The Bills kept both games close and "might" improve this off-season. The Dolphins had a down year and get Tanny back so i see them being more trouble then last year. As for us, we have a lot of work to do this off-season but a couple of the right free agents and draft picks and suddenly the Jets are right in the mix. I think you are right about winning the division with 11 wins but no more cake walk and no more home field through the playoffs. Where i disagree is them beating up the division, The Bills can put up a fight, I wouldn't call the Fins hopeless and i believe with the right off season the Jets will have a few hay-makers of their own to throw. i also suspect 2019 they lose their grip on the division.
I guess this comes down to how you define the "end." True Pats are loosing some coaches and we had off years in 2005 and 2006 when we had coaching changes, but we did have a lot of injuries in 2005. It really comes down to how Brady will play in the next 2-3 years. If he can maintain his level of play, I do not see much of a drop off for the team if he can maintain his play. Presently, there really is no all worldly team in the AFC and a good portion of the Pats core players are in their prime, so it is not like 2008-2011 where we were retooling, nor like 2000s where we had great teams in the AFC and the AFCE had playoff teams. After say 3 years from now it is tough to predict, will Brady still be playing, will BB still be coaching, who will their replacements be and how well will they preform. Kraft will still be around so ownership will not change, just depends on BB's and TB's replacement. Presently, for what it is worth, the Pats are among the favorites to win it next year. I see the Pats being in the hunt for a few years, but time will tell.
Hate to say it but, no this is not the end. NE likely has 3 more strong years left. Brady and Belichick still have some time left. It's coming to an end, but I think it's still a few years off. Gronk was asked about retirement minutes after losing the Super Bowl. It's a long season and I'm sure the loss was emotionally draining , he didn't say he was retiring or even considering it. Even if he does retire, they will draft a replacement, sign someone from a practice squad or grab a FA . The one constant is Belichick finds a way to make it work. Brady played an excellent game and I bet there isn't a single poster here who didn't think , oh fuck, when the Pats got the ball back at the end of the game. For once NE was on the wrong side of 3some questionable calls. Eartz TD was the right call , Foles TD should have been called back for an illegaI formation and Clement did not gain possession before he was out of bounds. It was definitely nice to see the calls go against them for a change. The Bills have to improve before they can take the division, the Dolphins have plenty of issues , and will likely loose Landry and others. And our beloved Jets are 2-3 years away from giving NE a serious run for their crown. Fortunately the next CBA is not far off (3years ) , and will close the loophole NE has used to circumvent the salary cap. That will be the end of the Patriots dynasty.
The end of the NE dynasty all depends on Brady. Hate him all you want, but I think he's more responsible than Belichick for their success. Guy works super hard and it shows that at 40 years old he's still playing at such a high level. Once Brady finally falls off, we'll see the end of the Patriots. A stronger AFC East would certainly help give NE a run for their money. NE has had it easy for the majority of their run of dominance. The AFC East has been garbage outside of a few good Jets years and a year or two of the Dolphins being decent. NE can always count on 4 to 6 wins out of their division each year. Since the NFL switched to the 4 division structure in 2002, the Patriots of have gone 4-2 seven times, 5-1 seven times, and 6-0 twice. Never worse than 4-2. Of all those years, AFC East teams made the playoffs 7 times (44% of the time): Jets 4x, Dolphins 2x, Bills 1x. The Pats only missed the playoffs in 2008 (Matt Cassel year).
Belichick is going to pay the price in that locker room! It was not just a regular game of course where a coach can screw up like that. Players lay it all on the line to win the Super Bowl, they set aside personal disagreements and egos all year to try and win that game. They let coaches pick better players to be in certain spots over them even if it kills their ego, just for the best of the team. But for their coach to let his ego get the best of him and play lesser players at the expense of it and it costs them the game, that's going to speak volumes. Even at halftime when it was obvious the backup corners were getting toasted and Butler is on the sideline with his helmet on ready to go and they don't play him, that's gotta piss off everyone. -- I think the Butler decision is going to carry over in that locker room next year for sure. I'm not saying this just because of the Butler thing - Brady's age/Gronk's uncertainty/new staff as well, but I truly believe we have seen the last super bowl appearance of the Brady/Belichick era
The biggest issue with the Butler drama isn’t necessarily that he benched him, it’s that he did it right before kickoff. That impacted every player on the defense who trusted Butler, expected him to be there, and prepared expected that he would be there, not to mention whoever replaced him having no idea he was playing until he was told to put on his helmet and get out there. That’s an absolute disaster for that entire defense and I’m sure they believe it impacted their performance. Will they simply get over that sabotage simply because Belichik is the genius? I don’t think so. Those guys wanted to win this game and likely don’t shrug it off because the franchise has five championships previously. But the Josh McDaniels loss will be what really impacts them. I may be wrong, but the offense seemed to decline a bit after his first departure and then reignited again after his return. A likely decline in the offensive scheme in combination with Brady’s inevitable decline next year, even if slight, will bring them back to the field of AFC competitors, not the leader of it.
At the time I posted the above I didn't know that Belichik waited until right before kickoff to tell Butler. If that's the case he has an issue on his hands because the move will look punitive to the rest of the locker room and players really don't like it when a coach goes off on a player for no apparent reason.
You also have to wonder whether this will change the media's treatment of Belichick. For years, the media has treated him with kid gloves, often to the level of Peter King adoration. Now, however, they have something that looks like a boneheaded move that he refuses to explain to anyone's satisfaction. Will they press him at his press conferences, and not let him get away with mumbling non-answers? Will their coverage be more critical? If the media starts to turn on him, that could get very nasty but also very interesting.
He will do what he always does, ignore the question or end the press conference. Nothing he hasn't been doing for years.
In the past, the media has always backed off and taken it. What if they stop taking it and challenge him?
Then he will end the press conference , just like he has done in the past. He did it several times this season.
Could this be his end? "I've got nothing left to prove. I'm tired of dealing with the media's shit. I'm going fishing for a few years. Peace out"
Don't know why, but I did some quick analysis this morning. Perhaps you will find it interesting - perhaps not. While some people will claim that the Pats have dominated the AFC East because the rest of the AFC East is so poor, the facts don't really bear out that way completely - especially when it concerns the Jets. The Pats (since 2001) have almost the exact same record outside of the AFC east as they do against the rest of the AFC East. The Pats have won about 76.5% of all of their non-division games and about 77.5% of the division games (with the Bills being the most pitiful 4-30 vs. the Pats). It turns out that the Jets record (as a percentage) against the Patriots is exactly the same and the rest of the (non-AFC East) teams record against the Pats (.2352). Therefore, the Pats are just as dominant against other teams as they are against the Jets. In fact, take the Pats out of the picture, and the Jets are actually an above .500 team (120 Wins vs 118 Losses). So, for all the histrionics that many (including me) bring up on how shitty the Jets management / coaching / players have been over the years - the Jets (even after Parcells the Parcells year) by definition have been a decidedly average NFL team.
Answer me this, Do you really believe for a second that when Belichick retires it will be because he is tired of the media? One of the things that has made Belichick a great coach and NE a great team, is how he deals with the media both as an individual and as a franchise. I'm fact, i bet he actually enjoys shutting them down.
