FOXBORO – The Patriots never really got going against the Jets.  The excuses have already started to pour out from disappointed fans but truth be told, the Patriots were outplayed and out-coached on Sunday.  They managed a great regular seasons despite being plagued with injuries and an extremely young secondary but couldn’t make the final push through the playoffs.  This seems to be becoming a trend for the Pats, not necessarily overcoming injuries but playing hard through the season and coming up short in the playoffs.  Has Bill lost his touch?  Has Tom Brady seen his last Super Bowl? No, and No.

I don’t believe that either of these is an accurate description of our problem.  Bill’s problem is that he relies on himself to heavily and doesn’t put faith into coordinators.  Let’s put aside all the miscues of the Pats vs. Jets fiasco and look at this team of the course of the past few years.

The “dynasty” has passed and I think we really need to examine why…  I don’t want to examine why it has passed with out examining how it came to be.  The Pats had the dream team from front office to field.

2004 New England Patriots

• STAFF
  • Head Coach – Bill Belichick
  • Offensive Coordinator – Charlie Weis
  • Quarterbacks – Josh McDaniels
  • Defensive Coordinator – Romeo Crennel
  • Defensive Backs – Eric Mangini
• ROSTER
  • Tom Brady
  • Corey Dillon
  • Kevin Faulk
  • Deion Branch
  • Troy Brown
  • Benjamin Watson
  • Christian Fauria
  • Dan Koppen
  • Matt Light
  • Stephen Neal
  • Jarvis Green
  • Richard Seymour
  • Ty Warren
  • Vince Wilfork
  • Tully Banta-Cain
  • Teddy Bruschi
  • Rosevelt Colvin
  • Larry Izzo
  • Ted Johnson
  • Willie McGinest
  • Mike Vrabel
  • Roman Phifer
  • Rodney Harrison
  • Ty Law
  • Asante Samuel

Look at that staff and don’t forget that Scott Pioli was still in the FO making it happen too.  With a core staff like that vs. what we have now (who can name more than 2 coordinators on staff now?)  you start to wonder if Bill’s strict ways have forced this team’s hand.  Does Bill’s need for control cost the Patriots the championship?  Look at the roster.  There were names on defense that made other Quarterbacks fearful.  The mere thought of them being on the other side of the ball was enough to keep them on their toes.  Who do the Pats have now beside Wilfork?  I think we need to see them get tougher on defense so that the offense isn’t pressured so much to win and Bill is going to need to get some help that he can trust to make decisions.

It will be interesting to see just what the Patriots will do in the draft with all of their picks.  Hopefully we see them make the moves they need to to secure some big guys on the D-Line and get someone to fill that impact / cage-rattler at LB.  It remains to be seen if Bill can really give up full control over every aspect of the team but clearly his ways aren’t producing championships.  Winning is great, and he can win, but he can’t seem to win when it counts anymore.

Fingers crossed for next year…

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The Patriots will sit back  and wait on Wild-Card Weekend to find out who they will face next weekend in the divisional playoff round. Will it be the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, or Baltimore Ravens? I know a lot of people out there are a little confused with the format so I'll clear it up for you.  There are only . . . [Read more]

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FOXBORO - The Jets were a no-show on Monday night. Forget delayed, their flight to victory was cancelled before they even had a chance to pack a bag. This game was an absolute joy to watch as a Pats fan. We all love watching close games, and generally blow-outs can get extremely boring... except this one. After all . . . [Read more]

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Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you and yours a happy and safe holiday! . . . [Read more]

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FOXBORO - The Patriots won the toss last night and deferred to the Colts who took their first penalty of the game on the first play of the game.  This didn't seem to shake Peyton as he took his no huddle offense 57 yards up the field on 7 plays.  What was looking more and more to be a scoring . . . [Read more]

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PITTSBURGH - With last week's terrible performance against the Browns still on the fresh mind the Patriots needed come out fighting against one of the toughest defenses in the NFL.  They came out, and came out strong in a 39-26 victory over the Steelers Sunday night at Heinz Field.  The Patriots looked like they were back to their normal selves . . . [Read more]

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Well folks, we are halfway through November now and I think we have a pretty good idea of where our teams stand.  It's time for a quick recap of the seasons so far. The Patriots: The Patriots are doing much better than I would have anticipated.  If you were to tell me that they were without Moss, their backfield was BenJarvus Green-Ellis . . . [Read more]

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It looks like Minnesota wasn't for Randy.  According to the NFL Network the Minnesota Vikings have waived Randy Moss and he didn't even make the trip back home with the team.  This probably isn't much of a surprise after his Pats loving press conference.  Any chance he'll be coming back to New England?  I doubt it, but another target never . . . [Read more]

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FOXBORO - Watching the Patriots yesterday it was hard to imagine that they were a team playing their first game without one of the best all time Wide Receivers ever to play the game.  The man responsible for picking up Randy Moss' slack - Deion Branch. Branch had as many grabs in his one game back as Randy had in his 4 . . . [Read more]

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BOSTON, MA - Randy Moss has now had his first official practice with the Minnesota Vikings. Bill Belichik has had his first brief less than informative press conference. The Patriots have replaced Moss in the locker room, physically, although no one can quite say for sure what exactly the Patriots plan to do about compensating for his on . . . [Read more]

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