2002 Patriots

[Pats1989]

What happened in 02? Was it a case of bad luck in crunch time? Shine of the previous shocking SB wearing off? Looking at the scores, there were some very disappointing performances ( GB, Ten, Oak, Jets).

Looking at articles from 02, pundits had the Pats as a " Fluke" team who simply fell back down to earth. Well as it turned out...that 02 season was the one fluke year from the Brady era.

Longtime fans, what led to the
" Disappointment"of 02? I ask because I didn't become a die hard until the 03 season.

 

[supafly]

What happened in 02? Was it a case of bad luck in crunch time? Shine of the previous shocking SB wearing off? Looking at the scores, there were some very disappointing performances ( GB, Ten, Oak, Jets).

Looking at articles from 02, pundits had the Pats as a " Fluke" team who simply fell back down to earth. Well as it turned out...that 02 season was the one fluke year from the Brady era.

Longtime fans, what led to the
" Disappointment"of 02? I ask because I didn't become a die hard until the 03 season.

Well, for one thing Brady had a very serious injury (separated shoulder) which would've sidelined most other players. I think that was certainly part of the issue.

All in all, I think it was just a rough stretch in the early part of the season where they lost 4 in a row. If you take that away, they started 3-0, and finished 6-3. Losing those four games in a row really hurt the entire season.

 

[PYPER]

Longtime fans, what led to the
" Disappointment"of 02? I ask because I didn't become a die hard until the 03 season.

Team started out on fire but went into funk after Troy Brown got dinged up in week 3 vs Chiefs. He was enjoying best game of career (15 or 16 catches) but was only dependable weapon. Deon Branch showed flashes but he was also injury prone. David Givens became very reliable in 2003 but as a rook in 2002 he struggled with drops.

Also 2002 free agent class struggled making impact. Didn't seem to have the quality depth.

When Pats are good, their depth is major reason why. Same can be said about their "off" years.

 

[supafly]

Well, for one thing Brady had a very serious injury (separated shoulder) which would've sidelined most other players. I think that was certainly part of the issue.

All in all, I think it was just a rough stretch in the early part of the season where they lost 4 in a row. If you take that away, they started 3-0, and finished 6-3. Losing those four games in a row really hurt the entire season.

I'd also add the fact that they turned the ball over in those losses during that stretch : 3 (SD), 3 (MIA), and 4 (GB). I don't believe they had another 3+ turnover game after that, for the remainder of the season.

 

[Gumby]

Also, in 2001 they were playing a div 5th place (5-11 2000 season) schedule and in 2002 was a div 1st place/NFL 1st place schedule. IIRC The scheduling was a lot more open ended then so the variance in quality would be more. >2003/Nowadays only really two games are changed by your previous season record.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I have never seen a run defense pushed around as much as that 02 team was.

 

[The Brandon Five]

I have never seen a run defense pushed around as much as that 02 team was.

Hence, Ted (Mount) Washington in 2003 and Big Vince in 2004.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Hence, Ted (Mount) Washington in 2003 and Big Vince in 2004.

Yep. Drafted Ty Warren in 03 as well and picked up Rosy Colvin as a FA.

 

[SacPete1]

I remember some player (Ty Law maybe) said something about needing "to get our swagger back" from last year and Belichick said something like "we didn't have a %&$* swagger!"

That summed it up right there for me and the 02 season reminded me of the 95 season when they were coming off a playoff berth the previous year and everything was looking up and they laid an egg in '95. Parcells alluded to regretting not coaching differently and relying on the players' maturity to lead them (I'm paraphrasing but that was the theme).

 

[mgteich]

The 2001 team was a miracle. It was expected to lose more games than it won. The 2002 team wasn't a much better team. Of course, it had improved a bit. The miracle didn't happen twice. The schedule was much more difficult.

The 2002 team performed about as expected, and reasonably well, given the talent and schedule.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I have never seen a run defense pushed around as much as that 02 team was.

The Pats beat KC in week 3 but the Chiefs showed the recipe to beating NE that year was to run on them, rushing for more than 200 yards, as did SD and that carried thru all season......Even GB had more rushing yards than passing
It also explains why they got Ted Washington before 2003 as a plugger in the middle.....

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I have never seen a run defense pushed around as much as that 02 team was.

Yup. How can we forget everybody's favorite nose tackle?

 

[slam]

Jetsfans: Do you think we'll ever have a Quarterback as good as Mark Sanchez or Chad Pennington again?
Patsfans: Grandpa, what was it like to see Tom Brady miss the playoffs?

I know we had a thread with this same premise a few months ago, but I can't find it. A lot of Steve Martin talk.

 

[Joey007]

Crazily enough, Brady actually led the league in TD passes that year.

He had 28.

The NFL has sure changed over the last 15 years.

 

[FCB02062]

Run defense was garbage....I'll never forget that game in SD...Tomlinson completely gashed the Pats that day...I remember SD kept running a fake end around to Tim Dwight and then Tomlinson would pick up tons of yards...

It was a frustrating team...

With all that said, the 02 Pats still had a shot to win the division having won their 1 pm game vs Miami. The Pats needed the NYJ to lose to Green Bay in a 4 pm game. We all thought the Pats had a good shot at sneaking in, given the circumstances of the 4 pm game in NJ.

GB pulled a complete no show in a game they needed to win to get a bye. Had GB won, they would've had a bye that year, instead they lost in the WC round. I'm still shocked GB got blown out in a game they had to have...Favre was so f#cking bad that game...

 

[mosi]

Run defense was garbage....I'll never forget that game in SD...Tomlinson completely gashed the Pats that day...I remember SD kept running a fake end around to Tim Dwight and then Tomlinson would pick up tons of yards...

It was a frustrating team...

With all that said, the 02 Pats still had a shot to win the division having won their 1 pm game vs Miami. The Pats needed the NYJ to lose to Green Bay in a 4 pm game. We all thought the Pats had a good shot at sneaking in, given the circumstances of the 4 pm game in NJ.

GB pulled a complete no show in a game they needed to win to get a bye. Had GB won, they would've had a bye that year, instead they lost in the WC round. I'm still shocked GB got blown out in a game they had to have...Favre was so f#cking bad that game...

Actually the Pats had some great games that year and Brady showed flashes of his greatness. The game in Chicago and the last Miami game were amazing.

 

[Nehalem]

Run defense was garbage....I'll never forget that game in SD...Tomlinson completely gashed the Pats that day...I remember SD kept running a fake end around to Tim Dwight and then Tomlinson would pick up tons of yards...

It was a frustrating team...

With all that said, the 02 Pats still had a shot to win the division having won their 1 pm game vs Miami. The Pats needed the NYJ to lose to Green Bay in a 4 pm game. We all thought the Pats had a good shot at sneaking in, given the circumstances of the 4 pm game in NJ.

GB pulled a complete no show in a game they needed to win to get a bye. Had GB won, they would've had a bye that year, instead they lost in the WC round. I'm still shocked GB got blown out in a game they had to have...Favre was so f#cking bad that game...

Favre also cost the Patriots a playoff appearance in 2008

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Favre also cost the Patriots a playoff appearance in 2008

Had Favre shown up twice, the Pats would have a 16 year run of playoffs.....

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Actually the Pats had some great games that year and Brady showed flashes of his greatness. The game in Chicago and the last Miami game were amazing.

The end of that Chicago game is on the short list of craziest finishes. The twice-bobbled pick of Brady turned incomplete, the QB sneak on 4th-and-THREE, the toe drag on Patten's game winner...to close out the 21pt comeback. A forgotten gem.

Regards,
Chris

 

[RobertWeathers]

Had Favre shown up twice, the Pats would have a 16 year run of playoffs.....

...and most likely a SB 42 win.