What's botherin' me ...

[AzPatsFan]

I thought this season represents our best opportunity to pick up the 4th Lombardi.

At 29, Brady is at the peak of his career.

We have the easiest schedule ever to pick the home-field advantage.

The competition is "ripe for the pickin'". Rivers and Cutler are still in their formative stage. Palmer is returning from a severe injury. Steelers are a downward spiral. And Colts are adjusting without James.

Instead of taking advantage of the situation, however, I thought we squandered away this opportunity.

We have our generation's "Joe Montana" and we took away his "John Taylor" and "Jerry Rice". We then promptly surrounded him with rejects from other teams.

What's bothering me is that we just wasted another year of Brady, and the competition is not getting easier.

In the future, I'm afraid we will look back to this season and regret the loss of an incredible opportunity to win our 4th Super Bowl.


.

I thought at the beginning of the season this was a pretty easy schedule. But now they win all the Strength of Victory tiebreakers, so it turned in to a pretty tough schedule. Last time I looked are they not still on the inside track to the AFCE and the playoffs? I hadn't noticed that they had packed their bags and went home.

 

[mcbee]

Can you show me who these mythical All Pro Free Agents are that will be available this off season for us to sign? Which HOF Receivers did they pass on this year: Jurevicious, Az Hakim? Please. You don't have a clue.

Guys like Thomas of the Ravens, ERic Moulds - remember him? Gee, he might have fit in well here. Not like we needed a WR though.

Why be 6M under the cap? Who are they saving it for? It's bad for morale anyway. Guys can say "yes, I could have gotten more, but I didn't because I want my teammates to be rewarded". Now they find out the money is just staying in Kraft's bank account.

 

[pats1]

Mikey, what is this, the 100,000th thread you've posted on this topic?

Give it a rest.

Did you not figure it out with the response you got the last time you posted EXACTLY the same garbage?

http://208.109.107.176/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=40365

 

[PATSNUTme]

What's bothering me is that we have SOME real friggin spoiled stupid *******s as fans and a couple have posted on this thread. Both are on my ignore list but I could read what they daid because they were "quoted".

Every fan wants their team to win the SB every year in a fanasty world. A realistic fan should expect that their team will be able to compete for a championship almost every year. Being able to compete for a championship means winning your division or making the playoffs as a wildcard. There will be 20 teams out of 32 that won't do that.

Right now we are 9-4 and in a position to win our division and get a 3rd or 4th seed. That is all that we can expect at this time of the year.

I'm getting sick of all the whining about this team by spoiled "fans".

 

[pats1]

You have to strike while the iron is hot. Make a run for it.

Congratulations for completely ignoring the Patriots' philosophies.

They aren't a 4-stage, "make a run for it team," as so:

1) Load up on FAs
2) "Go for it"
3) Firesale
4) Rebuild
5) Repeat steps 1-4

No, no, NO! It is like this:

1) Maintain a stable payroll and improve where needed through smart spending and drafting
2) Repeat step 1
3) Win 3 championships in 5 years.

 

[pats1]

Why be 6M under the cap? Who are they saving it for? It's bad for morale anyway. Guys can say "yes, I could have gotten more, but I didn't because I want my teammates to be rewarded". Now they find out the money is just staying in Kraft's bank account.

You're fooling yourself if you think that's a (non)motivating factor in ANY Patriot.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

What's bothering me is that we have SOME real friggin spoiled stupid *******s as fans and a couple have posted on this thread. Both are on my ignore list but I could read what they daid because they were "quoted".

Every fan wants their team to win the SB every year in a fanasty world. A realistic fan should expect that their team will be able to compete for a championship almost every year. Being able to compete for a championship means winning your division or making the playoffs as a wildcard. There will be 20 teams out of 32 that won't do that.

Right now we are 9-4 and in a position to win our division and get a 3rd or 4th seed. That is all that we can expect at this time of the year.

I'm getting sick of all the whining about this team by spoiled "fans".

Yes, you are exactly right! I think most fans, including myself, are more mad at the fact of what could have been taking place. Fans are mad that the Pats let Givens walk and traded Branch (who was Brady's favorite target). Then they don't do squat with their 6 million in cap room and everyone and their mom knew they would be decimated by injuries like every season. Now the Pats are depleted at a lot positions and Brady has really nobody that can get open. I used to be a fan that would get made when the Pats lost because I had high expectations and it would be a total shock when they would lose. Now, as the team loses players and coaches, losses don't suprise me anymore. Teams catch up in terms of talent level and eventually will overthrow the champ. For example, although everyone can run on the Colts, the Pats are 0-2 against them in Gillette. In conclusion, it won't ruin our lives if the Pats don't win the superbowl, we all have more important things in life to worry about; family,job, work, school. Its always ok to question, but we shouldn't take it so seriously.

 

[pats1]

Yes, you are exactly right! I think most fans, including myself, are more mad at the fact of what could have been taking place. Fans are mad that the Pats let Givens walk and traded Branch (who was Brady's favorite target). Then they don't do squat with their 6 million in cap room and everyone and their mom knew they would be decimated by injuries like every season. Now the Pats are depleted at a lot positions and Brady has really nobody that can get open. I used to be a fan that would get made when the Pats lost because I had high expectations and it would be a total shock when they would lose. Now, as the team loses players and coaches, losses don't suprise me anymore. Teams catch up in terms of talent level and eventually will overthrow the champ. For example, although everyone can run on the Colts, the Pats are 0-2 against them in Gillette. In conclusion, it won't ruin our lives if the Pats don't win the superbowl, we all have more important things in life to worry about; family,job, work, school. Its always ok to question, but we shouldn't take it so seriously.

I can see the bandwagon turned around and ran you back over after you fell off it.

 

[mcbee]

Congratulations for completely ignoring the Patriots' philosophies.

They aren't a 4-stage, "make a run for it team," as so:

1) Load up on FAs
2) "Go for it"
3) Firesale
4) Rebuild
5) Repeat steps 1-4

No, no, NO! It is like this:

1) Maintain a stable payroll and improve where needed through smart spending and drafting
2) Repeat step 1
3) Win 3 championships in 5 years.

YOu don't have to ruin the team with FA dead money hits, but you can actually SIGN a few of them once in a while. Instead of being 6M under the cap. And yes, it is disheartening to leave money on the table only to have Kraft keep it.

 

[mcbee]

What's bothering me is that we have SOME real friggin spoiled stupid *******s as fans and a couple have posted on this thread. Both are on my ignore list but I could read what they daid because they were "quoted".

Every fan wants their team to win the SB every year in a fanasty world. A realistic fan should expect that their team will be able to compete for a championship almost every year. Being able to compete for a championship means winning your division or making the playoffs as a wildcard. There will be 20 teams out of 32 that won't do that.

Right now we are 9-4 and in a position to win our division and get a 3rd or 4th seed. That is all that we can expect at this time of the year.

I'm getting sick of all the whining about this team by spoiled "fans".

I thought I told you to get gang-raped you pompous blow-hard.

A "realistic" fan can expect the team to try to WIN. That means spend to the cap, not well under it. That means signing people like Moulds or Sam Madison or whomever. Not just waiver wire guys.

 

[unoriginal]

Quit running up the score McBee. The game is up.

 

[pats1]

YOu don't have to ruin the team with FA dead money hits, but you can actually SIGN a few of them once in a while. Instead of being 6M under the cap. And yes, it is disheartening to leave money on the table only to have Kraft keep it.

They aren't going to overpay for Givens or Vinatieri or whomever just for the sake of "signing one once in a while."

 

[jimmyjames]

Guys like Thomas of the Ravens, ERic Moulds - remember him? Gee, he might have fit in well here. Not like we needed a WR though.

Why be 6M under the cap? Who are they saving it for? It's bad for morale anyway. Guys can say "yes, I could have gotten more, but I didn't because I want my teammates to be rewarded". Now they find out the money is just staying in Kraft's bank account.

Moulds was TRADED to the Texans.
If you don't understand the difference everything else is moot.

 

[Oswlek]

They aren't going to overpay for Givens or Vinatieri or whomever just for the sake of "signing one once in a while."

If this cat actually knew that there is a difference between actual money paid and cap value used, he might be dangerous.

I love how people just throw names out there as if there were no other forces at work that caused them to go elsewhere besides NE's lack of desire.

 

[jimmyjames]

If this cat actually knew that there is a difference between actual money paid and cap value used, he might be dangerous.

I love how people just throw names out there as if there were no other forces at work that caused them to go elsewhere besides NE's lack of desire.

Too bad there's not this thing where you get to pick guys coming out of college and they could be on your team...Oh wait, there is and it's called the draft and the Pats are awesome at it, and they have 13 picks becuase they have let guys go play on other teams that were not worth the money and the league compensates them for that, not to mention the extra #1 for Branch.

If you don't like the idea of developing young talent through the draft, being forced to let some move on at the end of their rookie contracts, mixed in with overachieving role players I don't know what to tell you, but that's the deal. The price of having a good team is that above-average players from good teams get big money to go to other teams. And losing teams with head coaches and FO's that need to win now to save their jobs will overpay.

In the last 10 years the Pats have won their division 6 times. Won the conference 4 times and the Super Bowl three times. I am 34 years old in my lifetime the PATs have won the division THE DIVISION exactly two other times 78 (don't remember I was 5) and 86 (great year). I am going to stick with Mr Kraft, and His Football Operations Department until I am given a reason to think otherwise.

 

[BelizePats]

This has definately been a strange year for a team with a pretty strong record in the BB era of being a smooth operating machine.
What I know is that there are no guarentees in the NFL. It may have looked like we had a great chance to win a 4th Lombardi this year, but who the hell really knows? Maybe we still might anyways?
What I do know is that you can't win it every year. So long as this team is competative, I'm happy. The Bobby Greir days are still fresh in my memory.
We have two first rounders in April of '07 and this is huge given BB and SP's record for drafting talent at the front end of the draft. Has Branch made the difference to Seattle in terms of being the missing piece of the puzzle? NO!
Did he overvalue himself to our front office? Yes! Did Seattle over pay us and him for his services? Yes!
I like the foundations of this team. Too many people on this board have unreal expectations based on '03-'04. This was a magical time and not likely to be duplicated by anyone any time soon. I remember it and love it. But I look forward too. We're ok!

RICH

 

[spacecrime]

I'm sorry, did you say something? You were mumbling. Speak clearly and slowly when talking in public.

Thanks.

He said we should have taken advantage of the fact that Philip Rivers won't do well this year.

 

[Jimke]

I don't believe that the Pats can completely ignore free agency as a

source of talent. They may have 11 or 12 draft picks in 2007 but very few

are going to contribute much to the team. Over the past seven years,

we have had some good drafts but also a few poor ones. Also, with the new

NFL contract we will only have most of these players for 4 years. By the

time they are trained, many will move on to other teams.

I'd like to see the Pats invest in a couple of young veteran players like we did with

Mike Vrabel and Rosevelt Colvin, even if we have to pay market value.

 

[mcbee]

They have this thing called the draft? No way. "And the patriots are awesome at it!!". Go Homer, Go!! No, they're not. Dexter Reid, Guss Scott, Fred Mincey, 2nd round pick (traded up for ) Bethel Johnson (while future all pro Anquan Boldin still on board)....yes those are a few bad picks, so what, they have others that are good. So do most teams.

It's simply not true that they are "awesome!". IF they were they'd have a young ILB or two and some young CBs for next year after Samuel leaves. Instead they have...Chad Scott! (he's AWESOME!!) Maybe a OT that could block a pass rusher. Maybe a power back instead of 32 year old Dillon. Maybe a WR other than castoffs and 35 year old Troy Brown.

Even if they were AWESOME at the draft, it still doesn't explain being 6mm under the cap.

they traded for Moulds? NO WAY! I guess he was absolutely ineligible to be a Pat then. It's not like they could have come to terms with him and traded. They traded a 5th for Gabriel, so it's not like they're averse to doing it.

 

[Jimke]

The 2006 Pats team is far from perfection. On offense, they need a starting

left tackle and a #1 wide receiver. They lack a starting cornerback and a

starting middle linebacker on defense. If they lose Daniel Graham and Asante

Samuel, add another starting cornerback and a blocking tight end to the

shopping list. They will not fill these needs from the 2007 draft alone or

by shopping in the recycle bin for over the hill discards.

I believe there is a misconception that the Pats have suceeded with the

draft alone. The 2004 team had the following free agents as vital parts:

Andruzzi, Goren, Neal, Patten, Fauria, Gay, Harrison, Poole, Colvin, Izzo,

Phifer, Vrabel, and Traylor.