Everyone thought the Yankees were on a historical roll until it all came undone on a routine bunt. How many championships have they won since then? I see the same thing happening to the Pats - they blew their chance to be a dynasty with their atrocious play the last two years.
This particular observation deserves some greater reflection.
(Please excuse long post)
The record will show that the New England Patriots went 17–2, 17–2, 11–7, 14–5 the past four seasons, with playoff games included in those totals. Almost everyone agrees that the 2005 Miami season-ender could have been won had the team wished to win it, which would raise their record over the past two years from 25–12 to 26–11.
The Pats won the AFC East each year. Such is a good and basic standard of excellence. So let's take a look at the records of the other division winners and wild card teams over those seasons (*= 2006 season not yet completed). I have listed the won-lost records from each of the past two years (incl. playoffs), and the winning %. In parentheses is the Indy and Chicago winning % if they should win / lose the Super Bowl, and NE winning % if they had won the Miami game.
2005 W-L, 2006 W-L: total W-L, winning %
Indy 14–3, 14–4*: 28–7* .800 (.806 / .778)
Chicago 11–6, 15–3*: 26–9* .743 (.750 / .722)
San Diego 9–7, 14–3: 23–10 .697
Denver 13–3, 9–7: 22–10 .688
NE 11–7, 14–5: 25–12 .676 (.703)
Seattle 15–4, 10–8: 25–12 .676
Pittsburgh 15–5, 8–8: 23–13 .639
Jacksonville 12–5, 8–8: 20–13 .606
Carolina 13–6, 8–8: 21–14 .600
Cincinnati 11–6, 8–8: 19–14 .576
Baltimore 6–10, 13–4: 19–14 .576
Kansas City 10–6, 9–8: 19–14 .576
NY Giants 11–6, 8–9: 19–15 .559
Dallas 9–7, 9–8: 18–15 .546
Philadelphia 6–10, 11–7: 17–17 .500
Washington 11–7, 5–11: 16–18 .471
Tampa Bay 11–6, 4–12: 15–18 .455
NY Jets 4–12, 10–7: 14–19 .424
New Orleans 3–13, 11–7: 14–20 .418
A couple of things emerge. Whatever happens in the Super Bowl, Indy will have posted the best winning % over the past two seasons, and Chicago will be second. If NE had won the Miami game, they would be third; as it stands, the Patriots are fifth. However, they made the playoffs each of the past two years, which San Diego and Denver cannot claim to have done. Some might say, and fairly, that these two teams have hurt each other by being in the same division, whereas NE has been the only strong team in the AFC East. Nevertheless, making the playoffs is the most important thing, and it affects one's winning %.
Is this 'atrocious play'? The numbers indicate otherwise. Moreover, NE is only one of three teams which did not come within a game of finishing .500, or worse. One could argue, then, that NE has been the third best team in the league the past two years, and that
after winning the Super Bowl back-to-back. Compare that to Chicago's performance in 2003–2004, when their record was a dismal 12–20, .378 !!!
Only Indy, who finished 27–10 in 2003–2004, can lay claim to competing with the Patriots for supremacy in the league over the past four seasons. Overall, 2003–06 looks like this:
NE 59–16, .787
Indy 55–17*, .764 (56–17, .767 should they win the Super Bowl this year)
In other words, we just lost to the only team in the league which can come close to competing with us for winning since 2003. Despite the fact that we have had more coaching turnover than the Colts,
and more (and more significant) injuries.
Is this the beginning of a precipitous decline, or simply a valley in-between championships? Only time can tell; but the Patriots' performance over the past two seasons, rather than atrocious, has been of an excellence approached by only a handful of teams. Perhaps this is not enough for us, who have become accustomed to winning it all...but it is still amazing.
