Reading this article reminded me of a similar one done in the spring of 2001 by a very respected football analyst (who's name escapes me). In this article the author named the 5 teams LEAST likely to win a Superbowl in the next 5 years. #1 on that list was your NE Patriots.
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Here's the thing I think we all miss. We all miss just how hard it is just to win a single NFL game, let alone a Superbowl. You just have to remember all the really tough games we've had with the Bills, Jets, and Dolphins over the years. Sure we won a great majority of them, but almost all of them were close tough games. Or just look at the fact that all 5 of the Pats losses this year came against teams who didn't even get to the playoffs.
So just multiply that by 100, and that is how hard it is to win the 3 or 4 games necessary to win a Superbowl against the BEST teams of that year. So MANY things can happen to derail a game and many more to derail a season. So did I mention that it's HARD to win a Superbowl.
All a team and a fan base can hope for is that they get to the playoffs and hope to be playing at their best AND get a few breaks along the way for that 3 or 4 game run. NOTHING is guaranteed going in. Perhaps once in a generation there is a team that is THAT good to run roughshod through the playoffs like the 85 Bears. Just look at what happened to the Saints in the last 2 seasons. You just can't plan or protect from those 2 endings. That sh!t just happens and you have to be on the right side of them. Back to the "hard" thing again.
All I know is that over the next 5 years, it is very likely that that for the majority of them, the Pats WILL have that opportunity to compete for that title. I know that they will be well coached, prepared and competitive in every one of those games. So if, in a given year, everything comes together (team chemistry, talent, HEALTH, and our fair share of the good bounces and calls), we will host another Lombardi. But what we sometimes forget is that all TWELVE playoff teams get that same shot.
When you think about it this way and try and forget the entitlement comes with being Pats fans (these days), what the Pats have done over the course of almost TWO decades becomes even more remarkable win or lose.