Well, unfortunatley, the height of the bar has been set by 3 Super Bowls and anything less is not considered a successful season here. In New York, even though the Yankees have won the division what, 6 straight years, Yankee fans consider it a lost season if they don't get to the World Series. And I subscribe to that theory concerning the Pats. So what if they win the AFC East and a playoff game? That's success? Not in my book. And I doubt it is in Brady or Belichick's book either. If they don't win the SB this year (and based on what we've seen in the first 9 games, they won't) I think they're going to have to make some hard decisions, bite the bullet on some players (Rodney, Tedi and some others), and start to re-tool. For starters they've GOT to start finding some young fast linebackers and DB's. It looks like anybody can throw on this team with their atrocious, patchwork secondary and the linebackers aren't plugging the gaps and making the stops when the RB's get past the front 3. It says a lot when your most effective LB is a 37 year old former retiree.
I'll admit I had high hopes for this team because I thought they would be enough of an offensive machine that it would overcome the defensive deficiencies that we could all see. But now we find out that Tom Brady is human and having an off year for whatever reason, Maroney may have hit the rookie wall, Dillon is still a hammer but a much slower one and the "plug and play" O-line is not so much anymore given the amount of time Brady has spent on his back this year or forced into rushed throws. Based on their last 2performances, I'm not even confident that they'll win the division now. A game against Chicago, a trip to Miami where TB never plays real well and a trip to Jacksonville are all coming up. Can you see a 10-6 season? I can and the Jets are now only a game behind and playing better every week. Who knows.
Now before all the villagers grab their pitchforks and torches and starting heading toward my house screaming "heretic" and "burn the non-believer" just stop, take a deep breath and relax. Chances are that we'll still win the division and maybe even a playoff game. It's just my opinion that based on what we've seen so far this year, the odds are approaching even money that we won't. And to me, that's not a successful season.
