How I see New England now

[Success]

 

Pretty simple:  they're the Dolphins in the '90's.

 

At that time, the Phins had gotten off a 20 year stretch of basically owning the division (a few more losing seasons mixed in there, but they were the nemesis for all AFCE teams, like the Pats were for years).

 

Buffalo got their HOF QB and coach, and assumed control.  Miami would always be in the mix, but would generally end up 9-7 or 10-6, and falter in the playoffs.  The glory days were long over. Their fans still thought that the Bills were kind of a temporary condition, and that they would assume their "rightful place" before too long.

 

But they never did.  That's who the Pats are right now.  More reputation than substance. And BB may be going the way of Shula, who looked much less formidable as he got older.  The game had passed him by. Belichick's last coaching job against the Bills was a head-scratcher.

 

The only caveat on this is that the Patriots don't have the HOF QB like Miami did.  So, they might not fare quite as well.

 

This is our division now.

 

[MJS]

The Dolphins had Marino...

[TBBills]

[HamSandwhich]

15 minutes ago, MJS said:

The Dolphins had Marino...

He eluded that in the last couple of sentences.  

Edited January 11, 2022 by HamSandwhich

[Success]

10 minutes ago, TBBills said:

 

Aw, man - I didn't think it was THAT bad of a comparison.

 

It's aspirational. It's the way I hope they go.

 

[John from Riverside]

They are inferior team with a QB that cannot shoulder the load

 

One-dimensional teams get destroyed

[Matt_In_NH]

26 minutes ago, Success said:

 

Pretty simple:  they're the Dolphins in the '90's.

 

At that time, the Phins had gotten off a 20 year stretch of basically owning the division (a few more losing seasons mixed in there, but they were the nemesis for all AFCE teams, like the Pats were for years).

 

Buffalo got their HOF QB and coach, and assumed control.  Miami would always be in the mix, but would generally end up 9-7 or 10-6, and falter in the playoffs.  The glory days were long over. Their fans still thought that the Bills were kind of a temporary condition, and that they would assume their "rightful place" before too long.

 

But they never did.  That's who the Pats are right now.  More reputation than substance. And BB may be going the way of Shula, who looked much less formidable as he got older.  The game had passed him by. Belichick's last coaching job against the Bills was a head-scratcher.

 

The only caveat on this is that the Patriots don't have the HOF QB like Miami did.  So, they might not fare quite as well.

 

This is our division now.

 

This is what we want to happen, not sure we are there yet.  Would you still agree with your post with a L Saturday?

[TH3]

27 minutes ago, Success said:

 

Pretty simple:  they're the Dolphins in the '90's.

 

At that time, the Phins had gotten off a 20 year stretch of basically owning the division (a few more losing seasons mixed in there, but they were the nemesis for all AFCE teams, like the Pats were for years).

 

Buffalo got their HOF QB and coach, and assumed control.  Miami would always be in the mix, but would generally end up 9-7 or 10-6, and falter in the playoffs.  The glory days were long over. Their fans still thought that the Bills were kind of a temporary condition, and that they would assume their "rightful place" before too long.

 

But they never did.  That's who the Pats are right now.  More reputation than substance. And BB may be going the way of Shula, who looked much less formidable as he got older.  The game had passed him by. Belichick's last coaching job against the Bills was a head-scratcher.

 

The only caveat on this is that the Patriots don't have the HOF QB like Miami did.  So, they might not fare quite as well.

 

This is our division now.

 

I see them as Bills of late 90’s….still can land a punch….but not consistently

[Augie]

6 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

They are inferior team with a QB that cannot shoulder the load

 

One-dimensional teams get destroyed

 

Which is why we need to be able to run the ball in the playoffs! The last few games have been encouraging. 

[Mr. WEO]

4 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

They are inferior team with a QB that cannot shoulder the load

 

One-dimensional teams get destroyed

 

They are #15 in passing yards, #8 in rushing, #6 in points scored and #2 in points allowed.   With a rookie QB who had 17 college starts, they went from 7 to 10 wins and made the playoffs.

 

They went completely one dimensional while beating the Bills at home.  

[billsfan89]

The Patriots are a team that will always be a “tough” out. Teams that have a good defense, solid special teams, can run the ball and don’t turn the ball over are always going to be competitive in the regular season and play close games in the playoffs. 
 

But unless Mac Jones develops into a more dynamic QB they are always going to be hampered in the playoffs.

[Westside]

33 minutes ago, MJS said:

The Dolphins had Marino...

Yeah, but the patriot’s* have Jones!

😁

[John from Riverside]

28 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

They are #15 in passing yards, #8 in rushing, #6 in points scored and #2 in points allowed.   With a rookie QB who had 17 college starts, they went from 7 to 10 wins and made the playoffs.

 

They went completely one dimensional while beating the Bills at home.  

And of course 40 mile per hour winds had nothing to do with that......

 

Truth be told they should not have even won that game....as long as a hurricane does not blow through on Sunday we got this

[Mr. WEO]

9 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

And of course 40 mile per hour winds had nothing to do with that......

 

Truth be told they should not have even won that game....as long as a hurricane does not blow through on Sunday we got this

BB changed his game plan because of the wind.  McD didn’t. This has been discussed over and over. Maybe you are saying the Bills are too one dimensional so the wind hurt them more?  Not sure what you’re trying to articulate here. 
 

Anyway. Bills are 11th best passing game to NE 15th. Your post about them being one dimensional didn’t hold up. Maybe they will be back to 7 wins next season, who knows.  Certainly you didn’t see them making the playoffs this year back in week 1.

[Beast]

How McDermott sees Belichick.

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

1 hour ago, Success said:

 

Pretty simple:  they're the Dolphins in the '90's.

 

At that time, the Phins had gotten off a 20 year stretch of basically owning the division (a few more losing seasons mixed in there, but they were the nemesis for all AFCE teams, like the Pats were for years).

 

Buffalo got their HOF QB and coach, and assumed control.  Miami would always be in the mix, but would generally end up 9-7 or 10-6, and falter in the playoffs.  The glory days were long over. Their fans still thought that the Bills were kind of a temporary condition, and that they would assume their "rightful place" before too long.

 

But they never did.  That's who the Pats are right now.  More reputation than substance. And BB may be going the way of Shula, who looked much less formidable as he got older.  The game had passed him by. Belichick's last coaching job against the Bills was a head-scratcher.

 

The only caveat on this is that the Patriots don't have the HOF QB like Miami did.  So, they might not fare quite as well.

 

This is our division now.

 

 

Pretty much but i dont think the game has passed Belly by, he's not one to stick to tradition but is always looking for the advantage.

 

But i think the division is ours as long as Allen and McDermott are here.

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

Which is why we need to be able to run the ball in the playoffs! The last few games have been encouraging. 

The last 3 games we've run the ball very well when we pull the guards. But when we return to zone blocking our runs get snuffed. As far as NE's long term prognosis,  Belichick and his ego will just be arrogant enough to think he can develop Jones. It's not going to happen and Belichick will retire within the next 5 years. 

[Mikie2times]

Cool. Look, the Bills have played 3 meaningful games with the Patriots the last two years. I do not consider the 2nd game last year as meaningful. By that time we basically had the division locked and New England was down to 2nd string players. 

 

We could be 3-0 in those games or 0-3. All of them were close and decided in final minutes. Even in the last game which for some reason people seem to feel we completely exercised the demon, we converted a 4th and 1 on an incredible play by Josh late in the 4th. Fail to convert on that play and New England has the ball and is driving for the W. This is after outgaining them by 140 yards and being +2 in the turnover column.

 

It would be completely out of the context of how these games have gone for anybody to assume it won't come down to a couple plays late in the game on Saturday. Further, for anybody to assume we have established some sort of supremacy, our biggest edge just got fired in Miami. For some reason Bill could never figure Flores while Buffalo handled them with ease.

 

It feels as if we have the edge, yes, but people consistently overestimate by how much.    

Edited January 11, 2022 by KzooMike

[May Day 10]

1 hour ago, billsfan89 said:

The Patriots are a team that will always be a “tough” out. Teams that have a good defense, solid special teams, can run the ball and don’t turn the ball over are always going to be competitive in the regular season and play close games in the playoffs. 
 

But unless Mac Jones develops into a more dynamic QB they are always going to be hampered in the playoffs.

This is all true.   They have a really good shot in any game... but I don't see them running a 4 game gauntlet vs the playoff field like this

[BobbyC81]

2 hours ago, Success said:

 

Pretty simple:  they're the Dolphins in the '90's.

 

At that time, the Phins had gotten off a 20 year stretch of basically owning the division (a few more losing seasons mixed in there, but they were the nemesis for all AFCE teams, like the Pats were for years).

 

Buffalo got their HOF QB and coach, and assumed control.  Miami would always be in the mix, but would generally end up 9-7 or 10-6, and falter in the playoffs.  The glory days were long over. Their fans still thought that the Bills were kind of a temporary condition, and that they would assume their "rightful place" before too long.

 

But they never did.  That's who the Pats are right now.  More reputation than substance. And BB may be going the way of Shula, who looked much less formidable as he got older.  The game had passed him by. Belichick's last coaching job against the Bills was a head-scratcher.

 

The only caveat on this is that the Patriots don't have the HOF QB like Miami did.  So, they might not fare quite as well.

 

This is our division now.

 

Dont sleep on the Jets.  They have some good young talent, have a bunch of early round picks and a lot of cap room coming up.