ChronicAndKnuckles

This reminds me of something stupid someone like Skip Bayless would say on his show. Just hot-take BS w/ no facts or statistics to back it up. Yes, Tom Brady is the greatest Patriot and one of best players of any position in NFL history, but he was fairly mediocre early in his career and is no way solely responsible for the first couple titles. In 2001, the year they beat the Rams, Brady threw for 2800 yards & some change while posting 12 TDs to 8 picks. This was good enough for 28th in the league in total TDs and yards. Helping to shoulder the load was former Bill Antowain Smith an 1100+ yard, 8 TD rusher, the most clutch kicker of all time, top O-Line & defense featuring several Hall of famers. Oh yeah, and Bill Belichick was the coach. That's quite a supporting cast. Actually, without their kicker (and the Tuck Rule) I don't think they even MAKE it to the Superbowl let alone win it. Look at Superbowl 25 for example, our beloved Bills vs the Giants. If you swapped Norwood and put Adam Vinatieri on that Bills squad, they most likely nail that 47 yarder, history is changed forever, and Buffalo is no longer the butt of every lame Superbowl joke. The bottom line is Tom Brady HIMSELF would give credit to his teammates that deserve it. I'm not sure if you're just really young or really ignorant, but everybody on this forum who was around for the early 2000s will tell you that those Patriot teams were well balanced and Brady wasn't the god that he is now. If u have something to say at least support it with facts because your opinion doesn't quite cut it. 😣

Tom Brady isn't single-handedly responsible for all of their titles. Actually, they weren't really a perennial top offense until the late 2000s. The first couple Superbowl wins were primarily because of a great defense/special teams with Brady as a game-manager. Football is a TEAM game. If it was all on the QB then we would see guys like Dan Marino with 5 rings. Belichick is a great coach. How can you deny this? Year after year he's adapted and evolved his offensive/defensive philosophy to fit the strengths of his team. Over 13 offensive & def coordinators under him went on to become head coaches. And for you to question my fandom = BS. I don't "believe" in the Patriots. I'm just being cautious because I've learned the hard way from rocking Rose colored glasses and drinking the red & blue Kool aid.

Oh FFS 😣 that is one of THE most ridiculous and asinine statements I've ever heard. Time & time again people who refuse to learn from the past become doomed to repeat it (cliché, yet true.) When a team kicks your *** for the last 20 years it's kind of hard to not have a bit of PTSD. Unlike you, I'm sure McDermott doesn't take them lightly. The moment u underestimate an opponent, you're beat. And if not for beautifully timed FF by Justin Zimmer in the red zone, things might've went a different way in the 1st matchup. It's going to be tough sweeping the Pats 2 years in a row. Since joining the Patriots, Belichick has never had back-to-back losing seasons. Now if u wanna attribute that to Brady then we can argue about the chicken vs. the Egg too. Anyway, thanks for the downvote! I would've preferred a well thought-out response longer than a sentence, but maybe that's too much to ask these days. 🙃 Cheers!

They've been above .500 for the past 2 decades minus last season. That's an anomaly as far as I'm concerned. What's scarier is they did it w/ the bloated remains of whatever Cam Newton used to be. I can only wonder what other fans think when they come to this board. It must be like some of the Brown's fans I've come in contact w/ lately. Yes, you had a great season and overcame the Steelers monkey (sound familiar,) but can you do it twice in a row? Three times? 🤔 Yes, the Bills have Josh Allen, but football is still a team sport despite everything the NFL is trying to do to change that. And when you lack a QB, it's a huge plus to have a HOF coach w/ a specialty in defense and building stout lines on both sides of the ball. You can laugh all u want, but in my book the Pats are still the team to beat until they aren't. I've seen the Bills implode too many times and it's going to take more than 2 playoff wins in 25 years to change that fear.

It would be ignorant to ever dismiss New England while that POS is still in charge (Kraft or Bellichick, take your pick.) I could see them eaking out 10 wins in a 17 game season. In 2019, the Pats defense was #1 in points allowed leading the #2 defense (Buffalo) by a field goal. I feel like the Patriots (along w/ the Bills defense) will rebound back to old form. They dealt with a fair amount of injuries and Gilmore had an off-year. BB is a defensive coach at heart and I don't see him having a crappy unit 2 years in a row. He will single out the problem and correct it. With Mac Jones, I feel the Pats can run a mistake-free, ball-control offense that emphasizes high-percentage passes, screens, a heavy dose of running, and a lot of trickery. The main upgrade is Cam is no longer the guy. All-in-all, I feel like they won't challenge Buffalo for the AFC East. At best, they Duke it out w/ the Fins for a precious wild card slot and beat up each other in the regular season. Miami is the team to fear though.

Exactly. Bills fans ARE cocky and rightfully so, but those that don't look to the past are doomed to repeat it. Personally, I'm taking nothing for granted. Anyways, the Hail Murray was a horrible loss that left me speechless and temporarily depressed, but like a few pointed out, it might have sparked the run.

The refs are corrupt. Everyone knows that.

I've stated this also. Big turnarounds happen all the time with new QB and/or coaching staff. That's what makes the NFL so great. The parity of the league. How many times have we seen teams completely turn it around year after year? Maybe it's because of a bit of PTSD, but as long as BB is in New England I will never count them out. Mac Jones is a legit prospect as well as Zach Wilson and I feel like them odds of BOTH of them busting are slim. I can remember the Dolphins going 1-15 in 2007 and then the following year they add a still accurate Chad Pennington w/ a fried arm then go 11-5 winning the division w/ pretty much the same roster as before. There are endless examples after doing a quick Google search. It's very important that the Bills continue to draft well and keep pace w/ the rest of the divison.

Barely beat the Ravens? We held them to 3 points. I firmly believe that even without the timely pick 6 in the red zone Josh could've put up another 10 points if they had to. When Lamar went down the Bills went into prevent and a ball-control offense. Don't get it twisted, the score wasn't that far apart, but by all means Buffalo dominated from start to finish.

Aaron Schobel deserves it more on a statistics level, but he was never really much of a leader. As much as I LOVE Fred Jackson, there are guys like Travis Henry who had much better careers. Like someone mentioned earlier let's see how the next couple years play out. I voted no, but I could've easily rationalized enough to vote Yes too.

You never know with linemen. Look at Wyatt Teller. Hopefully they found another diamond in the rough.

People sleeping on Levi. Besides a couple bad games where he got picked on, he's been very solid. That pick against Ben to seal the win was clutch. He isn't ideal, but it could be much much worse. He was a UDFA from what I believe also.

I'm glad you admit this. I remember being here during the 2018 draft and at least 40-50% of this board were fuming over the "wrong Josh," but those people would never admit it. This is why I take people's opinions on the draft w/ a grain of salt. Some of the same people here are so sure that Mac Jones and Zach Wilson are going to bust. The bottom line is nobody really knows who's going to pan out outside of the surefire #1 overall pick, not even the GM's. I was a Baker Mayfield guy.

Just got done watching Air Bud?

You said Bill Bellichick can't draft or develop Quarterbacks and I'm telling you that's BS. He drafted Brady, Garapollo, and a couple of decent back ups who went on to have 10+ year careers. And obviously they aren't all going to be great bc they're all late round picks, but for the round he drafted them in, most of them have churned out pretty decent careers. I don't care if u agree w/ me. A good back up QB for a late rounder is a good pick in my book. Bellichick had Brady so he had no need to draft anybody high up. If you can take a flyer on somebody like Matt Cassel (in the late 7th) and flip him into a late 1st to Kansas City then you're doing pretty well.

Garoppolo = still in the league 7 years and running, led his team to the Super Bowl and has a career 36-12 record Brissett = still in the league 5 years and running. One of the top back ups in the NFL and a good role player for the Colts Stidham sucked? He hasn't even played so how would you know? Hoyer= had an 11 year career in the NFL Matt Cassel = had a 13 year in the NFL Tom Brady = Best QB of all time Mac Jones = to be determined 6/10 of QBs that BB drafted outplayed their draft status considering the rounds they were taken in and the majority played well past the average 3 year shelf of an average NFL player. I'd actually say he's pretty good at developing QBs, but that's just my opinion and please don't tell me I haven't done the research.

Lol who feared a broken down Cam Newton? Certainly not me. Maybe 5 years ago? New England had NO NEED to develop a QB when they had Brady. What team has 2 legitimate starting QBs at once? And besides, Bill and the Pats have developed a good number of quality back-ups along w/ Jimmy G and Bledsoe who both led their teams to the Super Bowl.

Besides Lawrence I think MJ is the most pro-ready of that rookie class too. Bellichick can say whatever the heck he wants but Cam Newton will not be the starter come September.

This is a good write up and it's interesting to look at head to head combine numbers. I wasn't a huge fan of the pick, but now that it's done then I'm on board. Rosseau showed more productivity in fewer games. Hopefully w/ that huge 6'7 wingspan he'll be able to bat down a ton of passes.

Exactly. The SEC produces more NFL talent than every other division. We can make that same argument against Trevor Lawrence or Joe Burrow. Some Bills fans are getting a little too cocky. It's still Bellichick and it's still the Patriots. We won the division for the 1st time in 25 years. This year it's going to be a bit harder to take the crown. The Jets have no where to go but up and the same goes w/ the Patriots. I have no doubt in my mind that both teams will be much improved from last year and a big part of that will be of these QBs.

This is how I feel. Joe Burrow also had an explosive offense in college on a powerhouse SEC loaded w/ talent and he's coming along great. I think MJ will at the least be a very good game-manager w/ the ability to win you games on his own once in awhile. Tua, Hurts, McCarron < Mac Jones As a pure fan of football, I think this is very intriguing and it's good to know your enemy. I'm genuinely interested to see how this all plays out.

Jones was one of my under-the-radar QB prospects this year. With the Saban-Bellichick connection, I'm sure he has the full scoop of what he can do. Jones is prototypical size and can make every throw, therefore he will be able to open up the Patriots offense.

That's true. If he didn't opt out and maintained his production for another season then he probably would've went in the top 15.

I'm getting flashbacks of Aaron Maybin. The picks have a lot of similarities. I wish there was more tape of him. Regardless, 15+ sacks in the ACC is an impressive feat. I have faith that Beane knows what he's doing. This D Line is formidable.

I get a little bit of an Aaron Maybin vibe in regards to Rouseau so I'll admit that it scares me. Tall, lanky defensive end w/ one monster year, but has loads & loads of potential. Regardless, Beane and McD have no more excuses. With five first rounders AND a mid-second rounder, they better start producing! All in all, I have faith that we will have an efficient pass rush coming this season. I can't wait! 🙂