mirror after this season is over with and sets his ego aside to bring in some guys to help.

I hate to say this but we're wasting Brady's career right now...

Even though your post is accurate, it's depressing. Nothing will change. It never has. No matter how many bad draft picks, no matter how many "trade down for extra picks", it happens every year. And when we all crave a DE or OLB, it is usually a CB, DT, or TE to make up for previous missed picks at those positions (again, until they finally hit on Gronk and Hernandez). Can anybody here imagine the team Brady would have had around him had they drafted well? It seems like years wasted.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Great success isn’t arbitrary. It wasn’t arbitrary that the Roman Empire dominated for as long as it did, as did the Mongol Empire, there were reasons for their success and also for their failure, and what makes these kinds of discussions interesting is sifting through a bunch of data in order to find common themes that produce success and failure. Is consistent failure any more arbitrary than consistent success?

Grid is outspoken in his belief, which I share, that the game is won and lost at the line, which it is. The ability of the line has a disproportionate impact on the game relative to other positions (QB is an exception IMO), give an ok QB enough time and he’ll probably look very good, make sure Dan Marino doesn’t have enough time in the SB against the 49ers and suddenly he doesn’t look like Dan Marino anymore. At what points where the lines neglected? What about coaching? Personell?

Long story short, while there might not be an exact formula for success there is at least a blueprint, so long as the blueprint is strong an arbitrary can lead to a lost battle but not a war.

Since 2005, the Patriots have not been successful?

What's your definition of successful? Who is successful, who isn't?

How many conquests have the Romans racked up in the past 1500 years?

How many Roman Empires have there been since....the Roman Empire?

What offensive/defensive line in SB XLII caused Tyree to make the miracle catch and Samuel to drop his? On the Tyree catch, can you honestly say there was zero pressure on Manning?

What line issues caused Brady's ACL and two lost seasons?

Here's a challenge for you.

You have used military analogies in your post. I challenge you to get a copy of Manstein's memiors, "Lost Victories".

Study the analysis on Stalingrad and apply to Sunday's game.

If you do this, I believe Sunday's game would make sense.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

The difference between the Pats and the Packers is Green Bay leads the league in Ints. The key to defence in the NFL now, like you said is creating pressure and forcing turnovers. I'll be posting my analysis of the issues surrounding the team both for 2011 and beyond tomorrow, and one of the things I looked at was the success of teams in the playoffs and the turnovers their defence created. Each team that has made the Super Bowl since 2007 has been in the top three in total turnovers for the playoffs. The Pats last 2 playoff games, 0-2, 1 Int, 0 FF and 0 sacks. I don't think its a coincidence and I don't think you can win a Super Bowl in the current NFL, playing a conservative defence.

Sounds good.

However, I would maintain that our defense has been more than adequate at getting turnovers.

The offense...well...that's another story. I don't think it's that difficult to figure my opinion.

The problem is "good" and "bad" are subjective terms that are applicable based on relavent, objective criteria.

The problem we have here is there are gaggles of posters hell bent on being mad about something.

Add that to a montrous resistence to what is happening and.......it's patsfans.com.

No doubt that most on patsfans.com would be absolutely shocked to learn that playing with fire means you will sometimes get burned.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I think we have to ask this.

To be clear:

1 ~ No, I'm not one of those fools who thinks everything he does is wrong.

2 ~ Nor am I one of those fools who thinks everything he does is right.

He is the greatest Coach of this young Century ~ one of the very best ever ~ and one of the best General Managers, as well, in my opinion.

He is, far and away, the greatest blessing this team has ever had.

And his impact on this region has been revolutionary.

But Greatness...does not mean Perfection.

***

Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the man.

Perhaps he set the standard of excellence too high.

But his moves, ere the last few years, are striking me as increasingly eccentric.

And I'm really starting to wonder if the man is simply burning out.

Aren't you the same clown who predicted that this defense would be better than the 2003 defense by the end of the year?

Some predictions like that should be kept in your head and not posted here