New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

Shedite27

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

What's incredible is that Brady and Belichick have literally won a Super Bowl with 2 entirely different rosters. Brady is literally the only active player that was on the 2001 and 2003 team. It's a phenomenal achievement.

Trivia time, name the only other player who was on this year's team who played in the last Patriots SB win?

BizzyC

Shedite27 wrote: »

Trivia time, name the only other player who was on this year's team who played in the last Patriots SB win?

Easy....Wilfork

adrian522

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

I don't know how it's even possible for someone to overlook the great John Taylor. He was another elite All-Pro & Pro-Bowler WR that Montana was blessed to have. In fact him and Rice were nicknamed Batman and Robin, they were such a lethal combo on the field.

.

Great player alright, exceptional really. To put up those numbers in that era as a WR2 was really very impressive.

But again Montana had 2 superbowls before either he or Rice were drafted. I don't think it's fair to say that Montana was only great because he had a great supporting cast. (I accept that is not what you are saying by the way).

Son Of A Vidic

adrian522 wrote: »

Great player alright, exceptional really. To put up those numbers in that era as a WR2 was really very impressive.

But again Montana had 2 superbowls before either he or Rice were drafted. I don't think it's fair to say that Montana was only great because he had a great supporting cast. (I accept that is not what you are saying by the way).

You're right, I wasn't saying that. Another poster mentioned supporting cast and I found it amazing how someone can bring up Rice and Craig and never mention Taylor. Because if they lived through the era, then they couldn't forget the brilliance of Taylor. Another thing some overlook is the quality of the 49er's defense that played with Montana, it was a top defense. He won Superbowls with a 1st, 2nd & 3rd and an 8th ranked defenses. But the biggest boo boo of all for me is Bill Walsh, maybe it's a younger fan thing though. They'll mention the Brady-Belichick combination, yet seem to be completely unaware of the Montana-Walsh combo. Both QBs & HCs are forever intertwined with each other imo. You just can't bring up one combo and ignore the other. Times might change, but I can't any see any QB entering into the Montana-Brady conversation. But if it does happen, you can be sure they'll have an excellent Head Coach by their side.

Hazys

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

Also, here's Butler being sent in. They knew exactly what play was coming up.

https://vine.co/v/OFnd5m1bwje

Yeah they did and they practiced that exact play during the week

“I was at practice, and the scout team ran the same exact play,” Butler told Dan Patrick on Wednesday. “And I got beat on it at practice because I gave ground. . . . Bill Belichick, he came and said to me, ‘Malcolm, you’ve gotta be on that.’”

Vanolder

Julian is a legend..... His clips from this week's mic'd up are unreal. When he gets clobbered by three defenders and starts laughing while underneath all three on the ground and says 'I love being hit' ... He also has a lot of love for his team mates

Son Of A Vidic

Hazys wrote: »

Yeah they did and they practiced that exact play during the week

Reminds me of that famous quote by Benjamin Franklin.....“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

One thing Bill will never do, is fail to prepare.



Probably one of my favorite pictures from Sunday.....

chopperbyrne

I know statistically he might not match up to Brady or Montana, but Troy Aikman is probably my favourite QB ever.

Three Superbowl wins too, so he knew how to get results.

eagle eye

Just catching up on this thread and I see that Don Shula got thrown under the bus. Marino didn't have a great head coach like Brady and Montana, like lmfao.

poldebruin

Rich Eisen tweeted this overnight - thought you guys might like it - Mike Silver report from the first SB v Rams. Last two paragraphs worth pointing out. Obviously not anticipating what was to come.

"Brady grinned sheepishly. He had been offered the coveted "I'm
going to Disney World" TV spot and a trip to Orlando.
Nonetheless, as per team rules, he had to get his coach's
permission to miss the team flight home. Belichick gave him a
perplexed look, and there was a clumsy stretch of dead air. "Of
course you can go," Belichick said. "How many times do you win
the Super Bowl?"

The answer, for as long as Brady plays and as long as Belichick
coaches, will always be this: at least one more than anyone ever
imagined."

BizzyC

So, in the aftermath of the bowl.... how do people think the squad will shape up for next season?

Defensive Free Agents:
Revis
McCourty
Ayers
Silliga
Casillas
Alan Branch

Offensive Free Agents:
Vereen
Ridley
Connolly
Gostkowski

We also have Wilfork on for $8m this year, could that be too high to hold him?

Personally, I think Ridley is a definite gone.
I wouldn't be surprised to see quite a few of the others signing, Branch will be very important should BB decide to ship Wilfork, but I cant see us holding onto both Revis and McCourty.
As great as it would be to keep both, we wont have $20m for Revis' option, and I don't see him giving us a discount.

Another question, is Arrington's time finally up?
To get benched in the SB in favour of a rookie is pretty damning for a player who's been a weak link in the defensive backfield this year.

JCTO

One thing that bugs me about these QB debates is this line:

"QB1 is nothing or only a product of his Coach or lucky to have one of the best coaches of all time. etc etc etc"

All of the Elite QBs or Top QBs or Solid QBs are in some way a product of Solid Coaching. You look at the top QBs they have had good to solid coaches all through their lives add that to drive and passion to learn these guys are always going to succeed.

Bill Walsh + Joe Montana
Don Shula + Dan Marino
Bill Belichick + Tom Brady.
Chuck Noll + Terry Bradshaw
Bill Walsh through George Seifert + Steve Young
Mike Shannahan + John Elway
Tony Dungy + Peyton Manning

I could go on with HC and QBs. The ones above are the obvious ones.

To say any QB is "Lucky" with that many bowls and wins in general under their belt just because they have a solid coach is nonsense.

JCTO

BizzyC wrote: »

So, in the aftermath of the bowl.... how do people think the squad will shape up for next season?

Defensive Free Agents:
Revis
McCourty
Ayers
Silliga
Casillas
Alan Branch

Offensive Free Agents:
Vereen
Ridley
Connolly
Gostkowski

We also have Wilfork on for $8m this year, could that be too high to hold him?

Personally, I think Ridley is a definite gone.
I wouldn't be surprised to see quite a few of the others signing, Branch will be very important should BB decide to ship Wilfork, but I cant see us holding onto both Revis and McCourty.
As great as it would be to keep both, we wont have $20m for Revis' option, and I don't see him giving us a discount.

Another question, is Arrington's time finally up?
To get benched in the SB in favour of a rookie is pretty damning for a player who's been a weak link in the defensive backfield this year.

I can see us keeping both McCourty and Revis and one or both will probably do a deal with us to keep within the cap. Now Revis has tasted success he will want to stay and McCourty for me will stick around.

Arrington will be shipped out in my eyes he was garbage for most of the season. The odd time he would do something of relevance or great but too inconsistent. Ridley, Ayers and Silliga will most likely go also. I would like to see Ayers kept but I think with Mayo coming back it could see Ayers out. Hard to know with Bill.

Wilfork is a tough one but I wont be surprised to see him go especially if he wants to get paid as we will most likely look to renegotiate again this year.

eagle eye

Everything in that D centres around Wilfork at nose tackle imo. We need him to return and we need to find his replacement very soon too.

McCourty and Revis are both very important to keep too. If we can keep those three we have a serious chance to repeat.

As we have seen, Belichick can find the players to fit schemes for everything else but those few players on D along with Brady and Gronk on the offense are crucial imo.

I'd like to see improvement to the OL and I really do hope we hold onto Connolly.

Vanolder

Champions!!!!

yeahhhhh!

Vanolder

NFL Network showing the game again at 5pm Irish time for anyone like me that hasn't watched it back.... it can be accessed through the usual sites.

Hazys

Just because

Vanolder

Hazys wrote: »

Just because

I've watched this at least a 100 times now. Unreal.

adrian522

The more I watch this the more convinced I am that even if Lockette some how comes up with the catch he's still not getting in the EZ.

BKWDR

And the sad reality sinks in that it's 7 months until the regular season starts back up again....

WHY OH WHY DID I TAKE WEEKLY FOOTBALL FOR GRANTED!!!

Son Of A Vidic

JCTO wrote: »

I can see us keeping both McCourty and Revis and one or both will probably do a deal with us to keep within the cap. Now Revis has tasted success he will want to stay and McCourty for me will stick around.

Arrington will be shipped out in my eyes he was garbage for most of the season. The odd time he would do something of relevance or great but too inconsistent. Ridley, Ayers and Silliga will most likely go also. I would like to see Ayers kept but I think with Mayo coming back it could see Ayers out. Hard to know with Bill.

Wilfork is a tough one but I wont be surprised to see him go especially if he wants to get paid as we will most likely look to renegotiate again this year.

I really hope Revis stays but it all boils down whether he wants more rings or more money.

McCourty will probably be franchised tagged if they don't reach a deal, so at least we have that to fall back on. Although that won't be cheap.

Arrignton was dire in the Superbowl, he played well against the likes of Ty Hilton but it's the inconsistency that keeps letting us down. I think he'll either restructure or get the boot.

Logan Ryan was a complete disaster this year. His low cost rookie contract will probably save him. But we need serious improvement for next year, somehow my gut tells me not to hold my breath on that one.

I think Ridley is gone.

But I'm really worried about Vereen, we have to keep him. My concern is the bigger money he'll likely get offered elsewhere.

Ayers was excellent when Jones was out injured and in fact there were a few games where he should have got more snaps because Jones wasn't exactly lighting up the field. So he's another player I hope we keep him.

I expect Mayo to restructure. We've lost him in back to back seasons now and his long term health & injuries have to be a concern for the front office.

Unless he restructures again, I think Wilfork could be the surprise cut from this roster. I agree with eagle on his importance, but he's due a roster bonus of $4 million in March and I think that might be problematic.

I also think the O line has to be a priority this draft & FA period. Brady was lightning fast getting rid of the ball against a very fast defense. And he had to be, because our O line wouldn't have bought him too much time otherwise.

On the O line, I hope Connolly is sorted out.

I'll also take my hat of to Amendola, whenever he was called upon to deliver he didn't let us down. He came up with some big plays in the playoffs and I hope we hang onto him. He will have to restructure though and I'm sure he realises this if he wants to stay.

Keeping Gost is also a no-brainer for me. Afaic, he's the best kicker in the NFL.

Son Of A Vidic

adrian522 wrote: »

The more I watch this the more convinced I am that even if Lockette some how comes up with the catch he's still not getting in the EZ.

It certainly looks that way alright. Ball in hand or no ball, he would have just bounced off Butler.

matthew8

Imagine being the Seattle WR there. He had absolutely no idea there was a defender there. He went from thinking he had a guaranteed super bowl winning catch to being flat on the floor in a split second.

AbusesToilets

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

I'll also take my hat of to Amendola, whenever he was called upon to deliver he didn't let us down. He came up with some big plays in the playoffs and I hope we hang onto him. He will have to restructure though and I'm sure he realises this if he wants to stay.NFL.

He played out of his pants in the play offs. I gave him plenty of **** during the season bur he stepped it up big time. Some of the plays he made against the Ravens were top drawer, that 3rd down conversion where he beat the defenders on the sideline, lunging to make the 1st springs to mind.

DBIreland

Everytime I see that Butler INT again I am amazed he got there and that he held onto it. I keep expecting to see it pop out.

j8wk2feszrnpao

I can't see us paying the $20m for Revis. Hope a deal can be made. His shutdown play helped others.

One of those is who benefited from Revis was McCourty. It feels like there aren't many good safeties out there. But I'm not sure he's worth franchising or paying too highly.

Arrignton's cap hit is $4.5m; serious restructure or cut. The Pats do not get value for money from him. That's money that could go towards Revis, so it shouldn't be wasted.

Siliga, Branch and Ayers will hopefully resign.

Vince is a hit of $9m. I don't see value in that for 2015. But I don't want to see him go.

Mayo has to restructure, a cap hit of $10m isn't going to happen. Could be part of an excellent LB corp with Hightower and Collins.

Agree with Corvus on Ryan and Ridley.

Develin should be back.

Vereen will get bigger offers somewhere else. Would love to keep him, this was his most productive year, and he should get better. But if it costs too much, Bill will just slot someone else there.

Possibly the biggest decision is Nate Soldier. That mideseaosn run, and our best post-season football was played when we got the ball out of Tom's hands quickly; rather than any great OL play. I don't see Soldier staying on $7.5m, but getting a replacement is difficult.

I can see Connolly coming back.

Amendola will probably be back given the dead money on him anyway. The rest of his money needs to be restructured.

Tyms will be back.

And I agree with Corvus, Gostkowski is a no brainer.

Son Of A Vidic

Vereen on Tom Brady's temperament. I'll never forget, I'm in the huddle and Tom comes in to the huddle and he goes, 'OK, fellas, we need a championship drive.' I remember it so clearly, so vividly, and we went ahead and put that drive together. In that moment, he was really relaxed, very calm, very collected, focused. There was an intense amount of focus in his eyes."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots

I love the comment about the intense amount of focus in his eyes. I think as fans, down through the years we've only got fleeting glimpses of it and it usually ends up being a bad day for our opponents. It must be amazing for the players on the field, to have a leader with such an unshakable self-belief and a will to win leading them.

Son Of A Vidic

munstermagic11 wrote: »

Possibly the biggest decision is Nate Soldier. That mideseaosn run, and our best post-season football was played when we got the ball out of Tom's hands quickly; rather than any great OL play. I don't see Soldier staying on $7.5m, but getting a replacement is difficult.

I completely forgot about Solder, possible because he disappeared while on the field quite a few times this year . His inconsistent play is a big concern and it is very worrying to see a 1st rounder, who should be setting the standard regressing in 2014. Like yourself, I'm not willing to credit the O line with great play in the postseason, because Brady's release time was unbelievably fast. But I think we exercised the 5th year option on Solder last year, so he's around for 2015 unless we trade him.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

.....unless we trade him.

Logan Mankins. I was gutted to see him go (and I thought of him last Sunday) but his play in the previous season didn't not match his cap hit.
He'd gotten well paid on his contract, but both parties couldn't come to an agreeing on restructure, so Bill did what he's done in the past.
Soldier has age on his side, but I'd imagine Bill has a figure in his head, and if they don't agree ..........

JaMarcusHustle

Full Super Bowl in HD, for those who might want to watch it again.

And again...and again and again and again....

http://vimeo.com/118986356

Password = umadbro