We should take a minute to count our football blessings

I've been watching replays of several preseason games on the NFL Network the last couple of days. It made me realize how awesome we have it as fans right now.

Anything less than a Super Bowl win for us this season will be a disappointment. Some fan bases out there are hoping their young players develop so they can have a good team in 4-5 years. We have finished no worse than in a tie for first place in the AFC East for an entire decade. Some fan bases would be stoked with a winning record. We hope to have the #1 offense in the NFL. Some fan bases are hoping their team doesn't have the worst.

We need to cherish every second we have with this great team because it obviously won't be this good forever. Here's hoping we can get another title (or more) before we have to start over.

Everything you say is true. And while it is dissapointing sometimes (endings in 06, 07, 10) at least our team has a chance.

Having said that, we shouldn't "just be satisfied". This team can accomplish great things. I for one will be frustrated if the playoffs are short and aggravating like they have recently been. Doubly so after last season's good regular season performance, the additions this year, and the "should be" advantage of a stable team in a lockout year...

What a bunch of roody poo is this!

What you call blessings I call redemption for years of crud. We are owed this.

Prior to 2001, any success we had was treated with tongue in cheek admiration.

We had the worst stadium, some of the worst seasons the league had ever seen.

As much respect I have for Billy Sullivan for giving us this team, his families administrative decisions made Mike Brown look like the Rooney's.

My memories start with the Chuck Fairbanks debacle. 20+ years I endured, recognizing that my

team was considered a laughing stock of the NFL. But I held out hope and am now being repaid.

I owe and am thankful for NOTHING!

Nice thread OP. Just like real, everyday life we should cherish every possible moment.

I do think that this theory contradicts the 'being disappointed' if we do not go to the SB though. To be honest, that's an incredible amt of pressure, and as much as I think they certainly have a decent shot at going farther in the playoffs, I am not going to view the team as a "failure" if they aren't the 32nd pick in the draft.

Most of your points are great, but I will still be satisfied with regular competitive football. THAT is the real gift, being able to compete with any and all of the other 31 teams in this league on every single weekend. We haven't always had that, and should be appreciative--not spoiled.

The SB is obviously the goal, but not the end all..be all for me personally. The season can still be a good one, as long as we are competing for a playoff spot in the last week or so of the season. Yes, I will be saddened, as we all are as football fans with another playoff loss, but I still believe that the excitement of watching every Sunday is worth it no matter what.

PushnPencils said:

I owe and am thankful for NOTHING!

Click to expand...

Lol, for a minute there, I actually thought you may be serious.

supafly said:

Lol, for a minute there, I actually thought you may be serious.

Click to expand...

Oops....forgot the smiley......

I'm enjoying every second of the Brady/Belichick era. There will be a time again when this team wins 10 games in 8 years, haha. Just appreciate the good. Personally, watching over NFL teams is boring now. The Patriots just play to innovative a brand of football for me to find anything else exciting. In a league of 31 'B' students, the Patriots are clearly the 'A' pupils.

This year BB has the Pats as well-positioned to make a run at the Lombardi as he ever has.

Some people don't like to compare this team with the one he assembled in 2007 with utter domination of the league in mind, but so far it feels similar to me. I would think the rest of the league (except maybe ****y Rex and his Jesters) are a bit apprehensive about what BB is brewing at Gillette right now and I'm looking forward to what could be one of the most enjoyable seasons ever.

Injuries are the only thing that should keep this team from being a juggernaut.

JMarr said:

This year BB has the Pats as well-positioned to make a run at the Lombardi as he ever has.

Some people don't like to compare this team with the one he assembled in 2007 with utter domination of the league in mind, but so far it feels similar to me. I would think the rest of the league (except maybe ****y Rex and his Jesters) are a bit apprehensive about what BB is brewing at Gillette right now and I'm looking forward to what could be one of the most enjoyable seasons ever.

Injuries are the only thing that should keep this team from being a juggernaut.

Click to expand...

Absolutely agree!! Bring on GFY tour part 2!!!!! Let's get this going already!

I look at it another way. Some newer fans expect this team to compete every year, and are so jaded that they feel gyped if we don't win it.

As a fan that lived through trading Buoniconti for Kim Hammond, Bramlett, and a 5th; Joe Kapp; Duane Thomas; Drieth; Stingley; Fairbanks and so on - I take nothing for granted, but do take great and perhaps even perverse joy in the teams success. In particular when it is at the expense of the Jets, Raiders, and Colts.

All those years of watching them play in Fenway, BC, BU, Schaefer, and listening to them on the radio because the black out was almost never lifted - yeah, it's sweet now, do enjoy it NOW.

JMarr said:

This year BB has the Pats as well-positioned to make a run at the Lombardi as he ever has.

Some people don't like to compare this team with the one he assembled in 2007 with utter domination of the league in mind, but so far it feels similar to me. I would think the rest of the league (except maybe ****y Rex and his Jesters) are a bit apprehensive about what BB is brewing at Gillette right now and I'm looking forward to what could be one of the most enjoyable seasons ever.

Injuries are the only thing that should keep this team from being a juggernaut.

Click to expand...

I agree. Only two things went wrong in 2007:

#1. Morris got hurt and our carries per game went down, as did our time of possession - which exposed the defense more and more, and caused the Pats to become too one dimensional on offense.

#2. BB and staff did not change the offensive line calls for the SB, the Giants staff decoded what we were doing, and the offensive game plan which should have been 3 step drop short passes to keep the D line away from Brady became 5 step drop take a punchers chance stuff - except for that one shining drive when we cut them like warm butter with a hot knife. It is really my only beef with BB since he came here.

Fix these two problems and it's 19-0, and keep Colvin from his hip injury and it's one or perhaps two more SB wins because we would have had the guy BB wanted at OLB, and would have had money for decent DB's in 2007-2009 because we wouldn't have spent money on that waste product - Adelius.

I've come to the conclusion that those who are very grateful for what we are witnessing right now (including myself) are and always will be.

Those who aren't, who find themselves griping and moaning like they were suffering Lions/Bengals/Bills fans never will - these people have a sense of entitlement that probably doesn't limit itself to football.

I'm loving every minute of it, even the heartache (the game that shall never be mentioned) makes the good stuff feel great.

Perspective is sometimes only gained in retrospect. :rocker::rocker:

bagwell368 said:

I agree. Only two things went wrong in 2007:

#1. Morris got hurt and our carries per game went down, as did our time of possession - which exposed the defense more and more, and caused the Pats to become too one dimensional on offense.

#2. BB and staff did not change the offensive line calls for the SB, the Giants staff decoded what we were doing, and the offensive game plan which should have been 3 step drop short passes to keep the D line away from Brady became 5 step drop take a punchers chance stuff - except for that one shining drive when we cut them like warm butter with a hot knife. It is really my only beef with BB since he came here.

Fix these two problems and it's 19-0, and keep Colvin from his hip injury and it's one or perhaps two more SB wins because we would have had the guy BB wanted at OLB, and would have had money for decent DB's in 2007-2009 because we wouldn't have spent money on that waste product - Adelius.

Click to expand...

Sometimes great teams stubbornly buy into their infallibility a little too much.

If it wasn't for the 2001 Rams pulling the same stunt then we'd have been unlikely to see the start of a Dynasty.

bagwell368 said:

I look at it another way. Some newer fans expect this team to compete every year, and are so jaded that they feel gyped if we don't win it.

As a fan that lived through trading Buoniconti for Kim Hammond, Bramlett, and a 5th; Joe Kapp; Duane Thomas; Drieth; Stingley; Fairbanks and so on - I take nothing for granted, but do take great and perhaps even perverse joy in the teams success. In particular when it is at the expense of the Jets, Raiders, and Colts.

All those years of watching them play in Fenway, BC, BU, Schaefer, and listening to them on the radio because the black out was almost never lifted - yeah, it's sweet now, do enjoy it NOW.

Click to expand...

The young whipper snappers can't appreciate what all the old fogeys have been thru

Going from PRAYING for a win on Sunday to EXPECTING a playoff berth from a team....

WHAT A RIDE IT'S BEEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rocker::rocker::rocker::rocker::rocker:

livinginthe past said:

Sometimes great teams stubbornly buy into their infallibility a little too much.

If it wasn't for the 2001 Rams pulling the same stunt then we'd have been unlikely to see the start of a Dynasty.

Click to expand...

After watching the Raiders and Steelers games, the Rams should have known it would be a war - if not in talent, then in emotion and physicality. They also should have gotten the ball to Faulk 8-10 more times too. We couldn't stop him.

I personally think it's embarrassing to 'expect' a Super Bowl win, and to view the season as a 'failure' if the team accomplishes anything less.

If that's the case, why not just wait until the Super Bowl, and only watch it if the Pats are playing?

That would be stupid, right? Enjoy the journey. It's the whole point of the sport. Anything less diminishes how special a Super Bowl victory really is.

I've been rewatching all of the games from 2010 to get ready for the season. If my only view of the past season was "they lost to the Jets in the playoffs", I'd be missing out on some great, tough-fought victories that we got to see as the young core of our team matured.

The NFL isn't one day in February.

I've been thinking similar much of this preseason, in part triggered by posts that complain about "weaknesses" that aren't being "fixed" such as C, RG, and the fourth CB. Really? Because there are a few players who probably won't be considered for the pro bowl, there is a problem? Really?

The talent "problems" this team has are so minor and so few compared to the other teams....yeesh.

Anyway, nice post, thanks OP.

Now, I'll go figure out how to do an avatar before the criticism starts rolling in about the Myra emblem being absent from my post.

I have to say as a Jets fan ... It refreshing to hear that Most of you guy to not take the Pats success lightly. My team is an excellent team in their own right .. But definitely not at the Pts level. The luck out pick of the century in Brady has given you a gift to be cherished ...it won't be around forever.

Is a sadistic way I like being David and the Pats being Goliath. Now if just a few other teams aside from the Jets can figure BB out , I'll be much happier ... There is a ton of pressure on the Jets to beat you guys because no one else can.

bagwell368;2645047]I look at it another way. Some newer fans expect this team to compete every year, and are so jaded that they feel gyped if we don't win it.

As a fan that lived through trading Buoniconti for Kim Hammond, Bramlett, and a 5th; Joe Kapp; Duane Thomas; Drieth; Stingley; Fairbanks and so on - I take nothing for granted, but do take great and perhaps even perverse joy in the teams success. In particular when it is at the expense of the Jets, Raiders, and Colts.

All those years of watching them play in Fenway, BC, BU, Schaefer, and listening to them on the radio because the black out was almost never lifted - yeah, it's sweet now, do enjoy it NOW.

Click to expand...

Agree, although I didn't come onboard until Plunkett was drafted. The Mrs used to chastise me about sitting on the edge of the couch. I couldn't sit back. I've always been unable to well & truly grasp what a gift this area has been given with this team. i remember all the dropped balls, the shanked kicks the sacks & fumbles and "almost won" games.

The Old Patriots games used to follow a formula: Get ahead early, fall behind, rally late, fall short in the last few minutes. That was it week in and week out. We'd sit and hope against hope that "this year! Maybe this year!" it would be different, but it never was. There were the big teases of going to the Superbowl, but losing still.

Then Kraft bought the team, and though we lost to Green Bay, there was something in the air. Then came Coach Belichick. Oh Lord what a difference.

So yeah, count your blessings. It's a unique thing to have such consistently good teams, always in contention, always ready to play. Someday it will taper off, but for now, I'm not complaining. I've seen the promised land, and this is it. :rocker:

There is a substantive difference between "expecting" a SB win and knowing that your team is a legit contender for the playoffs and SB. Us long time Patriots fans had to endure tens of years where the Patriots were not only not in contention but were regarded by the national media as a joke, despite brief interludes of contention in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Since Kraft took over most seasons have been legitimately hopeful, including all seasons post 2001. It's very, very different following a team that has no real chance of being a playoff winner than starting a season knowing you're following a serious contender. It's realistic given this organization to expect to contend while it's unrealistic to expect and demand a SB win. There are other good athletes and organizations.

Fans here are spoiled. Look at the pre-season threads gushing over absolutely unproven Mallett as the successor to TFB, hoping Brady steps aside in 3 years for the new guy. Newbies do not appreciate what we have here.