Success

I was kinda hoping Brady would do to the Pats what he did to us for 2 decades. Oh, well.

It's weird how hard I'm rooting for Brady. But man, if the Pats win and Mac plays well, the hype will be intolerable. Put that team at 1-3. Coast to division title.

No, Mac Jones isn't good. Richard Sherman is out of shape.

We're not complaining about a 19 point lead, are we? I'm kind of glad Bass is getting a workout. I don't want to get to the playoffs w/ him having just a few kicks under his belt. He's still young, and every one of these builds confidence.

I really felt like Knox could develop into this kind of player. He has all of the skills, and has the toughness you want in a TE.

These 2 men have practically ruined the NFL. It's really all about them at this point. It was really the combo, just like Walsh/Montana. Neither is as good on their own. People say Brady won a SB without Bill - but the Buc D won that game. Can't wait until they're both retired. Which reminds me - for the Pats/Bills matchup at home, I'd love it if we had some signs to counter the Patriots fans tired "we're still here!" thing. Maybe "you're not here anymore," or "where are you now?" Those seem lame. Open to suggestions.

Good show. I kind of miss guitars.

Hey, easy now - you're comparing him to a Bills Mafia hero. Mac actually reminds me a lot of Jimmy G. Can be really good if coached extremely well and surrounded by an elite team, but otherwise...

BB's schtick is so old at this point. We get it: you don't like the media. Tough. The NFL is insanely popular largely because of the media. You get paid a ton of money because of that popularity. All you're asked to do is answer a few questions once in awhile. I'd love to see the Pats become so irrelevant that even the media doesn't care about them anymore. The more time goes on, the more clear it becomes that Brady was a huge part of BB's success. It was always the combo, but having a GOAT QB taking pay cuts to clear cap space, and attracting FA's who were willing to take pay cuts to play w/ the GOAT, made BB the GM's job a heck of a lot easier. It also made it easier having a guy at QB who could consistently pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

I don't believe in jinxes...I don't believe in jinxes...I don't believe in jinxes....

There will be plenty of time left in the season to root against Brady. Pats fans were already saying a few weeks ago that they got the best QB in the draft, had an unstoppable defense & running game, and were ready to start making runs at Super Bowls again. It will be good to see them go 1-3 and realize that it could be a long road back.

Remember the days when we could go months without even seeing a 300 yard passing game? Good times.

We've had much worse schedules in the past. I think there was a 3 year stretch where the Patriots either played us after a bye or Thursday night game. I kind of love the schedule this year. Now that we have a good gauge on the quality of our opponents, the division and a high playoff seed seem very attainable as long as the team stays relatively healthy. Pitt was such an anomaly. I think they only chance they had to beat us was that game being scheduled week 1.

The game DOES pass some people by, as well. Shula was the BB of his day. But I never found him to be formidable in the '90's. If anything, you could make the case that he held Marino back, as well as poor team construction. It's early in his post-Brady coaching career, but I think Belichick's best/dominant years are behind him. I'm kind of shocked at some of the mistakes and undisciplined play I see when I watch the Pats now.

I can really relate to a lot of this. I'm a hardcore Bills fan, but also a general football fan. I'm not like one of those fans that just watches their team - I get into the whole season. The Pats sucked so much joy out of that, for close to 2 decades. Brady was obviously a huge part of that, and I root against him w/ gusto now - but nothing like I root against the Patriots. Watching that team flounder around yesterday was wonderful. They made all kinds of "bad team" mistakes, and just looked perfectly mediocre. And here's hoping it stays that way. I hope the Bucs beat them handily this weekend. I want Pats fans to start to see Brady in a different light (their "Tampa Bay is now New England South!" thing is really annoying...)

I haven't read through the thread, because I don't want to read any predictable "well, I'm happy to be wrong about Allen" replies. QB's have bad games, and bad stretches. The hot takes after the 1st TWO WEEKS were absurd.

I've watched a lot of the Pats without Brady. They make all of the same mistakes bad teams make (and that we made for 20 years). Fumbles to lose games, broken coverages, blocked punts, bad playcalling. BB was able to cover for a lot of things w/ Brady - especially on the GM side, where players took pay cuts to play w/ the GOAT, and Brady took pay cuts to clear cap space. Our long national nightmare is over.

Josh Allen is good.

Allen to the hot take crowd: Sssssshhhhhhh.....

I mean, that's stuff we all saw the 1st 2 weeks. I think the main debate on this thread is sample size.

I used to hate the Jets & Dolphins so much more than I do today. I kind of commiserate w/ their fans when I meet them at pubs and other places now - we've all gone through the same rough stretch. That should change in the years ahead. It will be good to get back to having real rivalries and rivalry games in the division.

"Game manager" isn't a bad thing to have. But it's also not an elite QB. With a game manager, you can win a SB - but you need a lot of other things to go right, and the team around the QB has to be a great one. An elite QB can take an above average team there.

I still don't want either of the 2 former situations - but those would be insane longshots as well. Even the idea that he could be a top 50 of all time is far-fetched. I do think there is something to the way they develop a QB though. It's smarter than most teams. It was on full display Sunday - Wilson felt more like he was being thrown into the fire, and the results showed. The Pats are so much more careful w/ Jones. They really have patience, and if nothing else, it will be better for his confidence. They seem to have that luxury more than most teams, though. They're more well-constructed and better coached overall. We'll see how things get once they have to play better teams, and get down by a few scores in some games and really have to pass the ball.

You're absolutely right. It's taking me some time to change my perspective on these things after the past 20 or so, but I'm getting there. With Allen & the team we have, it's a bit irrational to still view the Patriots the same way.

This is a good point. I think the chances that Mac becomes an elite QB are slim; he'll probably end up in the Jimmy G mode (who is a good QB, but would likely be better if he was on the Pats still). But by the time he gets to a point of being more than a game manager, BB might be retired or close to it. Without BB, it's a whole different equation.