I think they might’ve blown up the defense a year earlier. You still had Bruschi/Harrison/Seymour/Vrabel back in the mix in 2008, but things were headed downhill quickly. Obviously in 2009 you had all those guys get either traded or retire, but going out as champs probably would’ve expedited things for Bruschi and Harrison at least
Hard to say otherwise because Brady’s injury was the defining moment of 2008. With an easy schedule they certainly would’ve been back in the mix for a title, but if the defense went into full transition it might’ve been rough sledding, though it was anyways when injuries hit.
At the very least they could’ve tried to rebuild a little better in the offseason leading up to 2008, instead of having to rely on things like bringing Colvin and Seau back out of retirement in December.
Regardless, there was no way around that defense needing to be overhauled. Here were seven years later and the front seven is just returning to the kind of talent level we had 2003-2007.