The Pats have not been as bad as all that. Lets not forget a 16-0 season and a SB appearance. We got beat by the Giants but we were there. That season was not a failure. The next year Brady goes down to a season ending injury and this year the Pats win the division, but have a very disappointing home play off loss.
Since 2005 the Pats have suffered from a drain on their coaching and front office personnel. That drain is a direct result of other teams trying to emulate the Pats success. How many Colts FO staff or coaches have become GMs, or HCs in the last 5 years? Now look at the Pats: Weis, Crennel, Mangini, McDaniels, Pioli, Dimetroff all leaving for promotions with other teams (or in Weis' case the ND job). So many good people were recruited out of the Pats staff that there has been a brain drain and their replacements haven't performed as well as the originals. Some of those, O'Brien, are still learning on the job and some, Pees, are examples of the peter principle.
The Pats were rebuilding this year (and won the division) and are stacked with draft picks in the next 2 years to rebuild for the long term. There may be misses in those picks but that is just the nature of the draft. The Pats are among the best drafting teams in the league. Complaining because 3rd and 4th round players aren't all pros and 5-7th round players can't make the team is a bit over the top when you look at the quality of players on the team currently and when you consider the league wide averages for what happens to players drafted in those positions.
Do I wish AD wasn't a spoiled athlete, do I wish Chad Jackson wasn't a 2nd round bust? Yes, but for every AD there is a Mike Vrabel, or TBC and for every CJ there is a Vollmer or Edleman. I want the Pats to win every SB but that is unrealistic. As long as they are among the elite teams competing for the SB we as fans should be satisfied. We have one of the greatest QBs and coaches of the SB era. Because of those individuals we will win our fair share of playoff games and SBs.