Are The Patriots Back?

[RobertWeathers]

We sucked last year but things are looking up this year.

I think we'll make the playoffs but having a rookie QB is historically a limiting factor.

Really appreciated the battles with you guys in 2018 and 2019.

Who knows what the future holds?

[PAChiefsGuy]

They are definitely on their back to being a consistent playoff team and maybe even better. I wouldn't underestimate them.

That said they don't have Brady anymore so come playoff time I think they'll much more vulnerable than they ever were during the Brady/BB era.

[Bearcat]

It just goes to show how easy it is for any team to string together a few wins and reach mediocre levels of making the playoffs... and how hard it is to be awful, to the point where you have to assume teams like the Lions are trying to be that bad (just like it took the Patriots not only losing Brady, but half their defense last season). And a lot of fans eat it up.

[mililo4cpa]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

We were fortunate to have witnessed a historic coming-together of the perfect owner, the perfect head coach and the perfect quarterback at the perfect time in their careers. We’ll never see anything like it again. That said, I’m very pleased to see their progress back to the top tier.

I agree: Clark, Andy & Pat will never be duplicated again!

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by RobertWeathers

On his current pace it's Mahomes.

You're actually taking those comments seriously?

There's no comparison. No one would even be talking about Jones if his defense weren't playing lights out.

[stevegroganfan]

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

You're actually taking those comments seriously?

There's no comparison. No one would even be talking about Jones if his defense weren't playing lights out.

They would still be talking about him since statistically speaking he has been the best rookie QB in a somewhat hyped class of quarterbacks...albeit a few of them labelled more developmental than normal.

Jones could still go either way. Even if 100% healthy, he could be below average starter and never get that much better or he could turn out to be a top 1-3 QB in the entire NFL. How he does on the 20-50 yard passes in the air will largely determine his ceiling. He has already proven that he has elite accuracy on some of the shorter to intermediate range passes. He has decent speed when he gets running but so far he hasn't broken many arm tackles in the pocket

Time will tell where he ends up but given his success at Alabama and the accuracy he showed there, he was the player I wanted the Patriots to pick.

The bad news for people who dislike the Patriots, even an average starter on a relatively lowly paid rookie contract(Jones 15th pick) is a huge advantage for a team.

The Patriots didn't even have a rookie contract advantage for that long with Brady since Brady didn't start until year 2 and Bledsoe had a huge contract. I don't think Bledsoe's contract was completely off the books until year 4 of Brady on the team and year 3 of Brady starting. And Tom Brady himself was only locked into a rookie contract that ran 3 years since he was a 6th round pick that couldn't even be counted to make the team.

I doubt Jones is another Brady but he doesn't really have to be for Bill Belichick to do really well over the next 4-5 years since this time, there is no massive Bledsoe contract from the quarterback position on the Patriots salary cap.

Belichick can pour that money into other players which he has already done this season to a fairly large extent.

[stevegroganfan]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

It just goes to show how easy it is for any team to string together a few wins and reach mediocre levels of making the playoffs... and how hard it is to be awful, to the point where you have to assume teams like the Lions are trying to be that bad (just like it took the Patriots not only losing Brady, but half their defense last season). And a lot of fans eat it up.

To be fair to the dreadful Lions, I doubt Detroit is a FA destination and they may be just trying to rebuild once again with picks. The other factor is it is now easier to make the playoffs than probably ever before since the 7th playoff team has been added to each conference.

One advantage the Patriots had last year is a former MVP and (I believe) an underrated QB in Cam Newton decided to sign with the Patriots for peanuts. That made the Patriots still owing Brady 13.5 million on their cap much easier to manage. Cam was not a top 15 QB but some NFL fans treated Cam like he sucked but that was far from the truth. It was the Patriots tight ends that truly sucked last year.

If some really cheap veteran QB other than Cam Newton came to New England last year, the team probably goes 5-11.

Newton was better than 90% of Patriots fans gave him credit for. He just was not the medium to long term answer. Now if Mathew Stafford had left as a FA to join the Rams or some other team..... I doubt a veteran like Cam Newton agrees to go to the Lions for peanuts after being released from a big contract with Carolina.

My whole point with this is sometimes success breeds success. Antonio Brown doesn't go to Tampa unless Brady had already proven himself. I don't mention Gronk since Tampa Bay at least paid true market value for him.

[PHOG]

And there you have the last twenty years of Cheatriot history.

[Wilson8]

Maybe but that is yet to be determined.

Others have already said this, but playing the Jets twice and Texans and Falcons and even their others wins against Browns, Panthers, and Chargers were when those teams were missing key players.

Their upcoming games against Titans, Bills, Colts, Bills, and even the Dolphins will tell a lot about how good the Patriots might be.

[JakeF]

Patriots lost Brady, rebuilt fast.

Mahomes, Kelce and Hill are what keep us above them.

[Rain Man]

I came in here to see if every post was "**** the cheating patriots and their cheating". I must say that I'm a little disappointed. I thought we were all on the same page on this.

[JakeF]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I came in here to see if every post was "**** the cheating patriots and their cheating". I must say that I'm a little disappointed. I thought we were all on the same page on this.

I think we are all on the same page.

Doesn't mean that is the only page though.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by RobertWeathers

Who cares if the division is weak?

Winning the SB is what matters. You beat the best along the way.

Pats don't.

[TripleThreat]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Yes, big time, but Mac doesn't throw it down the field or ad-lib.

They will be exposed in the playoffs offensively.

If Mac is any good they will take the next step next season.

I disagree…. Now maybe I’m going off just 1 game, which I am… but his last game showed me he’s a pretty damn good rookie. That tight throw for the touchdown, and the deep ball right before that??

He’s a rookie, and tbh IMO is showing better promise than all the other qbs drafted thus far. Which leads me to my next hypothesis of how I hate this whole floor ceiling bull shit. If Mac Jones turns into the next Big thing, it just goes to show that the whole saying someone’s ceiling is only so much is bull crap. It seems a lot more appropriate to say, their ceiling seems to be here but obviously anything is possible, but we like this ceiling more. I hate when people say, this guy can never be this because that’s just non sense

[TripleThreat]

Originally Posted by JakeF

I think we are all on the same page.

Doesn't mean that is the only page though.

Better to say, no we have that page in our book, we are just reading a separate chapter…

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by stevegroganfan

To be fair to the dreadful Lions, I doubt Detroit is a FA destination and they may be just trying to rebuild once again with picks. The other factor is it is now easier to make the playoffs than probably ever before since the 7th playoff team has been added to each conference.

One advantage the Patriots had last year is a former MVP and (I believe) an underrated QB in Cam Newton decided to sign with the Patriots for peanuts. That made the Patriots still owing Brady 13.5 million on their cap much easier to manage. Cam was not a top 15 QB but some NFL fans treated Cam like he sucked but that was far from the truth. It was the Patriots tight ends that truly sucked last year.

If some really cheap veteran QB other than Cam Newton came to New England last year, the team probably goes 5-11.

Newton was better than 90% of Patriots fans gave him credit for. He just was not the medium to long term answer. Now if Mathew Stafford had left as a FA to join the Rams or some other team..... I doubt a veteran like Cam Newton agrees to go to the Lions for peanuts after being released from a big contract with Carolina.

My whole point with this is sometimes success breeds success. Antonio Brown doesn't go to Tampa unless Brady had already proven himself. I don't mention Gronk since Tampa Bay at least paid true market value for him.

One of the things the Pats do well, primarily because of Bill is they make average defenders look good. It's no surprise that a large number of defensive players look good in NE and bomb outside of that system. It is similar to Andy and offensive players. Because the Pats can do that, they can get away with not paying top dollar for their defense.