Curran: Why can't we see that the Patriots are in a league of their own?

[AtomicDawg]

Your oasis from HAWT TAKE!!!!!!!!!! city. Read this and enjoy.

Curran: Why can't we see that the Patriots are in a league of their own?

It’s a tired lament that the Patriots play in a division pockmarked by buffoon owners and/or coaches and that their path to a division title is easier than everyone else’s. A brief thought on that.

Yeah, there are some boobs in charge around the AFC East and you can start with Propeller Hat Woody Johnson and the Jets and the fact that Rex Ryan’s been smashing crème pies in faces for two teams for going on eight seasons.

But what are the Patriots supposed to do, apply for relocation? Secede? Start their own Super Extreme Division? They play a first-place schedule every year so they get three games against the best from the other AFC divisions. This year, they are 3-0 in those games and they beat last year’s NFC runners-up, on the road, in the opener. We’ve fixated on the “something missing” this year to the point that this is easily the least celebrated, most under appreciated Patriots team I can recall.

 

[TennisBallHead]

It's a neat little trick the douchebag media around here like to do. It's not that the Patriots are great, it's that everyone else sucks. I'd love to line these puny nitwits against any of these NFL teams and watch them get broken in half.

 

[Brick27]

Definitely very under appreciated. Maybe it comes with having a few setbacks in recent years when being in a good position to win it all, or maybe it's just easy to nitpick until seeing the result of the final game of the year.

As a whole though, it makes for more interesting and engaging discussion among fans when looking with a slightly more critical outlook vs. being a fan base like the Cowboys who year after year feel they're greater than sliced bread and will win the Super Bowl. Key of course when discussing and analyzing a team is balance.

Have to feel really good about this team though going into playoffs. Defense has grown over the year, offense appears to be adjusting to life without Gronk, and there is always two GOATs in Brady and Belichick leading the way. Always like our chances.

 

[mosslost]

AFCE has been a terrible division though compared to the rest. None of the teams in our divsion have had that "one off" great year like so many others. Steelers have been 15-1 and 12-4 several times. Mannings Colts.. then on top of that The Charges had come up with a 14-2, a 13-3, and a 12-4 year. Even Tennessee had a 13-3 year and a 12-4 year during this stretch of Brady's career.. So have the freaking Jaguars been 12-4. All of our AFCE competitions greatest years have been 9-7, 10-6, and 11-5 on 2 different occasions. The Pats never have any competition to win this division, and in the last 7 years the bye week.

EDIT:not to mention the Broncos. they were 13-3 with Jake Plummer once

 

[Tony2046]

Exactly

If the Patriots didn’t exist, would people even know other teams were unremarkable? New England’s the measuring stick.

 

[PatsBoy12]

They'll use anything to justify why the Pats keep winning and everyone else doesn't. The 'cheating' thing is a bit old right now, and more information about deflation and such continue to prove what a sham that was, to the point where some who once believed in it have reversed their positions. So now it's the competition. It will always be something.

 

[oldrover]

Curran: Why can't we see that the Patriots are in a league of their own?

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

(forgive me Lord)

 

[Minitron]

Love Curran, hits it spot on. He is probably the only one of the Patriots Media that consistently defends/praises them.

 

[FCB02062]

This lament started after parcells left. The media here LOVED parcells. When he left guys like Borges, Will McDonough, Kevin mannix did their best to discredit any success the Pats had post parcells.....

 

[sb1]

AFCE has been a terrible division though compared to the rest. None of the teams in our divsion have had that "one off" great year like so many others. Steelers have been 15-1 and 12-4 several times. Mannings Colts.. then on top of that The Charges had come up with a 14-2, a 13-3, and a 12-4 year. Even Tennessee had a 13-3 year and a 12-4 year during this stretch of Brady's career.. So have the freaking Jaguars been 12-4. All of our AFCE competitions greatest years have been 9-7, 10-6, and 11-5 on 2 different occasions. The Pats never have any competition to win this division, and in the last 7 years the bye week.

EDIT:not to mention the Broncos. they were 13-3 with Jake Plummer once

The Jets made the AFC Championship game twice winning 4 games on the road, something even Tom Brady has yet to do. I'd say that's a couple of great one-off years.

The Dolphins won the division in 2008.

Also I believe the Patriots have a better out of division record than they do in the division so clearly their success has very little to do with a supposedly weak division. If the Pats success was more a product of their division than their own doing, they would be one and done a lot more frequently. Pretenders get exposed quickly in the playoffs.

 

[mosslost]

The Jets made the AFC Championship game twice winning 4 games on the road, something even Tom Brady has yet to do. I'd say that's a couple of great one-off years.

The Dolphins won the division in 2008.

Also I believe the Patriots have a better out of division record than they do in the division so clearly their success has very little to do with a supposedly weak division. If the Pats success was more a product of their division than their own doing, they would be one and done a lot more frequently. Pretenders get exposed quickly in the playoffs.

The Pats are the best. But not a single season has another AFCE team put up a once off transcendant season to win the division, like Jaguars 12-4 2006, Chargers 14-2 2006; 13-3 some other year, Tennessee 13-3.. Denver 13-3 2005..

Dolphins in 2008 was because Brady was out and we tied them.. We are great and it takes nothing away from us, but our greatness is not the absolute reason the AFCE is so bad. It has been very bad.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Love Curran, hits it spot on. He is probably the only one of the Patriots Media that consistently defends/praises them.

Yeah, maybe he can join Lupica and Myers and go work for the NY Daily News. They've each defended the Pats and Brady against Deflategate and Goodell more than the CHB and MCI combined. OK. Maybe Myers isn't too fond of Belichick, but Belichick doesn't care whether people like him, as long as they keep handing him Lombardi's.

 

[The Gr8est]

The Jets made the AFC Championship game twice winning 4 games on the road, something even Tom Brady has yet to do. I'd say that's a couple of great one-off years.

The Dolphins won the division in 2008.

Also I believe the Patriots have a better out of division record than they do in the division so clearly their success has very little to do with a supposedly weak division. If the Pats success was more a product of their division than their own doing, they would be one and done a lot more frequently. Pretenders get exposed quickly in the playoffs.

Maybe if Brady lost more games and the Pats were a wildcard team, the Pats could win 4 games on the road, but unfortunately, Tom Brady really sucks at sucking.

 

[Tony2046]

The Pats are the best. But not a single season has another AFCE team put up a once off transcendant season to win the division, like Jaguars 12-4 2006, Chargers 14-2 2006; 13-3 some other year, Tennessee 13-3.. Denver 13-3 2005..

Dolphins in 2008 was because Brady was out and we tied them.. We are great and it takes nothing away from us, but our greatness is not the absolute reason the AFCE is so bad. It has been very bad.

Yeah I'm not sure about that. Not saying you're wrong but I do wonder if those "transcendent" seasons would be possible if the Patriots were in those respective divisions. Brady has a .500 or better record against every team in the league. Which leaves me to wonder that if the Pats were in the AFC South or North would they have similar winning records and leave some of those "transcendent" teams with a few more losses.

 

[fnordcircle]

The Jets, Bills and Dolphins would have had better records against non-Division opponents over the last 15 or so years if they didn't have Belichick showing the rest of the league the blueprint to beat them. To mention nothing of how demoralizing it must be to play in this division hearing year in and year out 'this is the year someone dethrones the Patriots' and then you get to week 10 and you're 2-3 games behind us.

It's actually a much better division than people realize if you take away the Patriot effect.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

The Patriots are like the U.S.A

Everyone and thing is compared to us.

No one likes us but admits we're the best.

 

[Jercules]

Definitely very under appreciated. Maybe it comes with having a few setbacks in recent years when being in a good position to win it all, or maybe it's just easy to nitpick until seeing the result of the final game of the year.

As a whole though, it makes for more interesting and engaging discussion among fans when looking with a slightly more critical outlook vs. being a fan base like the Cowboys who year after year feel they're greater than sliced bread and will win the Super Bowl. Key of course when discussing and analyzing a team is balance.

Have to feel really good about this team though going into playoffs. Defense has grown over the year, offense appears to be adjusting to life without Gronk, and there is always two GOATs in Brady and Belichick leading the way. Always like our chances.

We've gotten a bit of crap, here and there, over the years for being spoiled--Pete Carroll most recently, Ellis Hobbs most notably--but I actually think the standards and intelligence of the fanbase serves the team.

They've been winning all year, but plenty of people on here were not happy with the defence and of course, now it is improved. Would there be that same scrutiny from other fanbases, who would just gush all over a team if they were winning like the Pats do?

I know Belichick is a demanding guy, but I think the 'high standard' around here has a lot to do with us.

 

[Tony2046]

The Patriots are like the U.S.A

Everyone and thing is compared to us.

No one likes us but admits we're the best.

Except this guy.

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

I can't say I agree. I think the pats are a very good team. Not leaps and bounds above everyone else.

 

[Tony2046]

I can't say I agree. I think the pats are a very good team. Not leaps and bounds above everyone else.

Sure they are if you're looking at the last 16 years. At the NFL Circus every other team has earned anywhere from zero to maybe one or two raffle tickets in the "who can win the SB this year" lottery while the Pats have had fourteen or fifteen tickets and have cashed in on six of them and won the grand prize four times.