stinkypete
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2004
- Messages
- 3,386
- Reaction score
- 1,676
I don't know if I speak for anyone else here, but for me, the extreme dominance of the Brady Patriots took some of the fun away from watching the game. First the 2007 team unleashed a wave of cartoonish super-villainy on the league, then the 2011 - 2017 teams made 37 - 13 wins and trips to the AFCC game feel like a birthright. I lost my tolerance for anything short of assured destruction of the AFC.
This made 2019 (and most of 2018) particularly hard to watch. At the center of it was watching Brady as his emotions range from distant to pissed off to dejected. There is that story floating that Brady checked out in Pittsburgh in 2018. Remembering back to that game - his body language, all the balls he threw away - and comparing it to 2019, it seems about right. His last half-season was awful to watch.
At some point during the dynasty's second act, Brady became bigger than the team. I would cite the unveiling of the Brady mega-flag outside Gillette at the beginning of 2016 as the catalyst, and 28 - 3 sealed the deal by justifying GOAT status. As great a year as he had in 2017, things were never the same after 2016. The persistent drama over Jimmy G and Gurrero and TB12 and Gronk and the house and the contract reached such levels it sometimes felt more like early 90's WWE than the NFL. Brady deserves to be revered forever in this region, but it's ok to admit that the last few years (outside of those 2018 playoffs) kinda sucked.
Looking ahead, I am thrilled at what 2020 will bring. The Newton signing leaves the rest of the league clueless of what a Patriot offense will look like. Earlier this year we talked about the positionless defense, well we now have (to some extent) a positionless offense. Two WRs that can also pass, two WRs that can also run, an RB who doubles as a receiver, a FB who can catch, a TE who can play h-back, quarterbacked by one of the most explosive athletes ever to play the position. McDaniels and the Belichicks are going to sceme like mad scientists, and it will be thrilling to watch it unfold.
I have no idea if this team is going to go 6 - 10 or tear through the league and hoist #7, both seem equally likely. I am more excited about this team, not their chances per se, but at the prospect of watching a football game every week for 16 - 20 weeks, than I have been for years.
This made 2019 (and most of 2018) particularly hard to watch. At the center of it was watching Brady as his emotions range from distant to pissed off to dejected. There is that story floating that Brady checked out in Pittsburgh in 2018. Remembering back to that game - his body language, all the balls he threw away - and comparing it to 2019, it seems about right. His last half-season was awful to watch.
At some point during the dynasty's second act, Brady became bigger than the team. I would cite the unveiling of the Brady mega-flag outside Gillette at the beginning of 2016 as the catalyst, and 28 - 3 sealed the deal by justifying GOAT status. As great a year as he had in 2017, things were never the same after 2016. The persistent drama over Jimmy G and Gurrero and TB12 and Gronk and the house and the contract reached such levels it sometimes felt more like early 90's WWE than the NFL. Brady deserves to be revered forever in this region, but it's ok to admit that the last few years (outside of those 2018 playoffs) kinda sucked.
Looking ahead, I am thrilled at what 2020 will bring. The Newton signing leaves the rest of the league clueless of what a Patriot offense will look like. Earlier this year we talked about the positionless defense, well we now have (to some extent) a positionless offense. Two WRs that can also pass, two WRs that can also run, an RB who doubles as a receiver, a FB who can catch, a TE who can play h-back, quarterbacked by one of the most explosive athletes ever to play the position. McDaniels and the Belichicks are going to sceme like mad scientists, and it will be thrilling to watch it unfold.
I have no idea if this team is going to go 6 - 10 or tear through the league and hoist #7, both seem equally likely. I am more excited about this team, not their chances per se, but at the prospect of watching a football game every week for 16 - 20 weeks, than I have been for years.
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