Pneumonic

You see this type of envy, or is it jealousy?, all of the time amongst the opposition fans of dynasty teams, John. Moreso I suspect when the type of domination that has taken place is off the charts as has been the case with the Pats and there fellow AFCE combatants. I agree, it started of as embarrassing but now is indeed sad.

On offense, I would also add: Vollmer at RT and possibly the Cannon kid at RG. And don't sleep on this Sudfeld kid at TE. And Blount is only 26 himself. Amendola, while a vet, is just 27. I also read where Wendell graded out as the best Pats OL last year. He's 27. On defense I would add: Spikes as perhaps the best run stuffing ILB in the game.

The key to controlling Brady is to hope that you can stop the Pats rushing attack - without having to commit an extra defender up in the box - while using that extra defender to shrink the field so that everything is played inside the hashes for Brady. Then congestion is your best friend to hurting Brady. To counter this the Pats have added speedier playmakers on offense. However, this component of the offense is unknown at the moment so flip a coin if the newcomers can perform well enough to effectively counter. If they can, you be assured that Brady will find the strategic matchups.

They may have a few after this game ...........

The key to whether or not the Pats can stop SJ is how effective they are at stopping the Bills running game.If the Pats can contain the Bills rushing attack - without having to commit an extra defender in the box - then added attention (ie that extra defender) can be placed towards stopping SJ ..... if need be.

Well they have pulled the prohibitive fav part off. In terms of when the real games begin .............. are you betting against them?

I think it speaks more of Winston's skills and talents than anything.

I think it's considered a plus because they are a prohibitive favourite to compete for the AFC title despite having all the inexperienced players in tow. Very few teams could pull this off.

The young RB corps along with Amendola and the rookie TE/WR's who have impressed in preseason. I was wondering specifically about why Doc felt this to be their last year of superiority in the division versus 5 years down the road. Speaking of roster turnover ........... I just read that Belichick currently has 14 rookies on his roster ...... more than any other team in the league and twice what he normally keeps.

I don't know fellas, Brady has never been better and is showing no signs of slowing down. And it looks as though the Pats braintrust has given him even more weapons to utilize moving forward. It seems we always have the discussion that other teams in the AFCE are getting better and will dethrone the Pats .... but it never seems to happen.

Anything is possible I suppose but, I don't see any obvious signs that they are about to crash. I am curious ...... what is it that makes you feel the Pats are toast after this season?

It may well be that until Brady and Belichick are gone and retired, the Bills will continue to take a back seat to the Pats in the division. If so, don't count on that happening anytime soon for both Brady and Belichick are operating at as high a level as they ever have.

Or, maybe the Bolts just sucked more than did the Pats opponents on them SB days.

Pats should be able to bring Gronk along slowly as they don't really need him until week 4 against the Falcons. I would think they'll use these next few weeks as training camp for him.

Another thing people don't get is that in the 8 years since the Pats last won a SB they have compiled an NFL best 98-30 W/L record, setting historical records in a variety of measures while appearing in the playoffs in 7 of those 8 seasons (missing out on 8 for 8 due to losing out on a tie-breaker despite compiling an 11-5 record) and appearing in 2 other SB games ..... all this being accomplished .................... while re-building the team, a process that, for any other franchise, typically means struggling to make the playoffs. Now either, Brady and/or Belichick are the greatest QB/HC of all time (for being to pull this feat off as a duo) or ...... they have had substantial help along the way.

If one searches hard and long enough they'll figure out something which they believe rationalizes away greatness and use said excuse as an argument against the greatness point. One common rationalization you see all of the time is to excuse a head coach (or FO's) greatness due his/them having at their disposal superior players at strategic positions. One just has to read this thread to see this point being made wrt the Pats dynasty ...... the Pats, and BB, have Brady and he's solely responsible for the teams success no matter who else the GM sticks alongside him. We see the exact same thing argued when it comes to other NFL dynasties too; Lombardi had Starr and Taylor Walsh had Montana and Rice Noll had Badshaw, Harris and Swann JJ had Aikman, Smith and Irvin The NFL may well be the ultimate team sport. To signal out a few superstars is natural but, to minimize the impact and importance of 50+ non superstar players is doing these guys a gross injustice and makes for a very weak argument.

Most relevant part to me was: With particular emphasis on the bolded parts.

Brilliantly written article on what it takes to become a great QB. Appropriate as Manuel is just starting his NFL journey. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9590729/how-new-class-promising-nfl-quarterbacks-reach-greatness

Any/all of the players on the team not named Brady and Wilfork (the only two remaining players from the last SB winning year)

The many draft picks and free agents that did work out ............

OK

Keep in mind folks ..... since winning their SB's the Pats have completely torn down and rebuilt their team while still producing divisional and conference titles and more wins than any other team in the NFL over that timeframe. Let me say this again ..... the Pats re-built, in mid stream, and barely missed a beat. And they did so while operating under the confines of a restrictive sal cap era. So, while they have missed out on draft picks here and there, their winning record indicates a FO that is second to none in this league.

I think BB will prepare for this game like he does any other game ....... he'll keep his schemes pretty basic, tossing in an array of 3 and 4 man lines all playing different gap concepts with minimal complexity or disguises. BB's MO is to coach up his defense so that they make very few mistakes while waiting out the opponent expecting them to make the mistake first and then being in position to take advantage of said mistake. This, along with being out in front of opponents early, and often, in games, is why you see the Pats give up plenty of yardage totals. But, they are almost always a top 10 scoring defense. Like others, I would expect BB to take away the running attack and put the pressure on the rookie QB to make the mistake(s). The Pats have an excellent rush defense and if they are able to stop the Bills running game without having to commit an extra defender down in the box, it will probably be a very long day for the Bills on offense. If the Pats get out in front and into an early and comfortable lead, you'll probably see BB dial-up some more exotic packages/blitzes and such.

You forgot "the next Randy Moss" was also cut.

Not good ....... not good at all.