I could not agree with this more. We just witnessed 2 plus decades of excellence that may never be matched in sports, never mind in the NFL.Maybe I have the reflexive need to defend Bill, but we are heading into year 4 of post-Brady and made the playoffs with a rookie QB 2 years ago and had a team with a top defense last year.
What should we have expected in the last 3 years that did not occur? Because honestly, I think the team has performed above where you would expect a team to perform during a reset.
They lost the best QB of all time, played the following season with an absolute broken down QB in Cam, made the playoffs with a rookie QB in year 2, and then missed the playoffs in year 3 because of a fucking crazy lateral play and/or a fumble going in for a score at the end of another game, while trotting out maybe the worst coaching group that Bill could possibly have put together, an offensive line that sucked and a skill position group that blew chunks.
Meanwhile,
The Raiders have played in one playoff game (2016 loss) since 2002.
The Broncos haven't been to the playoffs since they won a SB with Manning in 2015
The Cardinals have been to the playoffs once since 2015, loss in 2021 WC.
The Falcons lost to the Pats in the SB in 2016, won a WC game in 2017, and haven't been back since.
The Ravens have won one playoff game since 2014
The Panthers haven't won a playoff game since their SB loss in 2015
The Bears haven't won a playoff game since 2010
The Browns won a WC game in 2020. Their last playoff win before that was against the Pats in 1994
The Cowboys make the playoffs, win a WC game here and there, and haven't made it to a Conference Champ since 1995
The Lions haven't won a playoff game since 1991
The Packers, with a surefire, HOF QB haven't been in a SB since 2010
The Texans have won 2 WC games since 2012
The Colts have won one playoff game (WC) since 2014
The Jags have won 3 playoff games (2 in one season) since 2007
The Chargers have won 3 playoff games, all WC games, since 2007
The Dolphins haven't won a playoff game since 2000.
The Vikings have won 2 playoff games since 2009
The Saints haven't made the playoffs since Brees retired either.
The Giants have won one playoff game (this year, WC) since the 2011 SB against the Pats
The Jets haven't been to the playoffs since 2010
The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since 2016
The Seahawks have won one playoff game (WC) since 2016
Without Brady, the Bucs hadn't won a playoff game since 2002
The Titans have won 3 playoff games (2 WC wins) since 2003
The Commanders haven't won a playoff game since 2005
We are just so fucking entitled, and our sense of how hard it is to win in the NFL is so warped that most Pats fans have lost all ability to be subjective. If BB should be on the chopping block for what's happened over the last 3 seasons, well, tell me who you want, because as you can see above, that list is littered with a LOT of teams that have tried to replace coaches and QB's and everything else, and their success rate still sucks.