The end of the dynasty? Or just a bump in the road? (1 Viewer)

[timschochet]

The question is easy, but the answer isn't. Does the loss to Baltimore represent the end of the Patriots' era of dominance in the NFL? Is it time to rebuild this team? Or do you believe that, with a few adjustments, this team will be back among the elite next year?

Please give your opinion and why.

 

[AB in DC]

The dynasty ended years ago. They're still a perennial playoff contender, just like a half-dozen other teams.

 

[Father Guido Sarducci]

There are some organizations that are just superior to everyone else and never need to rebuild. The Steelers have been going strong for close to 20 years straight. I think the Patriots are in that category.

 

[Limp Ditka]

4th and 2 set the wheels in motion

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Losing at home in the playoffs? Dynasty over.

It reminds me of when Michael Vick marched into a frozen Lambeau Field and whooped the Pack like they were junkyard dogs.

 

[Young 8]

Brady EXPOSED

not the same after the injury

 

[fruity pebbles]

Think the Pats kind of knew this was going to be a one step back type of season when they traded Vrabel and Seymour.

 

[David Yudkin]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

The defense had too many bodies turnover, the playcalling on both sides of the ball was suspect, and we all saw that it's not easy to put up almost 600 points again.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

What dynasty?

 

[Young 8]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

i beg your pardon....... who won the SB ??

 

[timschochet]

There are some organizations that are just superior to everyone else and never need to rebuild. The Steelers have been going strong for close to 20 years straight. I think the Patriots are in that category.

This is not exactly true with regard to the Steelers. After Bradshaw left, there was about a decade where they were mediocre at best. Then Cowher arrived and made them competitive, but never the best team in the NFL. He had a 2-3 year run of mediocrity in the late 90s before putting together a new team which was similar to his team earlier in the 90s, and again despite being competitive it did not succeed until Roethlisberger arrived. Now that 2nd team that Cowher put together is aging and it remains to be seen what the future of the Steelers is. But to suggest that they have never had to rebuild is not true.

 

[TheWick]

It ended when they got caught cheating

 

[Ghost Rider]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

Dynasty teams win Super Bowls. This is now the fifth season in a row the Patriots failed to win a Super Bowl.

 

[VTjkru]

Losing at home in the playoffs? Dynasty over.It reminds me of when Michael Vick marched into a frozen Lambeau Field and whooped the Pack like they were junkyard dogs.

That's funny because ever since that game, I felt it was a new "era" for the Packers. If they can do well this playoffs then I feel like they've rebounded but yeah...since that game it's been ugly.

 

[TLEF316]

With Welker likely not 100% all of next year, i think it might be time to rebuild. They're obviously still a playoff team, but i dont think they're built to win superbowls anymore

 

[Andrew74]

The dynasty ended years ago. They're still a perennial playoff contender, just like a half-dozen other teams.

 

[remote controller]

toast, and Brady was sporting a mullet!

 

[timschochet]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

i beg your pardon....... who won the SB ??

Doesn't matter. Two years ago, the Pats were the best team in the NFL. I hated that team but even I know they were the best. It's not that far removed from that team. But Brady is certainly not the same guy. Neither is his offensive line. But...could Brady come back next year and return to form?

 

[chucky mullins 38]

It ended when they got caught cheating

 

[Young 8]

There are some organizations that are just superior to everyone else and never need to rebuild. The Steelers have been going strong for close to 20 years straight. I think the Patriots are in that category.

Niners have been strong for almost 20 years (81/99)

 

[Avery]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

i beg your pardon....... who won the SB ??

Doesn't matter. Two years ago, the Pats were the best team in the NFL. I hated that team but even I know they were the best. It's not that far removed from that team. But Brady is certainly not the same guy. Neither is his offensive line. But...could Brady come back next year and return to form?

Being the best team in the NFL for one year does not a dynasty make.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

i beg your pardon....... who won the SB ??

Doesn't matter. Two years ago, the Pats were the best team in the NFL.

They weren't.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Being the best team in the NFL for one year does not a dynasty make.

Exactly. Dynasties are based on championships won, not on great regular season success, otherwise we would calling the Colts a dynasty. It is hard to suggest that a team that hasn't won a Super Bowl since 2004 is still a dynasty.

 

[Raider Nation]

Updated 'SUPER BOWL RINGS' count for Randy Moss:

ZERO

All is still right with the world.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

The NFL is a really tough gig when you can't cheat.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

There are some organizations that are just superior to everyone else and never need to rebuild. The Steelers have been going strong for close to 20 years straight. I think the Patriots are in that category.

Let's wait and see what happens when Tom Brady isn't around any more.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Updated 'SUPER BOWL RINGS' count for Randy Moss:

ZERO

All is still right with the world.

That is the best part about them losing. Moss went to a team that had won three of the last six Super Bowls, and all of a sudden, they can't win a Super Bowl. Moss' collective numbers in the four NE playoff games are pretty pitiful, too. Karma, baby!

 

[Riffraff]

I don't know if they are really older on average than most teams, but they just seem that way to me.

 

[pizzatyme]

The dynasty ended years ago. They're still a perennial playoff contender, just like a half-dozen other teams.

Amen!

 

[timschochet]

I don't know if they are really older on average than most teams, but they just seem that way to me.

This is interesting. They have consistently gotten rid of older players over the last few years. Does anyone know what the accuracy of this is?

 

[Raider Nation]

Updated 'SUPER BOWL RINGS' count for Randy Moss:

ZERO

All is still right with the world.

That is the best part about them losing. Moss went to a team that had won three of the last six Super Bowls, and all of a sudden, they can't win a Super Bowl. Moss' collective numbers in the four NE playoff games are pretty pitiful, too. Karma, baby!

Well, you gotta excuse the no-show today.... it was really too cold to play football.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

The NFL is a really tough gig when you can't cheat.

Very

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Hard to be considered a dynasty when you haven't won in 5 years.

right, that 16-0 season never happened.

i beg your pardon....... who won the SB ??

Doesn't matter. Two years ago, the Pats were the best team in the NFL.

They weren't.

I loathe the Patriots, but to say they weren't the best team in the NFL in the 18-1 season is absurd. I don't care who won the Super Bowl that year. The Super Bowl is about crowning a champion, not about picking out who the best team is.

 

[gianmarco]

O/U pages on this set at 10.

 

[caglassc]

There are some organizations that are just superior to everyone else and never need to rebuild. The Steelers have been going strong for close to 20 years straight. I think the Patriots are in that category.

What? The Steelers have been going strong for 20 since when??

 

[CrossEyed]

There are certain franchises that just know how to win and will likely never go a long time without being contenders. New England is one of those franchises.

Then again, so were Oakland and San Francisco at one point in time, so who knows.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

I loathe the Patriots, but to say they weren't the best team in the NFL in the 18-1 season is absurd. I don't care who won the Super Bowl that year. The Super Bowl is about crowning a champion, not about picking out who the best team is.

They weren't. Most people are biased and only remember the Pats team that was running up the score, culminating with a prime time blowout of an undefeated (at the time) Cowboys team. They were a slightly above average team following that game.

 

[basher]

They need to retool that offensive line badly. Brady had no time behind that sieve-like unit. They also need to bring in some more talent on both sides of the football. The offense was entirely too dependent on both Moss and Welker from the offensive side of the ball and they really are devoid of a pass rush and another run stopper on the defensive side of the ball.

They have the outlook of a good time but a team that probably will not be able to win the SB in the next few years so I would say dynasty ended after the Giants SB

 

[timschochet]

Since some of you seem to want to argue that a dynasty involves winning Superbowls recently, and the Pats haven't won one in 5 years, let me rephrase the question:

For the past 9 years, the New England Patriots year in and year out have been one of the better teams in the NFL, most times elite, most times one of the preseason favorites to win the SB, always the favorite to win the AFC east and always one of the "powers" in the NFL.

After watching this most recent loss to the Baltimore Ravens, do you expect this trend to continue next year and the years beyond that? Or is it over?

 

[Rovers]

It really isn't even possible in today's NFL for any team to be a true dynasty. That is, if you only want to count championships.

NE will remain a quality team as long as Brady and BB are around. Figure the playoffs 4 out of every 5 years, which is a very hard thing to do. They may have jumped the gun a bit, trading Seymour, etc, but they have stockpiled picks, and that is a big deal with the uncapped year coming. They are positioned with all of those picks to be a very good team for a long time.

There won't be a quality player available in FA for the next 2 years. First a team has to offer a ton of $, that the original team is allowed to match. Even if a signing team does spend too much and over pays an RFA, there is still compensation. Given that, few teams will be willing to surrender draft picks.

NE has postitioned themselves to remain atop the NFL for the next 5 years.

 

[theglorydays]

It ended when they got caught cheating

 

[timschochet]

I loathe the Patriots, but to say they weren't the best team in the NFL in the 18-1 season is absurd. I don't care who won the Super Bowl that year. The Super Bowl is about crowning a champion, not about picking out who the best team is.

They weren't. Most people are biased and only remember the Pats team that was running up the score, culminating with a prime time blowout of an undefeated (at the time) Cowboys team. They were a slightly above average team following that game.

Boy, talk about your fishing trip...

 

[pizzatyme]

When you're whole offense is based on throwing jump balls to Randy Moss, you better have an O-line that can hold/protect for 4 seconds. When the Pats line went down, so did the success of the offense. Jump balls be damned!

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I loathe the Patriots, but to say they weren't the best team in the NFL in the 18-1 season is absurd. I don't care who won the Super Bowl that year. The Super Bowl is about crowning a champion, not about picking out who the best team is.

They weren't. Most people are biased and only remember the Pats team that was running up the score, culminating with a prime time blowout of an undefeated (at the time) Cowboys team. They were a slightly above average team following that game.

They need to add an ability to this board to leave notes next to people's names sort of like in Memento.That way whenever I see a post by KnowledgeReignsSupreme, it would come with a note that says "Do not believe his lies".

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Now they are the Eagles , make the playoffs but not win anything. Good but never great

 

[FavreCo]

The dynasty ended years ago. They're still a perennial playoff contender, just like a half-dozen other teams.

Could have closed this thread right after this post.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

Is it just me or are there not nearly as many Pats fans on the forums as there were five years ago?

 

[basher]

A dynasty does involve winning super bowls. Thus the cowboys were a dynasty and not the Bills.

 

[duece2626]

Is it just me or are there not nearly as many Pats fans on the forums as there were five years ago?