Flashback: when the thought of the Patriots in the Super Bowl seemed crazy

When I think about this run of success I always think of one stat relevant to every week. They have to go 13-3 or Brady’s lifetime winning % goes down. That’s sick. You can’t be luckier as fans than we have been. All time great franchise at the right time.

Oswlek said:

I have a lot listening time at work, so I keep up with a few of his podcasts. For me, it's the Patriots stuff that I find least tolerable, and not because of being obnoxious. It's just that he usually hasn't a clue what he's talking about. At least when he talks about other teams, either I don't know enough to recognize how little he knows, or it's easier to tolerate since it isn't a team he supposedly follows passionately.

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Yeah I can see that. I mean, he's not terrible with Pats knowledge -- like he probably knows more about the Patriots than 75% of all fans. It's just that a lot people on this board know more than 99% of Pats fans so when we hear Simmons talk sometimes we're like "how do you not know the name of our backup right tackle??"

I'd love to hear him have Mike Reiss on his podcast at some point, not sure why that hasn't happened yet.

The rise of the 2001 Patriots through Dr Z’s rankings...

The only thing we can hope when it's all said and done is that Belichick leaves a foundation behind that takes this franchise forward for years to come. A tradition of sound, winning football with strong scouting and player development. Akin to what winning did for Green Bay and Pittsburgh when they were having their periods of sustained success last century. They don't win every year obviously, but year in and year out for the most part they are competitive.

I believe that's going to be us. Players and coaches will want to be apart of this organization and the unmatched success associated with it.

I have fonder memories of those years than Simmons.

After the Pats got robbed in 76 they went to the SB in the mid 80's, mid 90's and then came the B&B years. In between they had some decent teams.