2011 Patriots

[Pats1989]

The 2011 Patriots were an interesting story. They made the SB despite having a last ranked Defense ( Didn't make sense with Arrington, Sterling Moore, Love, Wilfork on the team). Brany had a good season, we also had the dual threat of Gronk and Hernandez.

Guess my question is what we're your expectations heading into that season? Were you bitterly disappointed such a great team could lose?

 

[supafly]

The 2011 Patriots were an interesting story. They made the SB despite having a last ranked Defense ( Didn't make sense with Arrington, Sterling Moore, Love, Wilfork on the team). Brany had a good season, we also had the dual threat of Gronk and Hernandez.

Guess my question is what we're your expectations heading into that season? Were you bitterly disappointed such a great team could lose?

I think our expectations were the same as any other year, particularly coming off of a 14-2 season the year before.

I don't think they were nearly the "great team" that you seem to be suggesting though, mostly due to your reasons above.

 

[AzorianPats]

Our offense was awesome that year. Welker had statistically his best year, Gronk and Hernandez, gave us a 2 headed monster at TE.

Defense was another story. We were playing Edelman at DB at times. I go into every season expecting the Pats to win a SB, but looking back at that year. That defense was terrible.

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

I didn't think that team was that great. Offensively yeah but not overall. Its always disappointing to lose but it didn't take me that long to get over it. The hardest part was losing to the damn giants again.

 

[luuked]

The 2011 Patriots were an interesting story. They made the SB despite having a last ranked Defense ( Didn't make sense with Arrington, Sterling Moore, Love, Wilfork on the team). Brany had a good season, we also had the dual threat of Gronk and Hernandez.

Guess my question is what we're your expectations heading into that season? Were you bitterly disappointed such a great team could lose?

I don't know what exactly you mean by it didn't make sense with Arrington, Moore or Love on the team. Moore and Love were somewhere between JAG and sub-JAG level. Arrington was generally not much better except on those days where the opponents had exactly the right matchup for him (e.g. TY Hilton). And the safety situation was even worse...

Also, Gronk essentially missed the SB with that high ankle sprain.

I think everyone involved knew ahead that it would take a couple of breaks to win that game. Unfortunately, we couldn't make plays (e.g. Welker) and also shot ourselves in the foot with that unnecessary safety.

This time around we have a bigger margin for error but in the end it will -- as always -- come down to actually win more of those 50:50 situations than the Falcons do.

 

[TennisBallHead]

The team had no business being a few minutes away from a championship. Still, considering the road (the likes of Tyler Palko and Tim Tebow at QB, and even the AFCCG and SB were teams with lower tiered QBs) it was a missed opportunity.

I'm probably the only one who feels this way, but I feel worse about the 2011 SB than I do about the 2007. At least in 2007, the Giants d-line completely dominated that game. I guess in 2011 their offense controlled the clock and the punter kept ****ing pinning them at like the 3 yard line. But man, talk about a mediocre champion.

The fact that the 49ers knocked out the Saints saved the bacon of both the Pats and Giants. The Saints could have scored 70 on either of them.

 

[GorBelSer]

Yep, missed opportunity. One of those "Could have gone either way" SBs, in the end I think they simply outmuscled us, that Giants team was loaded with physical talent on the defense.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The defense was good enough.

Gronk plays they win.

EDIT: I'm aware Gronk plays but was obviously a shell of himself as he was dealing with the HAS.

 

[Clonamery]

The defense was good enough.

Gronk plays they win.

Yes, the defense played one of their best games all year but they couldn't get a bounce from any of the Giant's fumbles.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

The defense was good enough.

Gronk plays they win.

Oh yeah? Not this team

 

[Ring 6]

The defense was good enough.

Gronk plays they win.

Welker makes a routine catch they win

 

[RobertWeathers]

Welker makes a routine catch they win

Ive blocked that out of my mind.

 

[mosi]

Yes, that team with a healthy Gronk would have won.

Say what you will about the Defense but once again, when they had to make a play (in the Super Bowl) they did not.

 

[PittPatriot]

Yes, the defense played one of their best games all year but they couldn't get a bounce from any of the Giant's fumbles.

He did play...he was just badly hurt and moved slowly.
That last second Hail Mary could have been caused by a healthy Gronk. He was right there.

 

[sb1]

The 2011 Pats weren't that great. The pass defense was wretched and their running game was in the bottom third of the league. They also didn't beat any team over .500 that season until the AFC Championship game and they were even lucky to win that one.

 

[The Brandon Five]

They didn't lose SB XLVI because of the defense. They were on the field for 37 minutes and gave up 21 points. 3 of which were arguably allowed on purpose (let them score a TD to get the ball back).

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

They didn't lose SB XLVI because of the defense. They were on the field for 37 minutes and gave up 21 points. 3 of which were arguably allowed on purpose (let them score a TD to get the ball back).

And of those 21 points, 2 of those came on an offensive possession, and were the result of an intentional grounding by Brady. So the 2011 defense actually surrendered 19 points (slightly below their season average of 21.4 PPG)

 

[FCB02062]

That '11 had a garbage defense that lived of turnovers. IIRC they were top 2 or 3 in the league in +/-, and in the SB when they couldn't turn the ball over it caught up with them...

 

[pazrul72]

Welker makes a routine catch they win

Let's be fair to Welker that was not a routine catch. Brady put it on the wrong shoulder and he had to twist and go up for it. Should he have had it? Yeah Its the super bowl and he got his hands on it but it's not like it hit him in the bread basket with no one within 10 yards of him. Reche Caldwell in 06 dropped a routine game ending catch not welker.

 

[Nikolai]

I remember thinking in 2010-2012 that we were in a "rebuild on the fly" and that it was crazy that we made it to the Super Bowl with a team that was "a work in progress". That defense was awful, and I tried to justify it to myself, but I knew the truth deep down.

The offense was all kinds of ridiculous.

This team is quite different.