50th Anniversary Minute - the 1996 AFC Champion Patriots

[PatriotsDaily.com]

It has often been said, give a good coach three years and he can turn around any team. In New England that was certainly true.

50th Anniversary Minute – the 1996 Patriots

 

[shmessy]

It has often been said, give a good coach three years and he can turn around any team. In New England that was certainly true.

50th Anniversary Minute – the 1996 Patriots

Like a corporate raider, great at turnarounds, lousy at leaving at sustained, long-term success for an organization.

 

[Dfresh429]

Great article, but c'mon - get the facts right please.

"The Patriots drew Pittsburgh, the defending AFC Champions in the divisional round. Playing in a fog so thick it was hard to see the numbers on the field. The weather though, was just as effective as the Steelers defense. The Pats wasted little time as a screen pass to Glenn set up a 2-yard run from Martin and a 7-0 lead. Keith Byars scored on a screen pass and Martin ripped off a 78-yard run to put the game out of reach by the half."

It was a bomb down the right sideline to Glenn. Not a screen pass. Also, wasn't the Otis Smith TD in the AFC Championship against the Jags a fumble recovery of James Stewart? Not a pick six?

 

[Ryan]

Great article, but c'mon - get the facts right please.

"The Patriots drew Pittsburgh, the defending AFC Champions in the divisional round. Playing in a fog so thick it was hard to see the numbers on the field. The weather though, was just as effective as the Steelers defense. The Pats wasted little time as a screen pass to Glenn set up a 2-yard run from Martin and a 7-0 lead. Keith Byars scored on a screen pass and Martin ripped off a 78-yard run to put the game out of reach by the half."

It was a bomb down the right sideline to Glenn. Not a screen pass.

It also says that Otis Smith ran back a pick-six in the AFC Championship when it was actually a fumble return. The picture of Terry Glenn is also not from 1996 because the Broncos were still wearing the orange uniforms. And why would anyone's favorite moment of the year be when Shannon Sharpe was talking trash on the sideline during a Patriots blowout loss?

Otherwise, decent read. I loved that season. I was still in my early stages of being a Pats fan and it was a fun ride, even if the ending was disappointing. I still consider a lot of the guys on that team some of my all time favorites (Bledsoe, Law, Brown, Coates, Bruschi, Vinatieri, Milloy, Willie, etc).