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It's amazing what the Denver loss did to so many minds.
I find it hard to understand why people piss and moan about Willie and Adam, yet insist on undervaluing what we have and attacking the "needs" with the biggest market names.
Before 2005, winning had everyone loving how these ignored and cost-effective players were able to build a championship caliber team. Now, after 2005, everything needs to be upgraded with recognized, high caliber free agents to give the team a "champion's upgrade."
After Denver, most everyone immediately saw the offensive line as a weakness, and insisted on getting Walter Jones, Will Shields, Kevin Mawae, and Jon Runyan, just to name a few. Ignored in all of that is the fact that this 2005 team had, yes, a plethora of IRed players, but also many smaller, nagging injuries which flew under the radar (Dillon and Brady exempt). Now, all the sudden, Matt Light, Dan Koppen, Steve Neal, and Tom Ashworth don't cut it, even after they did "cut it" in years before. "Our running game was crap and Brady got clobbered. We need to get some road-graders on our offensive line. Go out there and buy a high-profile free agent to fit the bill," was the most common suggestion.
One 7-loss season, and fans come crawling out of their holes, questioning the tactics of BB and SP, and falling into the trap that many teams have - super-sizing one position group which apparently failed them in the previous year.
The Patriots team, as it stands now, will be championship caliber with a simple move here and there, most notably at WR, K, and OLB. There is absolutely no reason for the Pats to go into all-out panic mode, as some fans here have, and draft starters just to put a respectable team on the field. The Patriots know their roster in 2006 improved as soon as the I.R. players returned and other players healed up. Pursuing these big name free agents is a trap that many teams have fallen into just to improve their team. They've scrapped what got them so close to a title, or in some cases to one, and taken the "Yankees" approach.
I find it hard to understand why people piss and moan about Willie and Adam, yet insist on undervaluing what we have and attacking the "needs" with the biggest market names.
Before 2005, winning had everyone loving how these ignored and cost-effective players were able to build a championship caliber team. Now, after 2005, everything needs to be upgraded with recognized, high caliber free agents to give the team a "champion's upgrade."
After Denver, most everyone immediately saw the offensive line as a weakness, and insisted on getting Walter Jones, Will Shields, Kevin Mawae, and Jon Runyan, just to name a few. Ignored in all of that is the fact that this 2005 team had, yes, a plethora of IRed players, but also many smaller, nagging injuries which flew under the radar (Dillon and Brady exempt). Now, all the sudden, Matt Light, Dan Koppen, Steve Neal, and Tom Ashworth don't cut it, even after they did "cut it" in years before. "Our running game was crap and Brady got clobbered. We need to get some road-graders on our offensive line. Go out there and buy a high-profile free agent to fit the bill," was the most common suggestion.
One 7-loss season, and fans come crawling out of their holes, questioning the tactics of BB and SP, and falling into the trap that many teams have - super-sizing one position group which apparently failed them in the previous year.
The Patriots team, as it stands now, will be championship caliber with a simple move here and there, most notably at WR, K, and OLB. There is absolutely no reason for the Pats to go into all-out panic mode, as some fans here have, and draft starters just to put a respectable team on the field. The Patriots know their roster in 2006 improved as soon as the I.R. players returned and other players healed up. Pursuing these big name free agents is a trap that many teams have fallen into just to improve their team. They've scrapped what got them so close to a title, or in some cases to one, and taken the "Yankees" approach.
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