Are the Patriots now the drought-era Bills?

[nucci]

let's see 17 years from now

[Ghost_002!]

5 hours ago, LikeIGiveADarn said:

 

6-7 and their loss tonight put a large dent in their playoff hopes.

 

They are an 9-7 team at best with the oldest coach in the NFL and no QB prospects to speak of.

 

 

 

And none of that speaks of a "drought ". Logically looking at it. They have been competitive in a down year. With a shot QB. 

 

 

[ProcessTruster]

always a pleasure to witness a Pats loss

[Kwai San]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

They are 6-6 in the think of the playoffs and have won 4 of their last 5 games and were 5 yards away from beating us.   The demise of the Patriots are exaggerated

 

Uh 6-7.....and yeah they are thinking about playoffs but thats all they are doing......

[LabattBlue]

I think BB wants that all time regular season wins record for a HC.  He is 50 away from the #1 spot, and he will be 69 next year.  Probably going to have to coach until at least 75, maybe a couple years beyond.  

Edited December 11, 2020 by Back the Blue

[Captain Hindsight]

7 hours ago, NickelCity said:

All it takes is one good draft pick. I hope it never comes. ***** em.

It was so funny last night. They put Stidham in and Buck and Aikman are talking him up and then Stidham got decked

 

Couldn't happen to a more deserving organization

[Beerball]

Bills just won their first MNF game this century.  Enjoy the ride and take it for what it is.

[Big Turk]

Maybe for a year or two...that defense will be much improved once all those COVID opt outs come.back and they are not bad right now even with all of them.

[Just in Atlanta]

It only took 20 years for the Patriots to be saying "we could still make the playoffs!" at week 13. 

But it would take a whole new level of ineptitude to match our 20 years of chronic 6-10 mediocrity where we're never good enough to make the playoffs and never bad enough to get No. 1 draft picks and just good enough to keep fans in the seats with hope. 

 

 

[Ramza86]

Finding the right QB is the only thing that will keep them competitive in the future. 

 

Lets hope that never happens.

[Freddie's Dead]

We need lots more years of this for the Cheats to be in a drought.  It's definitely gratifing to see the same kinds of things we all used to do.  One play here, one play there, we'd be 11-5 and in the playoffs!  Shyeah, right.  Enjoy it Cheats fans, now you get to see how the other half lives.

[nero1]

56 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said:

They are a .500 team who had a ton of defensive talent opt out. They just need a decent QB of avg quality.  How and why they opted out on Bridgewater was a real head scratcher. 

 

They can work the draft here and be very competitive going forward. 

Very true, but players who miss a year don't usually come back the same. QB's as they and we have discovered look good in college, but not in NFL right away.

 

As long as Bill is coach, they will be formidable.  Also, he hinders the growth of assistant coaches.

[thenorthremembers]

I said this to a buddy a few weeks ago.   I see the Patriots, as long as Belichick is there, as a team that will be between 8-8 and 10-6 until he retires.  He is too stubborn to bottom out for a high pick, but his coaching methods only work so well without Brady.    The defense will have them in contention for a playoff spot every year, but unless he lucks into another dominant Quarterback their offensive gameplan is just bad enough for them to be a middle dweller.

 

The Belichick legend has reached incredible heights.  But he wasnt a winner before Brady, and he isnt a winning coach now.

Edited December 11, 2020 by thenorthremembers

[Coffeesforclosers]

I predict a dramatic decrease in the number of "Brady" and "Bruschi" jerseys at the Ralph, and a dramatic increase in the number "Allen" and "Diggs" jerseys at Foxboro.

 

Remember, this is the fan base that would walk out of Foxboro before halftime if B&B were down two scores.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

9 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

My Christmas wish for NE is 7-9 forever.

And a "heroic march to 7-9" it shall be, each time! 

 

Sully's favorite description of the Jauron years always included that phrasing IIRC, and it seems apt now to wish that on Hoodie's head. 

[DrDawkinstein]

9 hours ago, Success said:

It really struck me watching them play tonight:

 

 - Huge uncertainty at QB

 - Good defense & special teams, good RB

 - All-pro punter

 - Can't consistently score points

 - JAG WR corps

 - Occasional amazing game to give fans hope, but in general maintaining a near-.500 record 

 - Being just good enough to not make the playoffs & avoid the top 10 in the draft

 

It's been weird reading their boards, too - the same playoff possibility conversations we used to have at this point:  if x team loses twice, and beats y team, but if y team beats z team, etc.  

 

I must say - I'm liking the role reversal.

 

 

I got the same feeling watching them last night. Looked all too familiar.

 

Even down to their new uniforms being ugly just like when Donahoe changed ours in 2001, and them bringing in a former star but now broken and ineffective QB (Bledsoe).

 

I love it.

[Seasons1992]

We still have to play them, on the road at night.

Let's save the *Pats bleep-talking until a potential victory over them.

[BuffaloBillies]

Yeah, it's not going to be a happy ending for anyone in that organization.

Well, almost everyone.

[Success]

57 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Maybe for a year or two...that defense will be much improved once all those COVID opt outs come.back and they are not bad right now even with all of them.

 

The D is getting old, though. I heard Hightower may retire; Chung & the McCourteys are getting up there.  There is some question about whether they'll re-sign Gilmore (not their style to overpay for an aging CB).

 

BB is the equalizer, of course.  I'm convinced he could take any roster in the league and get to a .500 record at least.  

 

He did say at one time that he didn't want to be coaching in this 70's like Levy (or something like that).  That's the hope; that he has another season or 2 like this, gets tired of it and heads off to do some fishing.  

 

[mjd1001]

What can we expect from the Pats in the near (1-3 year) future?  It might be close to what the Drought Era Bills were:

 

-I think, overall, they are a SLIGHTLY above average team.  If I had to 'power rank' them in the NFL now, they would be someplace between 12-16.  Keep in mind they actually DID lose a ton from Covid opt outs on the defensive side of the ball, probably more than anyone else...and they had some key injuries this year too.  Without that would they be a top team?  No, but they will be getting 'more' back next year than most other teams.

 

-On the other hand, the D unit is aging.  Even with those players back, they have a good percentage of their key D players on the wrong side of 28 years of age. (most studies say a typical Defensive player production, especially in the back 7, drop off between age 28-30)

 

So, the biggest thing that may make you think they are like the drought era Bills is.....their biggest question has to do with QB.  There doesn't appear to be a long term star QB available for the taking for them...and they are going to likely be drafting in an area where they will miss out on the top prospects.

 

So, they are likely to be that team that is 'in the hunt' toward the end of the year...until they get their next great QB...who knows when that will be.