SB loss transformative for Pats?

I thought, when Brady threw that pick to end the AFC title game last year, that was the tipping point...a la Rivera throwing the ball away and blowing the save in Game Seven against the D-Backs. The Patriots would still be very good and they'd still have the championship core, but they would spend year after year trying to recreate the special mix they had from 2001-04. I really thought I was on to something when the Pats got bad apple Moss.

Obviously, 18-0 shot a hole or three in that theory, but they still didn't win the championship this year (snicker). So I/we could still be on to something.

 

You are, he did not produce in the playoffs.

 

I'd like to see how Moss goes into training camp (assuming he resigns). He was virtually nonexistent in these playoffs. I realize that defenses focused on shutting him down, but Brady didn't even look his way save for a couple of times. Remember T.O. was a model citizen for most of this year, except when Cowpokes lost....A leopard doesn't change its spots.

 

If the NE defensive backs hang on to any one of the three INT's that Eli threw on the last drive, Randy Moss would have had the Super Bowl-winning touchdown.
Just sayin'.

 

True. But he was mute in the AFC playoffs.

 

The Pats have some offseason work to do. They need to get younger and faster at LB and in the secondary (the sight of Kevin Boss sprinting away from Rodney Harrison comes to mind). And re-signing Moss should be a priority. Welker's a great receiver, but he's no Moss. If they can keep Moss or replace him with another top receiver (maybe a trade for Chad Johnson?) the offense will continue to click.
But to think they're going to slip into mediocrity is a freaking joke. They WERE mediocre in 2006 and still were only a few plays away from the Super Bowl. Brady showed then that as long as he's there the Pats will always have a puncher's chance (a lot like Favre and the Packers), especially in a weak division where the second-best team will be making great strides to go 9-7 in 2008. The AFC has enough contenders (Pittsburgh, Indy, San Diego) that the Pats aren't a shoo-in to win the AFC. But they're definitely one of the three or four teams in the discussion heading into next season.

 

I've always been a Moss apologist, so here's hoping Moss moves on from New England and gets paid top dollar elsewhere. Him with Brady for another three, four years simply scares me.

 

Moss stays, they are 13-3 or 14-2 once again.

Moss leaves, 9-7 or 10-6.

He is the key to the offense. Wes Welker's slot ain't worth crap unless Randy has the entire secondary drifting back on their heels.

 

This might be a good time to point out that Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft pick.

 

While I think the Pats are going to slide next year, they could slide all the way to 9-7 and still win that division. It's a goddamn joke outside of the Pats and maybe the Bills.

 

True. QBs, and RBs are crapshots in the draft, but the other positions are pretty safe picks.

If I ran an NFL team, I would never draft a QB or a RB in the first three rounds. Build the trenches and move out through the defense.

 

Ok... but what can you tell me about Bill Bradley?