USA Today predicts Patriots go undefeated

[mosslost]

So SB42 was just as devastating as SB46?

Both losses suck. However, so often Patriots fans make the argument that Brady being 5-2 is better than Montana being 4-0, because it means he won more to get to those Super Bowls. (Many made that argument at 4-2)

And, the 16-0 has been done by noone else ever, and 18-1 is tied for the best 19 game season record in NFL history with just 2 other great teams.

So if the Pats went 18-0, lost another close SB and finished 18-1, by the same logic it just continues to build on the Patriots greatness. (Both the 16-0 and yet another Super Bowl appearance)

Otherwise, Montana's 4-0 is actually better.

And everyone that discounts the 2007 16-0, 18-1 helmet catch SB are just nuts. I saw someone rank 2007 the 6th best Pats team which is just insane. The 76 Pats team is in the discussion for top 6, and they lost in the Divisional.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think 19-0 is very realistic if the team cheats harder than they did in 2007. For the life of me, I will never understand why the team cheated (with excellent results, mind you) in every game except Super Bowl XLII.

 

[VectorPrime]

I want us to go 18-1 with the 1 being some regular season game. That way the 18-1 meme losses it's power.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Oh my gosh. That would be terrible. Just awful.

OTOH, the season could end with 18 in a row.

 

[Triumph]

Palmer is an interception and big moment shrinking violet machine and Cassel, despite my personal like for him, has been at best, nothing more than an average NFL starter.

Debatable on Cassel. In the Pats system he showed promise.

Palmer was cheap shotted by the Steelers in the playoffs. He was having a great season till then

 

[oldrover]

I love being a fan of this team. What other fanbase can discuss and debate articles predicting a defending champ going undefeated?

The ultimate in first world problems. Life is good in this regard.

 

[jimnance]

only three teams have gone 18-1. Only one team has ever gone 16-0. Helmet catch.. 2007 is the best Patriots team of all time hands down.

One of the dumbest statements I've ever seen here. Have you ever played a sport on any level?

 

[Triumph]

My Dream 19 - 0 season
16 - 0

Settle all family business post season

Butthurt Divisional round vs Indy Colts. #17
Butthurt Conference round vs Balt Ravens # 18

Not this time Super Bowl
NE vs the NY Giants. The Pats embarrass the Giants breaking the Super Bowl points record.#19

 

[mosslost]

One of the dumbest statements I've ever seen here. Have you ever played a sport on any level?

yes I have. And the post is correct. Explain how it is dumb? You can't because it is not.

 

[jimnance]

yes I have. And the post is correct. Explain how it is dumb? You can't because it is not.

Dude, they were a runner-up. They rank behind all 5 Patriots SB Champs.
Period.
I boxed a little bit. What you're saying is comparable to me saying I went 20-1 in bouts, but the one loss was my best fight because I landed more blows and looked prettier than my other fights.
It's like saying the 2002 Seattle Mariners,who won like 115 games in regular season but got bounced from playoffs,are better than all the other World Series Champions in history!(no WS Champ has ever won 115 reg.season games).
You play to win!

 

[Doctor DDS]

I want them to win every game they play so if it ultimately leads to a chance to go undefeated then I am all for it. I have yet to see any proof that being undefeated leads to a loss in the playoffs/Superbowl. That's a narrative written after the fact. Carolina was undefeated late in the season a couple years ago then lost late but still lost the Superbowl. If they had won that regular season game their crappy SB play would have been blamed on being undefeated. The Colts purposely gave up on their undefeated chance yet still went 1 and done.

We have no idea if the Pats would have played better in the 2007 Superbowl if they had somehow lost to Baltimore (or whomever) earlier in the year. Maybe losing Neal early and Brady being hobbled would not have mattered. Maybe the pressure was too much.

And while winning a SB obviously trumps anything that happens less than that I really enjoy the journey and am up for the challenge of facing the NFC champ with a goose egg in the loss column.

 

[sean10mm]

The 2007 team was very good, but also overrated even at the time. They became less dominant as the season went on, and would have been easily 15-1 or 14-2 but for some lucky flukes like the Ravens making unforced errors late in the game to give it away. The defense was built on an aging core of players that was past its peak. The run game only really worked as a change-up when teams over-committed against the pass. The pass rush really only appeared when teams got behind early and were doing 7 step drops in desperation. They were still great by any sane standard, but people sticking the GREATEST EVER tag on them because of 16-0 are wrong IMO, even before you take into account the 18-1 ending.

By contrast, the 2004 team was built to slowly strangle teams in games that were close on paper but never actually competitive down the stretch. It was an old school football machine made to grind opponents into a fine powder with defense and downhill running, while Brady had fully transformed from "scrappy overachiever" to "unquestionably elite." The 2003 team was similar but lacked peak Corey Dillion as the cherry on top. The 2014 team was loaded top to bottom, and the 2016 team was less talented on paper maybe, but really ran like a well oiled machine on both sides of the ball.

 

[BlacknGold77]

Dude, they were a runner-up. They rank behind all 5 Patriots SB Champs.
Period.
I boxed a little bit. What you're saying is comparable to me saying I went 20-1 in bouts, but the one loss was my best fight because I landed more blows and looked prettier than my other fights.
It's like saying the 2002 Seattle Mariners,who won like 115 games in regular season but got bounced from playoffs,are better than all the other World Series Champions in history!(no WS Champ has ever won 115 reg.season games).
You play to win!

Doesn't matter, you're still wrong. Winning the SB doesn't automatically make a team better than a team from a different year.

Unless you're saying Trent Dilfer is better than Dan Marino because he has a ring......

Fact is that 07 team is the best Patriots team there has been. They easily wipe the floor with the 01 and 03 teams. They also beat the 14 and 16 teams going away.

The 04 team is the only one that would be a good, close game. 04 is far and away the best of the SB teams.

- 07 scored 589 points...a franchise record and 120 points more than the closest SB team (2014)

- they gave up 274, within 15 of all SB teams except 2003 (230)

- their point differential of 315 is 120 more than the closest SB team.

- they were the #1 offense and #4 defense

 

[jimnance]

Doesn't matter, you're still wrong. Winning the SB doesn't automatically make a team better than a team from a different year.

Unless you're saying Trent Dilfer is better than Dan Marino because he has a ring......

Fact is that 07 team is the best Patriots team there has been. They easily wipe the floor with the 01 and 03 teams. They also beat the 14 and 16 teams going away.

The 04 team is the only one that would be a good, close game. 04 is far and away the best of the SB teams.

- 07 scored 589 points...a franchise record and 120 points more than the closest SB team (2014)

- they gave up 274, within 15 of all SB teams except 2003 (230)

- their point differential of 315 is 120 more than the closest SB team.

- they were the #1 offense and #4 defense

********.

 

[Doctor DDS]

The 2007 was not just undefeated but a dominate machine. Their final point differential was an astounding 315 - just a smidge below 20 points a game. They were favored by 15 or more points something like 10 times that season and a few times the spread was over 20. There is no question that the games were tighter and they had peaked too soon but if you changed just 1 or 2 plays in the Superbowl that team would be #1 on all the lists of the greatest teams of all time.

Of course that did not happen and the season is now at best number 6 on the Pats list.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

The 18-1 (2007) thing repeated:

- yes doing it again would be its own meme and the hate/mocking would double (perverse "can't win the big one" theme)

- yes 2007 hurts worse than any football thing not involving actually playing (other SB losses etc). But we have not yet felt "first crap year in Dynasty era", so... might need a Pittsburgh or Dallas fans opinion.

- yes, 19-0 erases 18-1. Transforms it into the "practice run." 1971 dolphins lost the SB, then won back to back, including 17-0. Who else remembers 1971?

- don't mind an in season loss or two. Being "mortal" reminds you that you just want to be 1-0 in the next SB.

- also why not save it for 1 more yr and combine 19-0 w/threepeat?

 

[PatsFanInVa]

The 2007 was not just undefeated but a dominate machine. Their final point differential was an astounding 315 - just a smidge below 20 points a game. They were favored by 15 or more points something like 10 times that season and a few times the spread was over 20. There is no question that the games were tighter and they had peaked too soon but if you changed just 1 or 2 plays in the Superbowl that team would be #1 on all the lists of the greatest teams of all time.

Of course that did not happen and the season is now at best number 6 on the Pats list.

Nothing wrong w/your post but I have to vent about a pet peeve.

"Dominate" is a verb.

"Dominant" is an adjective.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

What is with this nonsense? You would think we had prime Rice and LT. I could see a 15-1 or another 14-2 but 19-0 all the way is nuts.

On an unrelated note I just want to ask you guys what happened to Mesko? I like Allen but has Mesko vanished or is he on a team?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I just want them to crown Brady's career with a sixth Ring. I don't care if they get there by going 10--6 and slogging through the Wild Card Round.

After 2007, I'm nervous about the hype and pressure that come from an undefeated season, even if a very reasonable argument can be made that this team is much better prepared to deal with it.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

What is with this nonsense? You would think we had prime Rice and LT. I could see a 15-1 or another 14-2 but 19-0 all the way is nuts.

On an unrelated note I just want to ask you guys what happened to Mesko? I like Allen but has Mesko vanished or is he on a team?

Mesko left the country because he heard he had to pay for "The Wall."