I'm not saying you're wrong about what might have happened if the 1992 Pats had been a little better - we'll never know, of course. It's one of those 'flap of a butterfly's wings' things - would history have been different? Absolutely. Would it have been worse for Pats fans? Quite possibly.
However, when you say that MacPherson was a good coach because his team didn't suck less - yes, I think that is spin!
No - not a good coach - just the right man for the "job" at the time.
I did think that 6-10 the year before was about as good as it got for that team with the QBs they had. I'm not saying MacPherson tanked every game but I think he was smart enough to know that with a #1 pick the team had a good chance in the future, and therefore might have, shall we say, looked at 1992 as a developmental year.
Ben Coates, Irving Fryer, Marv Cook, Greg McMurtry, and Michael Timpson all seemed like good WRs - just no one good to throw to them. Even had Bruce Armstrong in the fold to protect the QB of the future!
Kevin Turner was a rookie that year and clearly had potential. Sam Gash was on the team too though hadn't really done much to show any potential if I recall. Lots of other good players on that team - Andre Tipppett, Vincent "The Undertaker" Brown, Mo Hurst, Ray Agnew, Todd Collins, Dwayne Sabb. Both the existing and potential talent on the team was significant - college coaches can sometimes be good at helping young players develop (especially when the focus is on development and not winning - or rather losing!)
So perhaps a decent QB might have actually been able to do something with those players around him - but I still don't see Parcells coming here without having that strong foundation plus a #1 pick - and it wouldn't surprise me if Kraft didn't make his move without Parcells in the fold etc...
Who knows - I'm just glad it all worked out well!
