“I thought the good, smart teams could rebuild from the middle and still have a representative product like the Steelers and Ravens do. I thought that was you. I didn’t know you need to crater to get a high draft pick to get the QB. That’s what the Bengals do. I thought you were smarter than that.”
-Felger
Another poster has pointed this out here elsewhere, but in response to his Steelers/Ravens comment;
Keep in mind that NE is often compared to teams like Baltimore and Pittsburgh, who consistently win. But over this 19-year dynasty...
- NE finished with fewer than 10 wins only once, in 2002 in Brady's "sophomore" year as a starter. Even then they went 9-7 and tied for first in the division (losing out on like a 3rd tier tiebreaker).
- Only twice did NE miss the playoffs (2002 and 2008, when they went 11-5, tied for first in the division, and again lost out on tiebreakers).
- Pittsburgh has had records of 6-10, 8-8 (4x), and 9-7. They missed the playoffs 7 times over this span.
- Baltimore has had records of 5-11 (2x), 6-10, 7-9, 8-8 (2x), and 9-7 (3x). They missed the playoffs 8 times over this span.
So these other great franchises have all had multiple down seasons where they got to have a bit of a reset. New England hasn't had that, like, at all, during their dynasty.
The Ravens also have Jackson as their QB and the Steelers have had Roethlisberger since 2004; we'll see what happens to the Steelers once he retires.