Good article on Cold Hard Football Facts -- historical perspective

[Poker]

Wet and Ugly: New England Patriots Rediscover Team DNA

I enjoyed this article on the ugly win. Yes, the game and rules are different now, so the tactics required aren't the same. But I think the point about learning to kill your opponent in different ways is valid. We shall see...

 

[Krugman]

Thanks for the link,its a great article.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

That was awesome and 100% true!!!! We are so spoiled! Hopefully this is a good omen!

 

[MoneyFX]

Awesome read.

 

[Gwedd]

Nice find. Thanks for posting that link.

It's along the lines of what I've been saying. Anyone who remembers the pre-Brady days (I've been along for the ride, proudly wearing the laundry since they drafted Plunkett) knows how division games are always a dog fight, and on any given Sunday, any team can rise up to win.

I'm enjoying this new Patriots team, because although the doom-sayers and chicken-littles are running in circles and holding their manhoods cheap, the rest of us know that this team will only get better, and they have shown they have the will to win.

 

[Oswlek]

CHFF crunches some interesting numbers, but good Lord does that piece have a whole lot of editorial nonsense for something that started with a good objective.

Byrne, in particular, has a nasty habit of misinterpreting the very data that he collects. Not to mention trolling message boards for ideas and passing them off as his own, but that's a story for another day...

 

[Uncle Rico]

I like it in spirit but think it overreaches to make its point. I find it a bit dismissive of the team's success (short of winning the Super Bowl) since the last title:

It's a return to their roots for a team and a fan base that has lost its way over the past decade, that has forgotten about the mental fortitude it takes to win championships in pro football.

So the Patriots have shed the bikini, packed on a few pounds and pulled on their granny panties over the first two weeks of the 2013 season.

And these two comments were kind of silly:

Then somewhere along the way fans and even the organization got bored with all the success. They no longer wanted to win ugly, they no longer wanted to be the subject of ridicule in those pigskin beauty pageants on ESPN and elsewhere.

Bill Belichick and the organization capitulated to public pressure (in loading up on offensive weapons).

I think most of here will be more than happy to see guys like Gronk, Amendola and Vereen get healthy — and the rookie receivers improve — as the schedule gets tougher. Eking out wins against the Bills and Jets does not, to these eyes, guarantee post-season success any more than blowing them out would.

Still yeah, good to see some grittiness. I think BB loves it, to an extent. The game has changed considerably since those last Super Bowl wins, and getting the offense clicking will be important as the season goes along. But the grittiness, that will always help you win.

 

[mgteich]

All of us applaud the yearly improvement of the defense. It does not follow that we should celebrate the ineptness of the offense and Belichick's cholces in personnel for the 2013 passing games.

We will do better as the defense continues to improve. It does not follow that we will win Super Bowl BECAUSE we have an offense that is looking worse and worse.

Believe it or not, Brady hasn't given up on one of the offenses offenses in the history of the NFL. It is simply frustrating for one and all that Brady is being asked to do this with untrained rookies at WR and TE. It is great that Edelman was signed. But Belichick could have done much more, trading for a receiver, if necessary. Folks can tell me that BALT would have refused a 2nd for Bolden. I don't believe it. Besides, there were probably others available.

 

[makoute]

Nice find. Thanks for posting that link.

It's along the lines of what I've been saying. Anyone who remembers the pre-Brady days (I've been along for the ride, proudly wearing the laundry since they drafted Plunkett) knows how division games are always a dog fight, and on any given Sunday, any team can rise up to win.

I'm enjoying this new Patriots team, because although the doom-sayers and chicken-littles are running in circles and holding their manhoods cheap, the rest of us know that this team will only get better, and they have shown they have the will to win.

forget the pre Brady days, before 2007 the Pats were not a prolific offensive team. They were more efficient if anything

 

[Triumph]

The defense really hasnt faced anyone yet, but the real test is coming vs Atlanta week 4. On the surface there is improvement with the defense.

The offense will be a work in progress getting better as the season goes on

 

[Triumph]

forget the pre Brady days, before 2007 the Pats were not a prolific offensive team. They were more efficient if anything

They were more balanced: Defense, Offense and Special Teams.

2007 up till last season, the Pats were trying to be the 2001 Rams.

 

[Brewskies]

I am sorry I must offer an apology before I start.

The Pats defense has improved it would appear against two weak offensive teams with rookie QBs. I will discuss improvement after the ATL, CINN, and NO games.

As for the Pats offense I don't need to comment if you watched the games.

As for winning the first two I offer thanks to the Bills and Jets they gave these games to us.

We need some key players to get healthy and stay healthy. We need our rookie WRs to get in sync or replace them. We need our defensive secondary to stay solid against top offensive teams.

I believe we will win our division. Time will tell if we will win our first playoff game and to do that we need one hell of a lot of improvement everywhere.

 

[Gumby]

I like the article's basic premise and agree about the mental & physical toughness of the 2001-2004 teams, (I still remember the lamb quotes after the lambs-in season game: 'dont be surprised if we see those guys again' (at a time when pats were ~500 not necessarily playoff locked; & 'that was the hardest hitting opponent we had all year')

but where I have a problem is this:

Then somewhere along the way fans and even the organization got bored with all the success. They no longer wanted to win ugly, they no longer wanted to be the subject of ridicule in those pigskin beauty pageants on ESPN and elsewhere.


New England fans and media began to clamor for “stars” and “weapons” to surround Brady, to change the tough, battle-scarred but boring image of the team.


Winning was no longer good enough. Patriots fans wanted to win pretty, too.


And did they ever. The Patriots since 2007 have looked prettier than Carrie Underwood in a frilly red thong and corset.

Bill Belichick and the organization capitulated to public pressure.

No, I see that as revisionist history putting that on BB. a little teeny tiny thing happened along the way in about 2005 .... Bill Polian...... He got tired of being a bridesmaid and took the old james t kirk adage; if you cant win as the rules are set up..... CHANGE THE RULES.

That is what he & NFL did. They took away BB's 30-year developed winning strategy on D-side and turned nfl on its head doing the football equivalent of "Chicks dig the long ball."

Ever since then the pass is king and hi-scoring offenses are a dime a dozen and touching half the guys on offense is not allowed. BB just tried to play to how the new game-rules were structured.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

The defense really hasnt faced anyone yet, but the real test is coming vs Atlanta week 4. On the surface there is improvement with the defense.

The offense will be a work in progress getting better as the season goes on

O will get instantly better when gronk steps on the field. Even the threat of him will help this O.

Ya the D hasn't played anyone good at all but they won us the game last week which has been a rare thing in the past 3+ years. ATL will be the true test for the D. Especially in that building...talk about a tough place to play Ryan

 

[RayClay]

They were more balanced: Defense, Offense and Special Teams.

2007 up till last season, the Pats were trying to be the 2001 Rams.

I'll go with that. and the 2001 and 2003 teams Would hang in exchanging punts to gain a few yards field position waiting for the other team to make a mistake.

Of course we need receivers to get healthy and get better, but I think Bill was smiling to see players keep fighting and scrapping even when it seemed they were getting nowhere. It's hard to quantify that, but it's often the difference between champs and also rans. Every team has struggles with either young players, old ones who've lost a step and/or injuries.

Actually, the 2005 team is still my favorite in a way. they had no business making the playoffs with about 20 injured DBs and Dillon playing on one leg. No quit in that team, they simply didn't have enough left physically.

 

[supafly]

But Belichick could have done much more, trading for a receiver, if necessary. Folks can tell me that BALT would have refused a 2nd for Bolden. I don't believe it. Besides, there were probably others available.

One would think that BAL may have parted with Boldin for even a 4th rounder, but it was likely the salary that would've kept Belichick away no matter what.

Amendola already makes 6m AAV, and we have Gronkowski, Brady, and (at the time) Hernandez. That isn't even bringing up guys like Mankins, Vollmer, Connelly etc who have received pacts that are quite reasonable.

With Boldin making 6-7m this season, we can only wonder if Belichick would've been interested. There's also the question as to whether or not anyone outside of SF even knew about Boldin being on the trading block, and/or the question of whether they'd have dealt with us if someone else did know.

The biggest factor to the "messing up" or poor planning as you say of the receiving corps is likely the Hernandez factor. Had we known that, he may have made a better effort to go out and bring someone else in.

Of course we will always wonder how close Belichick may have came to attempting to deal with someone when he did find out about Hernandez during the 3rd week of June. That's a very reasonable thing to ponder, and it would've given the new receiver plenty of time to get acclimated to our system prior to training camp.

 

[SVN]

That one david tyree catch has made this writer generalize everything. Problem is not with offense becoming 'sexier' . Problem has been poor defensive drafts and lack of veteran leadership and attitude on defense.