So let’s talk about the good remaining qualities of this team.

[Bourne Again Christian]

He was?

A little more wiggle to me it looked like he was running hurt God
Help us if he was running full speed.

 

[denverpatsfan]

The uniforms? Oh wait, they are changing those too...

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

BB and Ernie Adams are still the dynamic duo. A coaching staff that is mostly still intact from winning 12 games in 2019. BB always has people in the pipeline that have been groomed and ready to move up to fill vacant positions or they move laterally to coach at new positions. The very few outside the walls of Foxboro drive people that are hired virtually always fit.

Kraft is still an influential NFL owner and committed to winning. Not every NFL owner is. Some do not spend to the cap and others interfere with football operations.

The Pats system and culture is still a winning formula after 20 years. Weve heard new players laud how markedly different it is to be affiliated with a first class franchise like the NEP - the practices, atmosphere inside the building, study habits, weight room work ethic and even the food thats fed to staff and players.

Just so you know, I'm going to be repeating all these words verbatim, over and over, when we're 0-11 in November...

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Just so you know, I'm going to be repeating all these words verbatim, over and over, when we're 0-11 in November...

It’s cute that people think the Patriots are going to be okay without Tom Brady.

 

[mgteich]

It’s cute that people think the Patriots are going to be okay without Tom Brady.

Is that really the issue?

Or is that the there was a patriot team before Tom Brady, and there will be a patriot team after Tom Brady.

Perhaps, we might spend some time honoring those posters who were fans 30-40 years before Brady arrived.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Is that really the issue?

Or is that the there was a patriot team before Tom Brady, and there will be a patriot team after Tom Brady.

Perhaps, we might spend some time honoring those posters who were fans 30-40 years before Brady arrived.

I was a fan long before TB arrived. What am I supposed to honor? That doesn’t change the delusional and disrespectful sentiment from many about Brady’s impact.

If you’re a fan for a long time, it means you can say stupid stuff and it’s cool?

 

[jal]

Great secondary, solid O-Line, great coaching, solid RBs, likely below average front 7, WR/TE bottom quarter of league, QB is massive unknown.

We will likely be a disciplined team with a pretty good D that gets put in bad field position by a gimped O

Predicted wins range: 6-9

Hoping for: stidham can emerge as a solid qb we can trust not to turn the ball over and make a few plays (I.e., Brady circa 2001 minus the clutch factor - probably the upside case), young WRs develop, have a couple of solid drafts to replenish the front 7. If that all plays out we can be a fringe playoff team in year 2-3 of the reboot, and with lots of luck on draft / FA could be a contender. We will likely never be a year in, year out contender again unless we land a top 5 QB via draft. May be another decade+ until that can happen just by the odds.

 

[mgteich]

Great secondary, solid O-Line, great coaching, solid RBs, likely below average front 7, WR/TE bottom quarter of league, QB is massive unknown.

We will likely be a disciplined team with a pretty good D that gets put in bad field position by a gimped O

Predicted wins range: 6-9

Hoping for: stidham can emerge as a solid qb we can trust not to turn the ball over and make a few plays (I.e., Brady circa 2001 minus the clutch factor - probably the upside case), young WRs develop, have a couple of solid drafts to replenish the front 7. If that all plays out we can be a fringe playoff team in year 2-3 of the reboot, and with lots of luck on draft / FA could be a contender. We will likely never be a year in, year out contender again unless we land a top 5 QB via draft. May be another decade+ until that can happen just by the odds.

A decent analysis. And I agree that with minimal improvements, it is reasonable. With a major addition or two or three, I would move us up, perhaps to 7-11.

In any case, 9 wins is at top of your range for 2020. This is already fringe playoff territory, so I don't understand why you say that we will need several good things to happen to be in fringe playoff territory in 2-3 years.

Perhaps, i misunderstood you.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

We will likely never be a year in, year out contender again unless we land a top 5 QB via draft.

OK this may depend on how a "top 5 QB" is defined.

Bledsoe was a liability after 1997. I'm not happy about it, it's just true.

If you wanna win a Stanley Cup, you gotta have a good enough goalie.

If you wanna win a Super Bowl, you gotta have a good enough quarterback.

Good enough = Not necessarily top 5.

Before Tom took over, all the pieces were put in place to make a run.

2002 was a let down; after that, getting Harrison was absolutely huge.

What Brady did in '03 is what he's always done: respond to adversity and failure with determination, drive - and focus on the immediate task at hand.

But isn't that the Parcells/Belichick approach anyway?

Until BB retires, this is the advantage the Patriots will continue to have over every other NFL team. After he retires, I don't know.

 

[jal]

A decent analysis. And I agree that with minimal improvements, it is reasonable. With a major addition or two or three, I would move us up, perhaps to 7-11.

In any case, 9 wins is at top of your range for 2020. This is already fringe playoff territory, so I don't understand why you say that we will need several good things to happen to be in fringe playoff territory in 2-3 years.

Perhaps, i misunderstood you.

The average of 6-9 is 7.5. In the old playoff system that’s not fringe playoff territory. Maybe in the new one it is but I still think you’ll need to hit 9 to get there - right now we’d need a lot of things to break our way so it’s not likely.

Some good things happening like you said moves the range to 7-11 and the average to 9.

As for the top 5 qb comment what I mean is year in and year out. I’m sure without a top 5 qb you can win it all (we’ve all seen it plenty in past two decades) but the stars have to align and those teams don’t usually sustain. It’s the teams that have a top 5 qb that win 10 games every year even without a stacked team and go to the 12-15 range with a good team.