PatsPropaganda

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Being too hard on the Patriots – ESPN

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Being too hard on the Patriots – ESPN

Rick Reilly, fairly likely voice of reason. This is one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had since Sunday. I’ve long since given up trying to convince all fans to be positive and seek out the the silver lining that the Patriots are actually still a good team. Even when they occasionally lose.

Everyone uses sports for their own means and I’d much rather have someone taking out all their anger and negativity on professional athletes/teams than say, their family or friends. I get it. Sports are a release for a lot of people and I learned a long time ago to just let the ignoramuses spout off about whatever they want without trying to interfere.

But at some point you just wish those who are most upset would just get off the bandwagon. Because you know they’ll all be back next year, bitching and moaning about every little thing despite fielding one of the best teams in the NFL.

A little decaf, folks: The Patriots lost the Super Bowl on the last play of the game when a tipped ball failed to stay in the air another quarter second longer so a one-legged Rob Gronkowski could possibly catch it. If it had, all three of these writers would be hailing Brady, Belichick and Welker as just slightly greater than Lincoln. How fickle are you people? “There is no fall as far as when you lose the Super Bowl,” says John Elway, who lost three of them. “The second you lose, you drop all the way back to the bottom, down there with every other team that played that season. It’s like you did nothing. The minute it’s over, they literally start bumping you out of the way to set up the ropes and the award stand. It’s like, ‘Uh, can you move, please? We’ve got some people to celebrate here.’” Elway is lucky he didn’t play in Boston. People would’ve pelted him to death with Starburst and never seen him win his last two.

New York Giants, New England Patriots face offseason after Super Bowl XLVI – Don Banks – SI.com

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New York Giants, New England Patriots face offseason after Super Bowl XLVI – Don Banks – SI.com

Well this will make you feel a little bit better…

Once again, New England is in position to be a major player (or trader) in April’s draft. The Patriots have both the No. 27 pick they earned via last April’s first-round trade with New Orleans (which took Alabama running back Mark Ingram with New England’s second first-rounder in 2011, No. 28 overall), and their own No. 31 pick that comes with losing the Super Bowl. In addition, the Patriots own a pair of second-round picks, at No. 48 (obtained from Oakland) and No. 63. Belichick loves to wheel and deal with that much draft capital stored up, but this could be the rare year where he sits tight and picks off four players to help upgrade a defense that was near bottom-of-the-barrel status statistically in 2010. New England’s defense was 31st overall this season in yards allowed, surrendering more than 400 per game. The Patriots need help in the front seven, or at cornerback, so all options appear on the table. If there’s one instant impact defensive star the Patriots have a conviction on in the top half of the first round, having two first-rounders might allow New England to go up and get him. If there’s anything this season illustrated, it’s that the Patriots lack a Von Miller or Aldon Smith-like young playmaker in their front seven.

Curran: ‘Bottom liners’ completely miss the point

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Curran: ‘Bottom liners’ completely miss the point

I think Tom Brady is the best quarterback that’s ever played. He’s played in five Super Bowls in 10 seasons and won three. In the two he lost, he led a go-ahead drive in the closing minutes and – in the other – he was a very good catch away from being in a position to salt away the win. I believe he’s personally done enough to be 5-0 in Super Bowls.

Greetings from my Patriots Fallout Shelter!

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Apologies for my lackluster posting over the last two days, instead of just jumping into the furious blame-game I like to take a few days to gain some distance and perspective on the season before I start making commentary.

So if you’ve been knee deep in all the mud that the media has been flinging,  without a beacon of Patriots homerdom like you get here, I’m sorry.

My TV went off as Brady’s last pass fell incomplete and it has not been turned back on to a channel that might show anything Super Bowl related since, but I’ve kept a lazy eye towards all the fallout.

From Gisele’s post-game analysis, to the Boston media finally getting a free shot on Tom Brady, to today’s Butterfingers that were delivered to Welker, it seems like an unending parade of ancillary story lines that conveniently ignore reality.

The most ironic part  is how all season long we heard how bad the defense was, that it was their major weakness, and yet it wasn’t the defense that lost this game. The Giants offense made the critical plays at the critical times. The Patriots offense did not.  End of ball game.

Of course this is far too simple for those who get paid to write thousands of words about what went wrong. Everything has to be linked to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s legacy, with a grand “what does it all mean” spin off of every last detail of this single game.

So does this mean every outlet can run their “Patriots dynasty is over” or “Belichick is no longer a genius” article again for the twelfth time since 2007? Hardly.

The 2011 Patriots proved that as long as Bill Belichick is there this team will be competitive. And for those who cried all season long about how untalented this team was, how they didn’t have a deep threat or a pass rusher, or whatever else, none of it really mattered. We lost the game on what had been our strength.

They couldn’t execute when it counted most on offense, something they had done a great majority of the season, and that sealed their fate. There’s no way to “fix” that. And when you lose a game because you can’t land your best punch you deserve to lose.

You can look at Brady and Belichick and yes, they’re the all time winningest coach-QB tandem, but clearly they are closer to the end of their run than the start. That’s all common sense and fine, and sure, you can say their window might be closing.

But the unsexy thing that no one wants to talk about is how this young defense, much maligned all season long, is only at the start of their trajectory. When you look at the experience that Tedy Bruschi, Ted Johnson, Willie McGinest and others gained in the loss of Super Bowl 31, you can see how that set them up for the dynasty run.

This current defense is no different, with pieces like Mayo, Spikes, Chung and McCourty clearly in place for the long haul. Couple them with all the draft picks that will be added again this season and it’s hard to really feel down about the Patriots, unless you’re solely beholden to Tom Brady’s legacy and your only factor for enjoyment is ensuring that Brady is the undisputed greatest QB of all time.

31 teams don’t win the Super Bowl, and even when the Patriots are the best of those 31 it’s still of little consolation. But there was a lot to enjoy about the 2011 season. Records were again broken. Rivals were dispatched. And the Patriots once again were AFC champs.

There’s no doubt the 2012 Patriots will be back and ferocious as ever, it just might take a few weeks to get over the sting of losing to the Giants. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and once we get there we’ll be winning games and trying to make another Super Bowl, which is more than you can say for at least half of the rest of the NFL.

2012 Patriots opponents

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Here’s the list of the opponents the Patriots will face this fall and their records from this season.

Home

  • San Francisco 49ers 13 3 .813
  • Houston Texans 10 6 .625
  • Denver Broncos 8 8 .500
  • New York Jets 8 8 .500
  • Arizona Cardinals 8 8 .500
  • Miami Dolphins 6 10 .375
  • Buffalo Bills 6 10 .375
  • Indianapolis Colts 2 14 .125

Away

  • Baltimore Ravens 12 4 .750
  • Tennessee Titans 9 7 .563
  • New York Jets 8 8 .500
  • Seattle Seahawks 7 9 .438
  • Miami Dolphins 6 10 .375
  • Buffalo Bills 6 10 .375
  • Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 .313
  • St. Louis Rams 2 14 .125

2012 Super Bowl — New England Patriots fans need to recognize the better team won – ESPN Boston

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2012 Super Bowl — New England Patriots fans need to recognize the better team won – ESPN Boston

Hard to argue with what Jackie MacMullan lays out here. There’s no doubt this one hurt but I can’t honestly say the Pats were the better team on Sunday night. Maybe if Gronk wasn’t playing at 50% they might’ve been, but he wasn’t so that’s that.

There’s a long road before the Patriots take the field again. There will be many changes to the team, but if nothing else 2011 just proved again that the Patriots are a well-coached team that will be in every game they play. Regardless of the perceived talent on the roster.

But with that said there will be talent added this off-season and look for the 2012 Pats with a creampuff schedule to again be right in the thick of it next year. With a young defense that gained valuable experience under the biggest of spotlights this season.