Patriots were more dominant than we realized.

[Simpelton]

Perhaps you're right. But this team reminded me of the 03 and 04 teams in that they had to grind out more games as opposed to say the 07 and 11 teams that were front runners that jumped out not to just leads but commanding leads in almost all games.

Yeah, and that's true, but that's also the team functioning to spec. Not saying you think otherwise, but BB built this year's team to grind out close games and that usually seems to be a large part of what the man is going for in any given year. We're not really built for blowouts, we're built to win games where possession is 9/10 of the law. No one is better at building teams exactly optimized to make the most of a limited number of football possessions than BB is.

 

[TommyD4207]

Out of all the SB Champs since 2000, the 2016 Pats ranked 2nd. Here's the top 5:

1. 2000 Ravens = 9.20.
2. 2016 Patriots = 7.45.
3. 2002 Buccaners = 7.05.

Some of us have been saying this all along.

The "eye test" can kiss my ass. The 2016 Patriots defense was as good or better than any of the Patriots defenses in this run.

 

[TommyD4207]

Now I look at the 2016 Pats and I see other teams in the SB era that can be argued to be more dominant (regular season wise) than them (1985 Bears, 1984 49ers, 1991 Redskins etc). Teams the 2007 Pats clearly have beat.

Not sure about that one. Who covers Russ Francis?

The 84 49ers could very well wear down the Patriots front seven with Roger Craig AND Wendell Tyler (who was an All-Pro that year, lots of sets with both of them in the backfield), and take shots over the top on that average secondary. Lots of Dwight Clark (at 6'4") on Ellis Hobbs (5'7" on a tall day).

They wouldn't generate much of a pass rush (Fred Dean the only one who would need gameplanning for), but did have Ronnie Lott at safety.

I think the 49ers could ball control the Patriots, 2/1 TOP kinda stuff, and keep it close if not outright win.

Certainly not 'clearly have beat' like the 85 Bears (07 Patriots might win that one by 30) or the 91 Redskins (another very favorable matchup for the 07 Patriots).

 

[PF_SU]

Not sure about that one. Who covers Russ Francis?

The 84 49ers could very well wear down the Patriots front seven with Roger Craig AND Wendell Tyler (who was an All-Pro that year, lots of sets with both of them in the backfield), and take shots over the top on that average secondary. Lots of Dwight Clark (at 6'4") on Ellis Hobbs (5'7" on a tall day).

They wouldn't generate much of a pass rush (Fred Dean the only one who would need gameplanning for), but did have Ronnie Lott at safety.

I think the 49ers could ball control the Patriots, 2/1 TOP kinda stuff, and keep it close if not outright win.

Certainly not 'clearly have beat' like the 85 Bears (07 Patriots might win that one by 30) or the 91 Redskins (another very favorable matchup for the 07 Patriots).

glm was not talking about head-to-head matchup though, but dominance over their (regular season) schedule. The 2007 Patriots are the most dominant regular season team ever, and I doubt they will ever be eclipsed. They played a tough schedule and blew out a lot of good teams:

Chargers (finished 11-5, reached AFCCG) 38-14
Cowboys (finished 13-3, in Dallas) 48-27
Redskins (finished 9-7, playoff team) 52-7
Steelers (finished 10-6, were 9-3 at that time) 34-13
Browns (finished 10-6, missed playoffs due to tiebreaker) 34-17

In addition they also beat the 7-9 Bills 38-7 and 56-10.

I think they actually has very comfortable leads in most games, not that they were tight games and they pulled away late. But I haven't reviewed it that just my memory. I'd bet 10 games were all but over when the 4th quarter started.

Games with Brady (score entering 4th):

Browns 30-7
Bengals 25-14
Steelers 20-13
Bills 38-17
Seahawks 21-22
49ers 13-10
Jets 13-10
Rams 23-3
Ravens 23-17
Broncos 13-3
Jets 34-0
Dolphins 27-14

Games without Brady:

Cardinals 17-14
Dolphins 31-10
Texans 20-0
Bills 0-16

 

[glm]

Some of us have been saying this all along.

The "eye test" can kiss my ass. The 2016 Patriots defense was as good or better than any of the Patriots defenses in this run.

The numbers up there are for both their Bendability and scoreability.

For the Bendability stat, which measures how hard it is to score on a team, here's how the SB Champs in the 2000s stack up:

1. 2000 Ravens = 25.12.
2. 2002 Buccaneers = 22.14.
3. 2010 Packers = 21.99.
4. 2016 Patriots = 21.80.
5. 2003 Patriots = 20.67.
6. 2001 Patriots = 20.54.
7. 2004 Patriots = 20.32.
8. 2013 Seahawks = 20.24.
9. 2005 Steelers = 18.82.
10. 2008 Steelers = 18.59.
11. 2014 Patriots = 18.49.
12. 2009 Saints = 17.35.
13. 2012 Ravens = 17.05.
14. 2015 Broncos = 16.49.
15. 2011 Giants = 15.89.
16. 2006 Colts = 15.20.
17. 2007 Giants = 14.90.

 

[glm]

Not sure about that one. Who covers Russ Francis?

The 84 49ers could very well wear down the Patriots front seven with Roger Craig AND Wendell Tyler (who was an All-Pro that year, lots of sets with both of them in the backfield), and take shots over the top on that average secondary. Lots of Dwight Clark (at 6'4") on Ellis Hobbs (5'7" on a tall day).

They wouldn't generate much of a pass rush (Fred Dean the only one who would need gameplanning for), but did have Ronnie Lott at safety.

I think the 49ers could ball control the Patriots, 2/1 TOP kinda stuff, and keep it close if not outright win.

Certainly not 'clearly have beat' like the 85 Bears (07 Patriots might win that one by 30) or the 91 Redskins (another very favorable matchup for the 07 Patriots).

If we're talking about a head to head matchup, I'd take into the account the Belichick factor. He's arguably the greatest football mind ever and he's playing against a team that played over 20 years ago. Couple that with Tom Brady playing at arguably the highest level a QB has played that season (or just the fact it's the greatest offense ever) and I think the Pats win it comfortably.

 

[mosslost]

I think the Pats are in the middle of their most dominant period of the Brady era. This is as close as you could come to a 3-peat almost. (Last year we were dominant until the injuries and still almost made it and should have)

I believe they are setup to continue this run for the remainder of the Brady years. (They are currently in an absurd run getting 7 straight first round byes and 6 straight AFCCGs.)

I hope for 2 more Super Bowls and they would have to be somewhat closely clusterred to these last 2, and the worst hopefully we do is continue to make the AFCCG)

And yes, lastly, this year everybody was critical of this team for some reason. This team was for the most part totally dominant. And then in the absolutely most critical moment, on the biggest stage, pulled off the comeback for the ages none of us will ever forget.