Patriots dynasty at a glance...

[feeq14]

So the other day i was listening to the 2 live stews... or some other sports radio sho, and a caller denigrated patriots dynasty which was initially dismissed but the guy made a few good points, some of which are even more prevalent after tonight.

First and foremost many say that their dynasty is so great because they were in the FA era. However this also means that their competition was watered down. Look at the 9ers, Cowboys, Steelers, Skins, etc. These teams all had to go through each other to get to their championships. Aside from their first against the Rams, I cant think of too many truly signiture wins in the playoffs for the Pats. Nothing like the Cowboys in 93 (was it 93 when they finnaly beat the 49ers?).

Also they have never been a dominant champion. All of their SB wins were by 3 points. Nothing like the way that the 9ers cowboys etc blew away their comp.

The theory is that the pats are the best playing team in an era where teamwork based skill in teh NFL is at an arguable all time low. Add on spy gate and some minor steriods crap and a SB appearance where they were pretty much dominated and suddenly you have allot to detract from in this dynasty.

This is not to say that I completely agree but i thought it would be an interesting discussion considering the circumstance.

[richierich]

Quote: Originally Posted by feeq14

Look at the 9ers, Cowboys, Steelers, Skins, etc. These teams all had to go through each other to get to their championships. Aside from their first against the Rams, I cant think of too many truly signiture wins in the playoffs for the Pats. Nothing like the Cowboys in 93 (was it 93 when they finnaly beat the 49ers?). Also they have never been a dominant champion. All of their SB wins were by 3 points. Nothing like the way that the 9ers cowboys etc blew away their comp.

Those are my main arguments as well. You could say that the Pats faced the Colts in the playoffs over the past few years, but the Colts won 1 SB this decade.

[Psyblast]

Quote: Originally Posted by richierich

Those are my main arguments as well. You could say that the Pats faced the Colts in the playoffs over the past few years, but the Colts won 1 SB this decade.

They also beat a Steelers team that won the Super Bowl the next year.

They also beat a Rams team that had won the Super Bowl two years earlier.

I don't see how their wins over the Colts can be discredited because Indy only has one title.

[Leahmic223]

3 superbowls is still 3 championships.

I don't see it as watered down at all...I am amazed at how they lose key players and somehow replace them without missing much a beat.

[LiquidCrash]

The Patriots dynasty is still amazing, despite the loss tonight. As of now, nobody comes close in the Salary Cap Era. Tonight's loss means they miss out on their greatest achievement of their run, but their accomplishments are still amazing. Doesn't mean they could beat those pre-Cap teams, however.

[Beantown]

I still fail to see how only winning by 3 points tarnishes it.

Do you think anyone cares the Giants only won by 3? Hell no...they just won the Superbowl. 1 point, 3 points, 14 points...a SB is a SB.

[VidGaminMachine476]

Margin of victory is sexy but at the end of the day, wins are wins. The fact that they won those close games shows that they were really resilient and never folded under pressure.

I don't discredit their other SBs. The problem is, Spygate (that damned word) will be running rampant and have a "cloud" of doubt so to speak on NE's dynasty. That's OK for NE UNLESS the NFL wants to step in or something and take away their rings or erase their records, so to speak.

Still a helluva team. Just didn't get it done tonight. 31 other teams would trade their seasons for 18-1. Or just be in the SB for christ's sake.

[yvesdereuter]

I think some of their wins is a bi-product of what began to happen in the NFL after Baltimore won their SB and then pared down their roster. This was coupled with a dearth of topshelf QBs in the league, which meant having one was a greater advantage than in earlier years. But the kind of operation you saw after Baltimore won and then stripped down their roster led to teams that lacked the balance of years before. The teams that won SBs in the 90s could run, pass, and play defense. The Ravens win and subsequent loss of players, signaled in a era where teams would often win SBs with 2 out of the 3 components I mentioned. And the ability to get by with this, placed a greater importance on having one of the two great QBs of this era (unlike the previous era when at a given time you would have some combination of Young, Favre, Elway, Marino, Moon, Kelly, Montana, etc). So NE figured this out and was able to get by.

I think in the last couple of years newer QBs are finally starting to enter the fold and so now its become more of an arms race...which is why New England traded for someone like Moss.