Honestly I thought last year's time was destined to be one of the best Patriots teams too. The offense was ridiculously efficient and the defense, while looking VERY vulnerable at times, kept making crucial plays when it mattered and the team as a whole was getting better and better right until the embarrassment in the playoffs.
Sigh....I just made myself sad.
I understand your frustration, we all do. But when you look at it in a different light, one that shows you that Brady became the only unanimous MVP ever, and yet another coach of the yr for Belichick (one that many considered one of his greatest accomplishments), you will see that last yr's team was indeed..special.
I believe that 1/3 of the roster was consisted of 1st/2nd yr players, and that the team itself was one of the youngest overall teams in the entire league, in other words--it was almost essentially a rebuilding yr. Remember that 5 of the 6 PFW writers picked us to lose at MIA in the 3rd game of the season, and that we had just lost to the NYJ, and BUF had played us very tough too. At that point in the season, no one expected them to be anything special, and many had already given the AFCE title to the NYJ. Then, to top it off, we traded away what everyone in the world perceived as our best WR in Moss. If you remember, many mediots had them pegged as having a very negative turn on the scoring output, and some even felt that the season's potential was already lost. All the team did after that was continue to fight every inch of the way, and prove everyone wrong. All the while continuing to make the most out of a 'bad' situation in the IR/injury losses of some very key players. It was actually the first time since 2002 that a defensive unit had lost 2 or more starters before the season even started since ARZ did it.
When you take all of that into account, and remember the patchwork DL that we had going into the NYJ playoff game, you will possibly see a different side of things.
In my opinion, it still was a very special team, a very special season. Yes, the rival Jets beat us in the playoffs by a TD score, and yes--key mistakes were made, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, as they made Sanchez look like Joe Montana. But that happens sometimes, and the NYJ fielded a very good team, who matched up well in many areas, particularly on defense. You can't expect to win the SB every yr.
This yr's team has the potential to be a lot better in many ways, has another full yr under its belt for the 2nd/3rd yr players, made some key improvements in the draft, has some key returning starters back, and has fully accomplished the offensive move from the Randy Moss days. This yr's team is not the 'rebuilding' team that many thought last yr's team was. They have another yr of experience, and remember that the defense was one of the best in the NFL down the stretch in the last 6 games (factoring in competition of course).
If one's thing for certain, last yr's team damn sure proved to the entire NFL that the New England Patriots aren't going away any time soon.
