That was then: Celebrating what was

shawnrbu

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The Land of Fist Pumps

Jimbodandy

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I like to remind people occasionally that the last time that the Pats ended their NFL season without winning more games than they lost, Bill Clinton was president.
 

Ale Xander

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That was one of the worst non-interception games Brady has ever had, most incompletions he ever had in a first half. But they still won (and beat a winning team). Partly because he threw no interceptions.
 

InstaFace

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not to be too much of a kiss ass, but watching how bad these teams look on my screen right now, it really is amazing how consistently awesome the Pats have been.
That's the Jedi mind trick of the entire Belichick era: getting players who are still humans to not think about the past but to live entirely in the present and near-future. They focus only on what they can control, and always put the team first (or are cut with zero drama, AB excepted). It's amazing given how rarely those qualities are found in humans, that one person can consistently motivate, like, a cast of 100 always-rotating big-ego athletes to do all that.

I guess you'd have to call Tom Brady's health as a twin miracle of the era, but really, none of that matters if they can't protect him really well most years, get receivers open most years, have consistency in the kicking game most years, yadda yadda. There are other coaches who rarely beat themselves, e.g. Harbaugh and Carroll, who nevertheless can't find a way to have success year after year with no interruption - it's still dependent on roster and a bit of chemistry luck. The last time Belichick had a roster problem he couldn't solve adequately was probably 2009.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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That's the Jedi mind trick of the entire Belichick era: getting players who are still humans to not think about the past but to live entirely in the present and near-future. They focus only on what they can control, and always put the team first (or are cut with zero drama, AB excepted). It's amazing given how rarely those qualities are found in humans, that one person can consistently motivate, like, a cast of 100 always-rotating big-ego athletes to do all that.

I guess you'd have to call Tom Brady's health as a twin miracle of the era, but really, none of that matters if they can't protect him really well most years, get receivers open most years, have consistency in the kicking game most years, yadda yadda. There are other coaches who rarely beat themselves, e.g. Harbaugh and Carroll, who nevertheless can't find a way to have success year after year with no interruption - it's still dependent on roster and a bit of chemistry luck. The last time Belichick had a roster problem he couldn't solve adequately was probably 2009.
And they still went 10-6 that year.
 

joe dokes

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That was one of the worst non-interception games Brady has ever had, most incompletions he ever had in a first half. But they still won (and beat a winning team). Partly because he threw no interceptions.
And also only got sacked once.
I put this in the game ball thread, and while its an indictment of the line (and maybe the receivers), Brady's ability/willingness to take incompletions to avoid sacks is a big deal.
 

[icon]

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Jul 30, 2005
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And also only got sacked once.
I put this in the game ball thread, and while its an indictment of the line (and maybe the receivers), Brady's ability/willingness to take incompletions to avoid sacks is a big deal.
Indeed. I had an Eagles fan buddy riding me about the incompletion record, after Wentz had taken 4 sacks in the first half. I just had to laugh.
 

DJnVa

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I like to remind people occasionally that the last time that the Pats ended their NFL season without winning more games than they lost, Bill Clinton was president.
One of my favorite lines is that the Patriots have not played a game in which they were not alive for a postseason berth when the game started since something like November 2000.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
It's crazy. I remember back in the day, when with 3-4 games left, I'd scour the tiebreaker rules to see what needed to happen to make the playoffs. Now every year its what needs to happen to secure 1 seed. The mindset is so spoiled not sure what I'll do if/when the Pats aren't on top.
 

moretsyndrome

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It's crazy. I remember back in the day, when with 3-4 games left, I'd scour the tiebreaker rules to see what needed to happen to make the playoffs. Now every year its what needs to happen to secure 1 seed. The mindset is so spoiled not sure what I'll do if/when the Pats aren't on top.
I know, every time I see these insane winning stats they've piled up I keep thinking back to the 1994 team that needed to win 7 in a row just to sneak in. I have this hazy memory of being in a bar late in week 16 absolutely living and dying as Seattle almost beat the Raiders (back when Seattle was in the AFC), which would have taken the pressure off the Pats in week 17.

They hadn't been to the post-season in 8 years. That appearance was a big deal! Now, the only big deal is the Super Bowl. Which is great, but still feels weird.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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And also only got sacked once.
I put this in the game ball thread, and while its an indictment of the line (and maybe the receivers), Brady's ability/willingness to take incompletions to avoid sacks is a big deal.
Agreed. But he SHOULD have been picked at least once and easily could have been picked twice. He got lucky on a couple of balls.

He hasn’t had a lot to work with but let’s be honest: he hasn’t played his best football, not by a long shot.
 

Jimbodandy

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Agreed. But he SHOULD have been picked at least once and easily could have been picked twice. He got lucky on a couple of balls.

He hasn’t had a lot to work with but let’s be honest: he hasn’t played his best football, not by a long shot.
That's fair. But we shouldn't lose sight of what having a poor OL does to a QB with his particular skillset. It's not just that he's old. He's about picking apart the defense with both his arm and his mind. Even a below average OL robs him of much of the latter.

Then add to that a total inability to run the ball. Then add to that a mediocre receiver group.

Any guy of his type would have a bad year in the current environment. Seems to me that making risky throws kinda comes with the territory. Wentz was similarly lucky this weekend with INTs and those bad throws were caused in part by the same factors (bad OL play, meh receiver play).
 

Deathofthebambino

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That's fair. But we shouldn't lose sight of what having a poor OL does to a QB with his particular skillset. It's not just that he's old. He's about picking apart the defense with both his arm and his mind. Even a below average OL robs him of much of the latter.

Then add to that a total inability to run the ball. Then add to that a mediocre receiver group.

Any guy of his type would have a bad year in the current environment. Seems to me that making risky throws kinda comes with the territory. Wentz was similarly lucky this weekend with INTs and those bad throws were caused in part by the same factors (bad OL play, meh receiver play).

Exactly:

Dak Prescott in 2017 had the corpses of Dez White and Jason Witten, Terrence Williams and Cole Beasley, Zeke was suspended for 6 games and the offensive line was beat up. He finished with 3,324 yards, 24tds', 13 picks, 6.8y/a, and 86.6 QBR

Through 10 games in 2019, with Zeke, an offensive line, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, Randall Cobb, etc., through 10 games, he's at 3,221 yards, 21td's, 9picks, 8.8y/a and a 104.1 QBR.

Before people think "yeah, Dak is 2 years older and becoming a better QB," Dak's numbers were better his rookie year than they are this season, because again, he had weapons.

Skill positions and the offensive line matter. I don't care who is QB'ing this Pats team, they aren't going to put up numbers with this group around them.

Here's the difference though: In 2017, Dak and the Cowboys went 9-7. Tom Brady and the Pats are 9-1. The Cowboys committed 22 turnovers in 16 games. The Pats are at 10 through 10 games.

They'll be fine. This year's Pats are still 3rd in the NFL in points scored, and 16th in yards gained. They don't really need to be more than that with their defense sitting at #1 in basically everything, and Tom Brady not making huge mistakes that cost games.
 

Phil Plantier

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I was thinking about all the terrible QB situations in the league, and I went to pro football reference to recall the last time the Patriots QB situation was hopeless.

1992. Dick McPherson. 27 years ago. (unless you count Zolak filling in for the last two games of 1999).

That's 27 years where the Patriots could just check off that the most important position in the game was a plus (or there was at least cause for optimism).
 

ifmanis5

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Another 10-win season, they have 17 consecutive since 2003 and that sets the record (49ers, 16 1983-1998)
View: https://twitter.com/bostonsportsinf/status/1198776231094820865

NFL since 2003 Seasons ≥ 10 wins
1. Patriots - 17 . . 2. Colts - 12 . . 32. Bills - 0
LONGEST STREAKS OF AT LEAST 10 WINS
1. New England, 2003-19 (active), 17 seasons
2. San Francisco, 1983-98, 16 seasons
3. Indianapolis, 2002-10, 9 seasons
4. Dallas, 1975-81, 7 seasons
 

bosox188

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I was in high school the last time they failed to win 10 games. I’m 35 now. Absolutely insane.
I'm 30 and since the last time they failed to win 10, I have graduated middle school, high school, college, and been a real-life adult with a career for almost 10 years. I was a 12 year old kid watching Brady win that first Superbowl. Whenever Brady retires, it's going to be like the last link of childhood being severed for a lot of people in their 30s maybe even 40s. I won't be ready for it.
 

GoDa

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Sep 25, 2017
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14-1 over their last 15 games.
20-3 over their last last 23.

How many streaks like this have they had in the last 20 years?
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Why is the cutoff set at 2003? That seems random.
Because the Patriots didn't win 10 games in 2002.

The stat is to compare other teams to the Patriots' current 17 game streak of ten wins. If you wanted to make a list of the most 10 win seasons since the NFL went to 16 games in 1978 you'd get a different result, for sure, but that's not what this tweet is trying to show. Maybe the way to read it to make it seem not random would be to read it as saying "The Patriots have had 17 consecutive 10 win seasons. In that time period, the number of 10-win seasons by the other teams in the league are . . . "
 

McBride11

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PTI tonite on at the gym

Wilbon - the trip was an egregious call! gave the game to Pats. Cowboys win without that call

Kornheiser did call him out saying this is absurd. The Cowboys scored 0 TD all nite, no guarantee they score a TD, since ya know they hadn't all game

Wilbon - ya but they didn't because they were robbed of this opportunity to score

I mean I can't fathom if Wilbon was just being contrarian for the sake of the show or like he legit believes this.

edit - not sure if this belongs here or in the gameball thread.
 

snowmanny

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Wilbon has a point. I do think it’s worth remembering that if every call and every break and every bounce and every wishy-wish-wish by every fan outside New England was granted and they all went against the Patriots they’d probably only win like 60% of the time.
 

BaseballJones

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I’m sure Wilbon was equally apoplectic when Kuechly bearhugged Gronk (and no DPI) to seal Carolinas win a few years back. No doubt he’s been thoroughly consistent.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Rampant opportunism.

The tripping call was a featured footnote in terms of impact on the game’s outcome. That call isn’t mentioned by the collective Takeverse the next day if it happens with different teams in a prime time slot.

I love it.
 

mostman

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Because the Patriots didn't win 10 games in 2002.

The stat is to compare other teams to the Patriots' current 17 game streak of ten wins. If you wanted to make a list of the most 10 win seasons since the NFL went to 16 games in 1978 you'd get a different result, for sure, but that's not what this tweet is trying to show. Maybe the way to read it to make it seem not random would be to read it as saying "The Patriots have had 17 consecutive 10 win seasons. In that time period, the number of 10-win seasons by the other teams in the league are . . . "
Ok that makes sense. I like your wording better.
 

Seels

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I hope Wilpon was equally upset about the missed PI calls on Sean Lee.
Doubt that's the case though.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Fun stat: the Brady/BB era Pats have more playoff victories (30) than all but THREE other franchises EVER. And that’s obviously not counting the byes they’ve enjoyed, the equivalent of 13 extra wins.
 

Ale Xander

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Isn't it 4? (Pitt, Dal, GB, SF)

(But they can have more than any franchise, at the end of next season!)
 

snowmanny

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So, each year the Patriots play 6 games against AFC East opponents, 4 games against another AFC Division, 4 games against an NFC division, 2 games against other AFC opponents determined by previous year's standings, and (often) playoff games.

Here is their record 2003-2018 vs each category:

AFC East: 76-20 .791
Other AFC Division: 51-13 .797
NFC Division: 52-12 .812
Other AFC opponents: 23-9 .719
Playoffs: 27-10 .730

They've never had a record worse than 4-2 against the AFC East, and swept the division twice.
They only went 0-2 vs "Other AFC Opponents" once, in 2008 (but have to win Sunday to avoid a repeat in 2019).

There is one single instance of an AFC or NFC division having a winning record against the Patriots in their four regular season games during this time frame. Kudos if you remember.

2012 1-3 vs NFC West. Only beat the Rams but still managed a +28 point differential against the four NFC opponents
 

BaseballJones

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I liked that piece. Anyone who hates the Patriots hates a concept, not really the people on the team. Which is fine. I'm sure if we actually knew the Yankee players we'd probably think highly of many of them too. I agree with you @tims4wins....I don't know what the conclusion is or what the point of the piece is, though I did find it interesting.
 

McBride11

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[B]Jeff Howe[/B]‏Verified account @jeffphowe 44m44 minutes ago

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is now displaying the game ball from the Patriots' victory against the Cowboys, signifying their 10th victory of the season, which set a record for a 17th consecutive season with 10 wins. The 49ers (1983-98) had the previous record.
Since they use like 30 balls in a game.
is this one actually used?
Symbolic?
Ball used on last play of game?