Superbowl rematch

[Brotherblues]

1996. That game sucked.

One has to wonder if Tuna didn't talk to the Jets, Troy Brown plays, and C-Mart gets the ball more the outcome would have been close.

How is that game almost 30 years ago?????

Define close. We'd have won by 2 scores easy.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Define close. We'd have won by 2 scores easy.

The way the 2nd 1/2 went was our D played a ton better. The Packers did not score an offensive point the 2nd 1/2.

The NEP offense and STs needed to play smart and disciplined. They did neither.

 

[TheRainMaker]

996. That game sucked.

One has to wonder if Tuna didn't talk to the Jets, Troy Brown plays, and C-Mart gets the ball more the outcome would have been close.

How is that game almost 30 years ago?????

Yeah time has really flown by.

I think the Pats just caught them at the wrong time. The Packers offensive and defensively were just too good. It was in 1997 when they started to show the cracks. However, the Patriots for some reason didn't matchup well with the Packers for a long time. I thought the streak was going to end in 2002, but they got their asses kicked again. The tide finally turned in 2006 when Favre was getting pretty old.

I think the 2007 team was good but we weren’t beating you guys in the Superbowl that year. We didn’t have the pass rush to get after Brady. I mean we had a good pass rush but nowhere near as good as the Giants.

The Packers had no business losing to the Giants in the NFCCG. Dallas the week before that. Because of Brady's severe ankle injury, the Packers or Cowboys could've had a chance at an upset as well. Cowboys especially as they could score points and their pass rush was fierce.

Rematch from 96 I’m saying.

They were two completely different teams by then. That's why I mentioned it's not a rematch. They had their rematch in Foxboro in 1997 and the Packers beat them down again.

We were fortunate that year Jacksonville upset Denver. If they didn’t we play Denver most likely. I do think our 96 team would have beat Denver though but we barely would have won.

Even if Elway played, the Packers would've kicked the crap out of the Broncos as they did in the regular season. Denver lost to Jacksonville because they weren't expecting to get punched in the mouth offensively and defensively. They also didn't have an outside WR as I mention below.

You lost to Denver the following year

GB was showing vulnerability during the 1997 season. Their defense was slipping. Had SF been fully healthy and not raining, they get passed GB. That 49ers team was absolutely loaded. Denver got over the hump because of the addition of Neil Smith and the emergence at WR with Rod Smith. They don't get passed KC without those players.

 

[Lambeau12]

Define close. We'd have won by 2 scores easy.

I have to disagree. The 96 Packers team was amazing. I still think we win even if you had Brown. Still though you guys gave us all we could handle. I will say in 07 if we made the Superbowl you guys would have beat us down.

 

[Lambeau12]

Yeah time has really flown by.

I think the Pats just caught them at the wrong time. The Packers offensive and defensively were just too good. It was in 1997 when they started to show the cracks. However, the Patriots for some reason didn't matchup well with the Packers for a long time. I thought the streak was going to end in 2002, but they got their asses kicked again. The tide finally turned in 2006 when Favre was getting pretty old.

The Packers had no business losing to the Giants in the NFCCG. Dallas the week before that. Because of Brady's severe ankle injury, the Packers or Cowboys could've had a chance at an upset as well. Cowboys especially as they could score points and their pass rush was fierce.

They were two completely different teams by then. That's why I mentioned it's not a rematch. They had their rematch in Foxboro in 1997 and the Packers beat them down again.

Even if Elway played, the Packers would've kicked the crap out of the Broncos as they did in the regular season. Denver lost to Jacksonville because they weren't expecting to get punched in the mouth offensively and defensively. They also didn't have an outside WR as I mention below.

GB was showing vulnerability during the 1997 season. Their defense was slipping. Had SF been fully healthy and not raining, they get passed GB. That 49ers team was absolutely loaded. Denver got over the hump because of the addition of Neil Smith and the emergence at WR with Rod Smith. They don't get passed KC without those players.

I still think we we’re better than the Niners in 97. We just owned Young and the Niners then. We were 4-1 against them in the playoffs from 1995-2001. Starting in 2012-Present we’ve lost 5 straight to SF. They own us now.

 

[TommyD4207]

This 'one' still wonders why the hell the Pats kicked to Desmond Howard

Well, this and 'Why didn't Ben Coates chip Reggie White once in the 2nd half and left Max ****ing Lane on an island"?

 

[Lambeau12]

Well, this and 'Why didn't Ben Coates chip Reggie White once in the 2nd half and left Max ****ing Lane on an island"?

You guys think the 96 Pats were as good as the 01 Pats?

 

[maust]

You guys think the 96 Pats were as good as the 01 Pats?

 

[TheRainMaker]

You guys think the 96 Pats were as good as the 01 Pats?

1996 team blows them out of the water. Pats don't make it past Oakland had it been clear skies.

I still think we we’re better than the Niners in 97. We just owned Young and the Niners then. We were 4-1 against them in the playoffs from 1995-2001. Starting in 2012-Present we’ve lost 5 straight to SF. They own us now.

Yes, 49ers absolutely had a very difficult time with the Packers. However, the Packers faced them without Rice and Hearst. 49ers defense also took a major dip in 1998 and it took a last second miracle catch to beat the Packers.

 

[TommyD4207]

You guys think the 96 Pats were as good as the 01 Pats?

You know, that's a question I've never actually thought about, because the 96 team didn't win.

The immediate response from most people will be 01 had Brady - but that was game manager Brady, and this was the brief 'Bledsoe as a top 5 QB' window.

RB - Goes to 96
WR - Goes to 96
TE - Goes to 96 (Coates was a monster)
I'd say the o-line was a wash for the most part, although Bruce Armstrong was by far the best player on either squad
D-line - Ted Washington pushes the 01 squad over the top here, also McGinest +5 years
LB - Also 01, it was basically the 96 squad with seasoning
Secondary - 01
K - it's still Vinatieri

The coaching staffs were very similar obviously, although the 96 team had a deeper staff.

Honestly, I think the 96 team got there a year early, and had Parcells stayed, they probably would have gotten there in 97 or 98 instead of Denver.

Good discussion question though.

 

[Lambeau12]

I know in 2001 they won it but that 96 team was good.

 

[Lambeau12]

1996 team blows them out of the water. Pats don't make it past Oakland had it been clear skies.

Yes, 49ers absolutely had a very difficult time with the Packers. However, the Packers faced them without Rice and Hearst. 49ers defense also took a major dip in 1998 and it took a last second miracle catch to beat the Packers.

We had their number then. Dallas had our number bad though.

 

[TheRainMaker]

You know, that's a question I've never actually thought about, because the 96 team didn't win.

The immediate response from most people will be 01 had Brady - but that was game manager Brady, and this was the brief 'Bledsoe as a top 5 QB' window.

RB - Goes to 96
WR - Goes to 96
TE - Goes to 96 (Coates was a monster)
I'd say the o-line was a wash for the most part, although Bruce Armstrong was by far the best player on either squad
D-line - Ted Washington pushes the 01 squad over the top here, also McGinest +5 years
LB - Also 01, it was basically the 96 squad with seasoning
Secondary - 01
K - it's still Vinatieri

The coaching staffs were very similar obviously, although the 96 team had a deeper staff.

Honestly, I think the 96 team got there a year early, and had Parcells stayed, they probably would have gotten there in 97 or 98 instead of Denver.

Good discussion question though.

QB - Bledsoe in 1996 as this was the year he became a top QB. I re-watched some old 2001 games recently and Brady was rough looking. It's amazing how he's transformed his playing style through the years. Had it not been for the schedule and the defense doing it's job, they don't even make the playoffs. Brady wasn't there yet.
RB- 1996 by a mile. Martin is still my favorite Pats RB.
WR- 1996 by a mile. Glenn, Jefferson on the outside, Brown in the slot and Brisby as a reserve easily wins.
TE - 1996 by a mile. No discussion needed.
OL- 1996.
DL - Washington came over in 2003. The edge goes to 1996.
LB's - 2001 gets the edge based on depth with Cox and Phifer.
Secondary - It's close to a wash, but the 2001 team had more experience at nickel and dime. Buckley and Shaw give 2001 team the edge.
K - 2001 Vinatieri over 1996. Adam was pretty rough from 1996-2000.

I agree had Parcells stayed and they stayed healthy, they'd have a few more playoff meeting with Denver in 1997 and 1998.

 

[lancerman]

You guys think the 96 Pats were as good as the 01 Pats?

The 01 Pats are kind of weird team. They were probably the epitome of a team that was executing fundamentals so well that it made up for talent gaps they had in a few spots. Also Brady was sort of game managing at that point, but in key moments he was making plays that showed flashes of what he would become.

On paper 01 is probably the least talented of the Patriots SB teams besides maybe 1985. But watching them was different.

If a receiver caught the ball on that defense, you better be prepared to know that the receiver is going to be locked down and not get any YAC and probably take big hit that they will remember.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The 01 Pats are kind of weird team. They were probably the epitome of a team that was executing fundamentals so well that it made up for talent gaps they had in a few spots. Also Brady was sort of game managing at that point, but in key moments he was making plays that showed flashes of what he would become.

On paper 01 is probably the least talented of the Patriots SB teams besides maybe 1985. But watching them was different.

If a receiver caught the ball on that defense, you better be prepared to know that the receiver is going to be locked down and not get any YAC and probably take big hit that they will remember.

The 2001 Patriots were loaded with talent.

What took time was for the TEAM to gel.

 

[signbabybrady]

You know, that's a question I've never actually thought about, because the 96 team didn't win.

The immediate response from most people will be 01 had Brady - but that was game manager Brady, and this was the brief 'Bledsoe as a top 5 QB' window.

RB - Goes to 96
WR - Goes to 96
TE - Goes to 96 (Coates was a monster)
I'd say the o-line was a wash for the most part, although Bruce Armstrong was by far the best player on either squad
D-line - Ted Washington pushes the 01 squad over the top here, also McGinest +5 years
LB - Also 01, it was basically the 96 squad with seasoning
Secondary - 01
K - it's still Vinatieri

The coaching staffs were very similar obviously, although the 96 team had a deeper staff.

Honestly, I think the 96 team got there a year early, and had Parcells stayed, they probably would have gotten there in 97 or 98 instead of Denver.

Good discussion question though.

QB come on
RB,WR, TE 96
OL slight edge to 01
Defense is where it gets silly just about everyone in 01 was a better version of what they were in 96. Plus Seymour, Vrabel, Cox, Phiffer.
Vinatieri was Better in 01 by far

 

[maust]

QB - Bledsoe in 1996 as this was the year he became a top QB. I re-watched some old 2001 games recently and Brady was rough looking. It's amazing how he's transformed his playing style through the years. Had it not been for the schedule and the defense doing it's job, they don't even make the playoffs. Brady wasn't there yet.
RB- 1996 by a mile. Martin is still my favorite Pats RB.
WR- 1996 by a mile. Glenn, Jefferson on the outside, Brown in the slot and Brisby as a reserve easily wins.
TE - 1996 by a mile. No discussion needed.
OL- 1996.
DL - Washington came over in 2003. The edge goes to 1996.
LB's - 2001 gets the edge based on depth with Cox and Phifer.
Secondary - It's close to a wash, but the 2001 team had more experience at nickel and dime. Buckley and Shaw give 2001 team the edge.
K - 2001 Vinatieri over 1996. Adam was pretty rough from 1996-2000.

I agree had Parcells stayed and they stayed healthy, they'd have a few more playoff meeting with Denver in 1997 and 1998.

QB come on
RB,WR, TE 96
OL slight edge to 01
Defense is where it gets silly just about everyone in 01 was a better version of what they were in 96. Plus Seymour, Vrabel, Cox, Phiffer.
Vinatieri was Better in 01 by far

Just based on the DL alone, 2001 smokes '96. Hamilton, Mitchell, Pleasant, Seymour > Jones, Wheeler, Sagapolutele, McGinest. The '01 D was so solid up front they were able to use McGinest situationally to great effect. '01 LB's superior to '96 by a good margin, as was the secondary.

Not so sure I'd take '96 Glenn (1152 yds) & Jefferson (771 yds) over '01 Brown (1199) & Patten (749 yds), pretty much a wash until you factor in Brown & Pattens' higher catch %. They were more reliable/clutch. Brisby was a non-factor in '01, the only catches he had all year were his 2 for a combined 12 yards in the Super Bowl.The RB's & TE's are no contest, '96 wins in a walk. OL edge very much goes to '01. Bruce Armstrong was easily the best individual player of either line but as a unit '01 was superior. Brady wasn't quite Tom F Brady at that point but even in '01 his field judgement was superior to Bledsoe's. An assassin vs a gunslinger

 

[Brick27]

Would have been fun in the 2010 season but the Jete had other plans

 

[Lambeau12]

Would have been fun in the 2010 season but the Jete had other plans

You guys jump started us to win it all in 2010.

 

[festy1986]

1996 team blows them out of the water. Pats don't make it past Oakland had it been clear skies.

Yes, 49ers absolutely had a very difficult time with the Packers. However, the Packers faced them without Rice and Hearst. 49ers defense also took a major dip in 1998 and it took a last second miracle catch to beat the Packers.

And that is on Oakland for blowing the game the week before.

Too many coulda woulda shoulda. The right team won.