Boner said:
The Patriots finished 1 game better than a team that had no QB and virtually no RB. We had many injuries like your team and finished at 9-6. It is not i who is toking on memories of the past. The Patriots are very good and the Dolphins are just as good and then better due to Saban.
Take a long hard look, Saban did 1 game worse with way less talent. Take away Brady and the Patriots would have been 8-8 and you are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
Didn't we hear this same syllogistic crap from the Jets last year?
"The Jets were a missed field goal away from the AFC Championship in 2004."
"The Jets drafted a 'better' kicker"
"Therefore, the Jets will go to the AFC Championship in 2005."
Well, that didn't really work out. Why? They were an old, injury-prone team which finally ran out of luck. Mawae and Fabini got hurt. Pennington and Fiedler got hurt. Martin and Baker got hurt. Chrebet and Barton got hurt.
Now, isn't there another old, injury-prone team lurking around the AFC East?
Sure. They're called the Dolphins.
(And, by the way, don't even try to compare the injuries of the Dolphins last year to the injuries of the Pats. They simply don't compare in either the quality or quantity of players lost. The Pats had somewhere around 45 different starters during the year. I don't have the Dolphins number on me, but it definitely isn't even close to that.)
I know most people here have seen this list 10,000 times before, but I'll post it again:
(Starters - with Faulk listed as the 11th offensive player - from the 2004/XXXIX squad in bold)
QB – Tom Brady – 16 games active, 16 starts, sports hernia and shin injury
QB – Doug Flutie – 16 games active, 0 starts, no injury
QB – Matt Cassel – 16 games active, 0 starts, no injury
RB – Corey Dillon – 8 games active, 8 starts, 6 games missed to injury
RB – Kevin Faulk – 8 game active, 1 start, 8 games missed to injury
RB – Patrick Pass – 12 games active, 3 starts, 4 games missed to injury
RB – Heath Evans – Signed on November 2nd, 6 games active, 1 start, 3 games missed to injury
RB – Michael Cloud – Signed on November 5th, Released on November 29th, re-signed on December 2nd, released on December 13th, 6 games active, 0 starts, no injury
RB – Amos Zereoue – Signed on September 28th, Released on November 2nd, 3 games active, 0 starts, no injury
WR – Deion Branch – 16 games active, 16 starts, no injury
WR – David Givens – 13 games active, 13 starts, 3 games missed to injury
WR – Troy Brown – 13 games active, 2 starts, 3 games missed to injury
WR – Tim Dwight – 16 games active, 1 start, no injury
WR – Andre’ Davis – 9 games active, 0 starts, no injury
WR – Bethel Johnson – 11 games active, 0 starts, 4 games missed to injury
WR – Bam Childress – Signed on January 1st, 1 game active, 0 starts, no injury
WR – Michael McGrew – 0 games active, 0 starts, 16 games missed to injury
WR – Cedric James – 0 games active, 0 starts, 16 games missed to injury
TE – Daniel Graham – 9 games active, 9 starts, 7 games missed to injury
TE – Ben Watson – 14 games active, 9 starts, 1 game missed to injury
TE – Christian Fauria – 5 games active, 5 starts, no injury
OT – Matt Light – 2 games active, 2 starts, 14 games missed to injury
OT – Nick Kaczur – 14 games active, 12 starts, 2 games missed to injury
OT – Brandon Gorin – 12 games active, 8 starts, 4 games missed to injury
OT – Tom Ashworth – 14 games active, 10 starts, 2 games missed to injury
OG – Logan Mankins – 16 games active, 16 starts, no injury
OG – Steve Neal – 16 games active, 16 starts, no injury
OG – Gene Mruczkowski – Signed on September 28th, Released on October 10th, Signed on November 16th, 7 games active, 0 starts, no injury
OG – Billy Yates – Signed in November, 4 games active, 0 starts, no injury
OG – Ross Tucker – Signed on December 13th, 1 game active, 0 starts, no injury
OC – Dan Koppen – 9 games active, 9 starts, 6 games missed to injury
OC – Russ Hochstein – 16 games active, 7 starts, no injury
DE - Richard Seymour - 4 games missed to injury
NT - Vince Wilfork - no injury
DE - Ty Warren - no injury
OLB - Rosvelt Colvin - no injury
ILB - Tedy Bruschi - 6 games missed to the stroke recovery
ILB - Mike Vrabel - no injury
OLB - Willie McGinest - no injury
CB - Tyrone Poole - 15 games missed to injury
CB - Duane Starks - 9 games missed to injury
CB - Randall Gay - 11 games missed to injury
CB - Chad Scott - 13 games missed to injury
CB - Asante Samuel - 1 game missed to injury
CB - Ellis Hobbs - no injury
SS - Rodney Harrison - 14 games missed to injury
FS - Eugene Wilson - no injury
S - Guss Scott - 11 games missed to injury
S - James Sanders - 6 games missed to injury
S/CB - Artrell Hawkins (signed in mid-November) - 2 games missed to injury
S - Michael Stone - no injury
And better yet, 19 of the 21 XXXIX starters who were on the 2004 squad, about half of them injured in 2005, will be returning in 2006.
