That was then: Celebrating what was

JMDurron

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Does the Athletic provide any sort of free taste?
Download their mobile app, you get 2-3 free articles and can skip through all of the account creation steps upon installation. Worked for me earlier today on my iPhone.
 

dynomite

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One of my favorite traditions of the playoffs — long form pieces about how great the Patriots are.

Great piece indeed. I’m sort of glad a broken down Law didn’t come back halfway through the 2008 Matt Cassel season. Would have been sort of sad.

Too soon.
Ugh.

Also, apparently Edelman busts Welker’s balls about it:

Katz: So I heard this story, you can confirm this or deny it, but I heard a story that, I don’t remember if it was at the Kentucky Derby or maybe a private plane, something, somewhere where all of the guys were hanging out, and Wes Welker was giving you shit and he was saying “I was you before you were you,” busting your balls, and you said “Yeah but the only difference is that I made the catch in the Super Bowl and you didn’t.” True or false?

Edelman: (Laughs) That is one of those things, everyone has banter...
https://www.patspulpit.com/2017/11/16/16657014/julian-edelman-roasted-wes-welker-about-super-bowl-drop
 

DegenerateSoxFan

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I feel like I'm watching artistry with Brady & Gronk, and the most beautiful thing is that at this point, they could care less about stats. They're just as happy jamming the ball down their opponents' throats with the running game if that's what's getting it done. I love this team.
 

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Moving the Line
Did I see a TV graphic to the effect that no QB had ever won 3 OT playoff games?
I don't even know how many have even appeared in two though.
No other team, in history, even has 3 victories. The others with 2:

Packers 2-5. Oilers/Titans: 2-3, Steelers, 2-3, Giants, 2-2, Broncos, 2-1, Texans/Chiefs 2-2, Dolphins 2-1, Chargers, 2-1, Cardinals 2-0.
 

wiffleballhero

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In the simulacrum
Where did this move Edelman on that list?

Also, it is really, really hard to process how many of these games that seem like they are 'generational' type games the Pats have been in. Should be fun in a couple weeks.
 

kenneycb

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Dec 2, 2006
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Tuukka's refugee camp
When he and Jules embraced and were whispering sweet nothings...well...it moved.

Edit: I think Gronk said something like "I'm over 50%, I'm 5 for 9." Which is absurd.
 

LogansDad

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Man, the first thing Tom does when he gets in the locker room is track down Cordarrelle Patterson and apologize for leading him too far on a slant, and checking to make sure he's okay.

I'm at the point that I legitimately feel bad for the people who hate this dude, because I feel like they need to find something good in their lives to make it better.

In an act of full disclosure, last week was the first game I actually sat down and watched all season. I thought I was done with football, completely. I'm completely back in on Brady, though. It's selfish, but I feel like I missed out on something this year by not watching him play. He's too good of a player and too good of a person for me to walk away from. I won't make the same mistake again.
 

BaseballJones

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The Patriots had the 3rd best record in the AFC this year. The two teams with better records? The Chiefs and Chargers, both at 12-4. The Pats played them both in the playoffs. The results....

vs. LA
- Total Yards: NE 498, LA 335
- First Downs: NE 30, LA 22
- TOP: NE 38:20, LA 21:40
- Score: NE 41, LA 28

vs. KC
- Total Yards: NE 524, KC 290
- First Downs: NE 36, KC 18
- TOP: NE 43:59, KC 20:53
- Score: NE 37, KC 31

Total
- Total Yards: NE 1,022, LA+KC 625 (+397 for NE)
- First Downs: NE 66, LA+KC 40 (+26 for NE)
- TOP: NE 82:19, LA+KC 42:33 (+39:46 for NE)
- Score: NE 78, LA+KC 59 (+19 for NE)

The Patriots took the two teams with the best records in the AFC out to the woodshed the past two weeks. Once in Foxboro, the other in Kansas City. Meanwhile, some individual stats...

Keenan Allen: 2 rec, 75 yds
Tyreek Hill: 1 rec, 43 yds
Travis Kelce: 3 rec, 23 yds
KC+LA rushing: 10-19,
Sony Michel: 53-242, 5 td
Julian Edelman: 16 rec, 247 yds
Tom Brady: 64-90 (.711), 691 yds
 

DJnVa

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Josh Gordon congratulated the team on Instagram and Tom Brady responded.

Man, I wish that had worked out, they really seem to like him.
 

bluefenderstrat

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4th Super Bowl since this (honestly I feel a bit of sympathy for Dilfer--he said later he hated having to do the hot take thing and react in the moment, but it is a famously wrong call):

 

wiffleballhero

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In the simulacrum
Given the lack of a series in football -- where you can't overcome a David Tyree catch as a game 1 accident in a seven game series -- it is just incredible, I mean incredible that the Pats are headed to a ninth Super Bowl in 18 seasons, and just played in their 13th AFCCG in 18.

Because of the way football works (injuries, rapid age-out) and the way the league is structured (draft, unbalanced schedules, salary constraints), it would be hard to overstate how impressive this is.

At a minimum, it seems to me that this is vastly, vastly harder to do than what, say the dynastic era Yankees, Montreal Canadians or Russell era Celtics did, all of whom worked in leagues where they could leverage their earlier success (as opposed to modern sports where there is strong structural barrier to doing so, especially in the NFL).

I know this is obvious, but I sort of can't get over this this morning. I remember thinking at the end of the Eagles SB last year that the Pats would have a really hard time coming back from that loss (everyone has a hard time coming back from a loss, hell look at the state of the Falcons or Panthers) and that it would be especially tricky because of the Malcolm Butler thing.....

And yet here we are.

And then also number of other 'awesome' teams that have come and gone (and even come back again) during this stretch is just wild. It is fitting that the Pats are now playing the Rams, so far removed from that earlier Rams team that they are 2000 miles away. Kurt Warner is like another lifetime.
 

Laser Show

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2001 - Super Bowl win
2002 - missed playoffs
2003 - Super Bowl win
2004 - Super Bowl win
2005 - loss to DEN
2006 - one stop away from Super Bowl win (would've crushed Bears)
2007 - one stop away from Super Bowl win
2008 - missed playoffs
2009 - loss to BAL
2010 - loss to NYJ
2011 - one play from Super Bowl win
2012 - loss to BAL
2013 - loss to Denver
2014 - Super Bowl win
2015 - one play from OT and maybe another Super Bowl win
2016 - Super Bowl win
2017 - one stop/one no fumble from Super Bowl win
2018 -?

That's 11 of the past 18 seasons where they've won the Super Bowl or came within one drive (or even one play) of winning it. Yes I'm being generous with 2006 and 2015 but still holy shit that's absurd.
 

Mystic Merlin

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2001 - Super Bowl win
2002 - missed playoffs
2003 - Super Bowl win
2004 - Super Bowl win
2005 - loss to DEN
2006 - one stop away from Super Bowl win (would've crushed Bears)
2007 - one stop away from Super Bowl win
2008 - missed playoffs
2009 - loss to BAL
2010 - loss to NYJ
2011 - one play from Super Bowl win
2012 - loss to BAL
2013 - loss to Denver
2014 - Super Bowl win
2015 - one play from OT and maybe another Super Bowl win
2016 - Super Bowl win
2017 - one stop/one no fumble from Super Bowl win
2018 -?

That's 11 of the past 18 seasons where they've won the Super Bowl or came within one drive (or even one play) of winning it. Yes I'm being generous with 2006 and 2015 but still holy shit that's absurd.
Montana was undefeated in the Super Bowl tho

;)
 

johnmd20

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2001 - Super Bowl win
2002 - missed playoffs
2003 - Super Bowl win
2004 - Super Bowl win
2005 - loss to DEN
2006 - one stop away from Super Bowl win (would've crushed Bears)
2007 - one stop away from Super Bowl win
2008 - missed playoffs
2009 - loss to BAL
2010 - loss to NYJ
2011 - one play from Super Bowl win
2012 - loss to BAL
2013 - loss to Denver
2014 - Super Bowl win
2015 - one play from OT and maybe another Super Bowl win
2016 - Super Bowl win
2017 - one stop/one no fumble from Super Bowl win
2018 -?

That's 11 of the past 18 seasons where they've won the Super Bowl or came within one drive (or even one play) of winning it. Yes I'm being generous with 2006 and 2015 but still holy shit that's absurd.
I don't think 2006 is generous. That was most certainly the biggest choke in the playoffs in the Brady/Belichick era. That game was over! 2015 is right on the line, because not only did the Pats need the 2 point conversion, but they still had OT to play. So that game was more than just one drive or one stop.

Still, incredible.
 

Saints Rest

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A quick glance at the history of Super Bowl results, this is the first time since the Bills run of 4 SuperBowls, where the loser of a Super Bowl made it back to the Super Bowl in the next year.
And in 52 SuperBowls, it's only happened 7 times:
  • Buffalo (Super Bowl 26, 27, 28)
  • Denver (22)
  • Minnesota (9)
  • Miam (7)
  • Dallas (6)
Furthermore, I seem to recall that in recent vintage (say the last 20 years), many Super Bowl losing teams have failed to even make the playoffs in the next year, so in that context the Pats' ability to remain a playoff team is even more unusual.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Michael David Smith: Tom Brady has had 17 healthy seasons as a starter. He's been to the Super Bowl nine times. The last six QBs inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Warner, Favre, Stabler, Moon, Marino, Young) were starters for a combined 76 seasons and went to a total of eight Super Bowls.
10:30 PM · Jan 20, 2019 · TweetDeck
 

Al Zarilla

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Nice shoutout to Dante Scarnecchia on Good Morning Football (NFLN) this morning. It may be repeated this hour. It lists as a 2 hour show, but I think it’s back to back same 1 hour show, this hour being the repeat. The whole Brady hasn’t been sacked for, what, 94 pass attempts, rushing yards have been way over 100 yards per game in the last 4 games. Scar!
 

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Moving the Line
Only once in this run has Brady not gotten sacked during an entire playoffs: 2003, against the Titans, Colts, and Panthers, over 126 pass attempts. Those teams had an adjusted sack rate (ASR) of, respectively: 7.2%, 7.0%, 7.5% (T-12, 14, T-6).

I think given the quality of opposing DL, not to mention Brady's age in the abstract, plus the top tier star power this season? It's more impressive now, especially if it holds against LA. You had Bosa/Ingram, Jones/Houston, and now Donald/Suh/Brockers/Fowler. By ASR: 6.7% (T-21), 8.0% (T-7), 6.8% (T-19).
 

Saints Rest

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Only once in this run has Brady not gotten sacked during an entire playoffs: 2003, against the Titans, Colts, and Panthers, over 126 pass attempts. Those teams had an adjusted sack rate (ASR) of, respectively: 7.2%, 7.0%, 7.5% (T-12, 14, T-6).

I think given the quality of opposing DL, not to mention Brady's age in the abstract, plus the top tier star power this season? It's more impressive now, especially if it holds against LA. You had Bosa/Ingram, Jones/Houston, and now Donald/Suh/Brockers/Fowler. By ASR: 6.7% (T-21), 8.0% (T-7), 6.8% (T-19).
IIRC, all the talk leading up to that Super Bowl, was how the awesome Panther front four would overwhelm the Pats' OLine of nobodies, which included Russ Hochstein who had had to sub in, late in the playoffs(?) for Stephen Neal.
But as noted above, still couldn't get to Brady.
 

8slim

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Edelman with a real chance to move up significantly in all time post-season receiving yards. Also notable, Gonk's catch on Sunday against the Chargers was the 69th of his post-season career.

I was catching up on this beautiful thread and this post led me down a bit of a rabbit hole, looking up Edelman's career stats and how that compares to the all-time Pats receiving leaders.

It is really remarkable (maybe just to me!) that after this long run of success, and how offensive production today is barely comparable to years ago, that the franchise career rushing leader is still Sam Cunningham and career receiving leader is still Stanley Morgan.

And I can't see how anyone is going to pass either of them anytime soon. Sam Bam has 5,453 career rushing yards. Sony Michele would have to stay verrrry healthy to have the slightest shot at surpassing that. Meanwhile Morgan's 10,352 career receiving yards seems safe despite the explosion of passing offense. Gronk has 7,861 but he won't be active long enough to come close. Edelman has barely half Morgan's total.
 

DegenerateSoxFan

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The amount of Brady f-bombs is simply priceless. He may have made a mistake or two, but came through when it mattered, just as we've become accustomed to. I'd rate this as one of the franchise's more impressive playoff wins of his run, and he and his teammates know it. I love these guys. They're dialed in and look ready to go through a wall for each other.
 

Rough Carrigan

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