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Pats fans had 40 years of frustration before the Brady/Belichick/Kraft era. Last place finishes. Two Super Bowls where we got crushed... Then we lose our starting QB to injury and the backup is a second year rookie, drafted 199th in the 6th round) who had played in one NFL game (1 for 3 in passing)...
Even when they won their first Super Bowl in 2002 (can it really be 15 years?), no one thought that this would lead to 6 more Super Bowl trips with 4 more wins; 10 more AFC championship games with 6 wins. It really has been the perfect storm of QB + Coach + owner. All three will be in the hall of fame.
Pats fans had 40 years of frustration before the Brady/Belichick/Kraft era. Last place finishes. Two Super Bowls where we got crushed... Then we lose our starting QB to injury and the backup is a second year rookie, drafted 199th in the 6th round) who had played in one NFL game (1 for 3 in passing)...
Even when they won their first Super Bowl in 2002 (can it really be 15 years?), no one thought that this would lead to 6 more Super Bowl trips with 4 more wins; 10 more AFC championship games with 6 wins. It really has been the perfect storm of QB + Coach + owner. All three will be in the hall of fame.
I think people tend to forget this. The Patriots aren't historically/traditionally one of the NFL's power franchises. They've built themselves into that by becoming the poster children for success in the New Millenium NFL...
Fans have short memories. I'm a Redskins fan and have found that too many people forget Washington's place as one of the more esteemed franchises in the first 70 years of the NFL. It just goes to show how times change and perceptions change right along with them...
If Brady and Belichick both retired after this year and the Patriots subsequently become cellar dwellers for 20 years, the perception of that franchise will change again. People will remember Brady and Belichick as the most successful QB-coach duo ever, but it'll be like, "yeah, besides that Brady-Belichick stretch, that team has been losers for the vast majority of their existence." Just how it goes, I guess...
The Patriots aren't historically/traditionally one of the NFL's power franchises. They've built themselves into that by becoming the poster children for success in the New Millenium NFL...
Fans have short memories. I'm a Redskins fan and have found that too many people forget Washington's place as one of the more esteemed franchises in the first 70 years of the NFL.. goes to show how times change
Murk,
I think your 2 examples are perfect demonstrations of the importance of good ownership. New England got good ownership in Kraft (& their fortunes improved). And conversely, Washington lost good ownership (Jack Kent Cooke) and have struggled since.. My opinion, Kraft is the best owner in the NFL. He's hands-on, but not overbearing.. Good balance, and he's in touch with the surrounding, local community (activism, charity, etc).
The Giants either miss the playoffs altogether, or stumble in ass-backwards and win the Super Bowl.
Never saw such a Jeckyl-and-Hyde team as many of those Coughlin NY teams. Seasons where they literally looked like one of the best five teams in the league for about a month, and then literally one of the worst for a month's stretch-back and forth, no in-between. In the two Super Bowl seasons, they just so happened to be on the hot end of the stick at the right time. The 9-7 team that won it all in 2011 was fortunate the NFC East was so bad that year. The Giants in fact, got swept by a bad Redskins team, including a lethargic home loss on a dreary afternoon, 23-10, that dropped the Giants to 7-7, and seemingly out of the playoff hunt. If you had told anyone after that game, that the Giants would make the playoffs and make any noise, let alone win the Super Bowl, you would have been laughed out of the room.
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