No matter what, this was a successful season.

[Simpelton]

And none of that changes the fact that Buffalo still would have blown our doors off in the postseason.

Eh, I don't think that was as bad a mismatch as the score indicated. And it says something that a team in transition managed to give Buffalo a scare when Buffalo should be a mature contending squad.

 

[Rob0729]

You mean like Mills? LOL

You can find a Mac Jones in almost any draft. I'm sorry but I just don't see anything special about the guy. He did a nice job picking up the offense in his rookie year but his skill set is woeful in today's League. This rebuild could have been pushed off with no issue at all. I mean you don't move on from the greatest player of all time when he still has championship level play left but Bill was too stubborn to build the team the way it needs to be built to be competitive in today's League and that's what leads to the drubbing we saw on Saturday night with the defense that let up seven straight touchdowns and an offense that was inept. Without a seismic change in team building philosophy this team is not going to be a contender in the AFC anytime soon.

I'll give you Mills. He was awesome on Saturday night. The only guy playing on the defense with heart. Mills was playing out of position all year and played well, but didn't play on Saturday night and that was part of the reason this defense totally collapsed.

And Mac Jones is a rookie and there is plenty special about the guy. He has a lot of intangibles that cannot be taught. He definitely has stuff to work on, but he is far better than most QBs that come out of the draft and may end up being the best QB to come out of this draft if the Jags continue to ruin Lawrence. He may never become a great player, but he has attributes of a QB like accuracy, abilities to throw balls into tight windows, ability to process plays quickly, and other things that many QBs with all the god given talent in the world will never have.

 

[Rob0729]

there is no doubt that's what happened?

oh, i have doubt.......the schedule caught up with the talent.......put some of those end of season tough games early on in the year, and finish with a run of cleveleland/jets/jax/atlanta and we'd be talking about how much better this team got at the end of the year and how it looks good for the future

No offense, but I think that is bogus. The Colts and Dolphins are no better than the Chargers. And hell, if the Pats didn't have the punt blocked for a TD in the Colts' game or Jackson doesn't drop an INT right to him he might have won. And the Pats have had problems in Miami in january even with Brady.

I think the Bills were clearly the better team, but I also think injuries and age played a bigger factor than the Pats running into a tougher part of the schedule. The Pats handled the Cowboys and Bucs better than they did lesser teams like the Colts and Dolphins at the end of the season.

 

[yukon cornelius]

No offense, but I think that is bogus. The Colts and Dolphins are no better than the Chargers. And hell, if the Pats didn't have the punt blocked for a TD in the Colts' game or Jackson doesn't drop an INT right to him he might have won. And the Pats have had problems in Miami in january even with Brady.

I think the Bills were clearly the better team, but I also think injuries and age played a bigger factor than the Pats running into a tougher part of the schedule. The Pats handled the Cowboys and Bucs better than they did lesser teams like the Colts and Dolphins at the end of the season.

i think it's both....their margin on both sides of the ball was razor thin......rookie QB, new weapons, and none of them really "top tier" (although the case could be made for HH as a traditional TE)......defensively a lot of age, young talent mixed in, not much depth.......it didn't take much to throw them off.....schedule got tougher AND injuries kicked in......even healthy there was a talent gap between the pats and a team like buffalo, though

football early season and football december on is apples and oranges sometimes, too.......

indy was better than they showed.......that's one of two fan bases that should be very, very pissed about the way they ended (cowboys being the other).......that's two rosters that very, very much performed under their given talent.....

 

[mgteich]

I think Bill needs to revamp his entire defense. So little athleticism - it's all based on experienced guys who can't run - who lack speed and power. .

There are many organizations that compare defenses. We are not one of the worst or even average. We are better.

I suggest that we need to have a better #2 corner than Williams.

 

[sean10mm]

What gives me pause about the Patriots right now is that they played like they were badly coached for much of the year.

What was Belichick supposed to deliver? Strong defense, strong special teams, minimize mistakes, let the other guy beat themselves, play smart and disciplined. Mac having growing pains was expected, injuries happen, COVID happens, et cetera, but the constant was supposed to be tough, smart, clean football.

Yet this was the sloppiest, most undisciplined and frankly just softest Patriots team I can remember since 2009 or something. Jones avoided most of the rookie pitfalls, they had some talent (even if it wasn't worth the FA $ spent to get it...) but this team often just looked DUMB.

As I said earlier, losing to the Bills wasn't the problem. A 10-7 team getting whipped like that is more than just the other guys having some more talent, they quit.

 

[jdlboot14]

amazed at how much Mac hate is seen here. half of you didn't even expect (or want) him to play this year. if we'd gone another year with Cam we would have been 5-12 and jumping off cliffs.
secondly, if we compare Mac to Allen or the other AFC playoff QB's - they all had sketchy starts. Give him 2 more years to truly see who he is.
As long as the system (coaches) remain stable, he will compete with the Tanehills and Carrs of the league - and good teams can win with that.
Finally - don't underestimate his physical skills. Or the nagging injuries he was playing with. Arm strength can increase. He showed that he can scramble, and more importantly, throw on the run - quite accurately. He's not Allen - but Allen won't be able to do that for many years. Look at Mahomes and Big Ben. If he can start to move a bit, and learn the O better, see the field - he COULD be more like Rogers. I'm willing to take the ride.

 

[Disco Volante]

and where do you think the pats would sit if he had stayed? they certainly wouldn't be 5-0 post season......they would likely not have seen the post season

They would have been a playoff team in 2020 and the AFC #1 seed in 2021.

And the Bills would have continued to be our *****, instead of us 100% becoming theirs.

 

[yukon cornelius]

They would have been a playoff team in 2020 and the AFC #1 seed in 2021.

And the Bills would have continued to be our *****, instead of us 100% becoming theirs.

You’re high

 

[Disco Volante]

You’re high

You don't think Brady makes this team 3 games better than Cam Newton or Mac Jones? Delusional and disrespectful.

 

[mgteich]

Well, yeah. This is all a byproduct of not having a single good draft over a 7 season period. So, at the end of the day, it all still falls on BB. Can’t give him credit for good team building when the team is winning and excuse him for the bad things when the team is losing. The only reason the roster had to “bottom out” in 2020 is because he had to spend more on middling veterans to fill holes that good drafts could have filled at a fraction of the price. Instead, we were anywhere from mediocre to horrific in that area up until the 2021 draft, which looks great based on early returns.

You don't think Brady makes this team 3 games better than Cam Newton or Mac Jones? Delusional and disrespectful.

We just can't enter your world where we would have had the same players if Brady were re-signed at $25M a year.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

You don't think Brady makes this team 3 games better than Cam Newton or Mac Jones? Delusional and disrespectful.

3 games better in 2020 still has us missing the playoffs fyi

 

[yukon cornelius]

You don't think Brady makes this team 3 games better than Cam Newton or Mac Jones? Delusional and disrespectful.

this isn't madden.....you can't just drop brady onto each roster and completely ignore all that goes into building a roster

so i stand by my original assessment of your mental state when making that statement


if they had kept TB12, god love him, this team would have had no more success last year or this year than they had......one win more here or there, divisional round vs wildcard round, they still would not be one of the top teams in the AFC.....period.....

 

[sb1]

They would have been a playoff team in 2020 and the AFC #1 seed in 2021.

And the Bills would have continued to be our *****, instead of us 100% becoming theirs.

Agreed with the first part and I think we go all the way with Brady this year.

Dunno if I'd say that about the Bills though. They're much better now than they ever were at any time in the Brady era.