Wickersham book discussion

[sb1]

To be honest I think we are pretty close to starting from scratch. Let's say by year 3 Mac is just starting to enter his prime. How many guys on the current roster do you think will still be here in 2 years from now? Maybe Andrews, Dugger, Uche, Meyers, and a few other rookies from this and last year's class? I don’t think this team had a lot of young talent coming into the season which is why they went wild in free agency. Maybe some of these guys give Mac a boost next year and accelerate the learning curve but I think Bill really needs to nail the next draft class or two particularly at the skill positions and in the secondary to set us up going forward for the next 3-5 years.

Maybe. I think we at least have a few good foundational pieces to build around. I really hope Bill or whoever makes the picks in the coming couple of drafts hit on a lot of them. Not excited to hear our defense called “slow” among other things…

 

[203Pat]

Thats a rebuild, and they are doing a really good job of putting the pieces in place. Anyone who expects 14 wins a year and Lombardi’s every other year is a moron. Go root for your Crimson Tide, although they not win enough for you.

 

[sb1]

Yeah it was, in fact they probably would have went undefeated again, piss poor teams in the playoffs. Hey the pats won 11 games playing a .384 Schedule.

I don’t know - they were blown out by Miami, SD and Pitt allowing 30+ a game IIRC. I think that defense took a sizeable step backward from 2007 partly because of injuries - but hey you never know once you’re in right? Maybe they could have won it all… they also absolutely trucked the soon to be NFC Champion Cardinals so who knows…

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I don’t know - they were blown out by Miami, SD and Pitt allowing 30+ a game IIRC. I think that defense took a sizeable step backward from 2007 partly because of injuries - but hey you never know once you’re in right? Maybe they could have won it all… they also absolutely trucked the soon to be NFC Champion Cardinals so who knows…

Bill himself said that year they didn't make the playoffs because they couldn't beat the good teams in the AFC. He and Josh did a yeomen's job with Cassell and making him serviceable. The D really took a step back with Rodney getting injured and the old guard of Bruschi, Vrabel, etc. were getting too old.

 

[Hyped]

I really believe the 2008 Patriots would have won the Superbowl....

Goddamn Favre to Keller on 3rd and 19 in OT......that was it right there.....3rd and 19.....

 

[sb1]

The owner (Kraft) felt Belichick hadn’t been very forthcoming about Hernandez’s troubled history, dating back to the TE’s college years at Florida, where he had a myriad of drug and behavioural problems.

So according to Wickersham Kraft thought BB was hiding what he knew about Hernandez. Alrighty then.

 

[sb1]

Bill himself said that year they didn't make the playoffs because they couldn't beat the good teams in the AFC. He and Josh did a yeomen's job with Cassell and making him serviceable. The D really took a step back with Rodney getting injured and the old guard of Bruschi, Vrabel, etc. were getting too old.

Yeah the loss of Rodney really hurt for sure. So did the sucktitude of Deltha O’Neal. Duane Starks 2.0.

Would have rather brought back Law.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Maybe. I think we at least have a few good foundational pieces to build around. I really hope Bill or whoever makes the picks in the coming couple of drafts hit on a lot of them. Not excited to hear our defense called “slow” among other things…

The Patriots are in a rebuild. They not only have to bring in as much good talent as they can, but they have to fill a wide variety of roles, and they have to create new leadership in all of the different units. Guy, Hightower, Van Noy, Slater, J.White, McCourty and others are finishing their careers, and they have to fill all of those roles. They are transitioning from the Dynasy years to an entirely new team, and that takes a ton of work all the way across the board.

I honestly expected the rebuild tovtake 4-5 years, but they have been aggressive about it, so there are good pieces in place but still a lot of work to do.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I really believe the 2008 Patriots would have won the Superbowl....

Goddamn Favre to Keller on 3rd and 19 in OT......that was it right there.....3rd and 19.....

It was 3rd and 15...and Meriweather could have stopped Keller before he reached the 1st down marker but he didn't wrap him up.

 

[sb1]

No real reply just wanted an excuse to watch Emma stone’s smile on gif loop some more.

 

[sb1]

Wickersham:

McNally referred to himself as “The Deflator” and indicated to Jastremski that he drained the balls after the refs approved them - a rules violation

He did? I don’t remember seeing any such admission in the texts

 

[sb1]

The cool thing about that google books site is you can search this book for any words and it will give you a sentence where it found it even if the book is not available to the public yet.

The words “The Deflator” was only mentioned twice in Wickersham’s book. I think the team’s explanation about weight loss was dumb - let’s face it we would laugh at any other team that tried to use that excuse.

But if this is all Wickersham had on it then I figure the real reason for the nickname probably wasn’t the description of his job either. Could be wrong.

Also just one mention in the book of the report that Brady “destroyed” his phone. Which tells me that this was also a nothingburger.

 

[Huckleberry1]

So, you are saying for 20 years, they never had a rebuild?

I, what I am saying is that the Patriots Dynasty has ended and while there are still holdovers they are in the process of completely transitioning their unit leadership, and trying to upgrade their talent pool across the board.It takes time to construct a team that consistently competes for Championships, and that’s the what are in the process of doing Those who are looking at their short term success as the goal are missing the bigger point, which is creating rosters that will be able to get to Conference Championship games and Super Bowl’s on a consistent basis, and that takes a lot of time.

I don’t care about this season, in terms of winning the Division or anything else, because I believe they have too many pieces to address, what I care about is how they compete, who develops, and what they have to do to take the next step.

Imo Belichick is looking to build a consistently great team and hopefully win another Lombardi before hanging them up, and transitioning the entire team to that level is a big task. I’m fine with that, and I thought Sunday’s game was a marker on that way.

 

[TheRainMaker]

If Brady is healthy they win the SB that year, league was very down in general.

It was the worst year of football I’ve ever watched since the mid 90’s. Pats win the Super Bowl in 2008 with Brady.

I don’t know - they were blown out by Miami, SD and Pitt allowing 30+ a game IIRC. I think that defense took a sizeable step backward from 2007 partly because of injuries - but hey you never know once you’re in right? Maybe they could have won it all… they also absolutely trucked the soon to be NFC Champion Cardinals so who knows…

Pittsburgh capitalized on Cassel’s turnovers and other fumbles on special teams. Pittsburgh was 1-5 against NE and would’ve taken another beating with Brady. They beat Indy on the road. 13-3 right there.

I really believe the 2008 Patriots would have won the Superbowl....

Goddamn Favre to Keller on 3rd and 19 in OT......that was it right there.....3rd and 19.....

I was hoping to see how they would do in the playoffs with Cassell as I think they would’ve made some noise. They were rolling.

 

[VectorPrime]

I really believe the 2008 Patriots would have won the Superbowl....

Goddamn Favre to Keller on 3rd and 19 in OT......that was it right there.....3rd and 19.....

They only get to the Super Bowl with Brady. The Steelers absolutely obliterated the Pats in Foxboro late that year which is what they tend to do against non Brady led offenses. Brady has ALWAYS had their number unlike literally every other QB in the league these past two decades.

Honestly we all know if Brady writes a bio about his career it’ll be a sanitized boring compilation of everything we already know. So I want him to sit down with an editor and just go full Xs and Os about his career, leave aside all the human drama since we know it all. That would be truly fascinating.

 

[Koma]

Wickersham:


He did? I don’t remember seeing any such admission in the texts

Ted Wells finally has his proof!

 

[Hyped]

They only get to the Super Bowl with Brady. The Steelers absolutely obliterated the Pats in Foxboro late that year which is what they tend to do against non Brady led offenses. Brady has ALWAYS had their number unlike literally every other QB in the league these past two decades.

Honestly we all know if Brady writes a bio about his career it’ll be a sanitized boring compilation of everything we already know. So I want him to sit down with an editor and just go full Xs and Os about his career, leave aside all the human drama since we know it all. That would be truly fascinating.

Sign me up for a Brady or a Belichick book!

And the Steelers won that year because of my main man Matthew Slater having a bad game. Towards the end of that season, we were rolling....hell Cassel had 400 yards IN MIAMI! But that was a great Superbowl between the Steelers and the Cardinals though....clutch TD by Ben/Holmes and the crazy Harrison TD before halftime....

 

[Joker]

McNally called himself "Deflator" exactly ONCE after an exhaustive search was done of his tweeting history...he tweeted that in May, 8 months BEFORE the preposterous, ignorant Goodelian frame-up took place.




Many have lied in Deflategate, but no one more so than NFL commissioner Roger Goodell


)


So Roger Goodell lied, a fact proven by the release of Tom Brady's testimony and a fact that shouldn't surprise anyone who began following the NFL before September 2014.


We have been here before. Remember: Less than a year ago, a law enforcement source told the Associated Press that a copy of the Ray Rice elevator video was mailed to the NFL. Goodell and the NFL denied ever receiving such a tape. Somebody was lying.

Who has lied in Deflategate? Let's count 'em all -- starting with Roger Goodell

Roger Goodell, Troy Vincent, Dean Blandino, Ted Wells and, yes, Tom Brady are among the liars in Deflategate.

www.masslive.com

 

[Pape]

End of that part of the preview.

Fcuk that guy Walsh

thanks for posting all of that

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Wow, this season is shaping up to be a great one. First we have the usual BB/Kraft/Patriots exposé; gotta have that for a big season, check. Then we have the usual shocking/appalling, logic-defying cut/trade of an irreplaceable player, check. We also have the obligatory write-off of the Patriots by the media and near suicidal fan base, check. It is all lining up very nicely..... Super Bowl here we come...