Championshiporbust Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 They could have, they had the wave of the 2001 Cinderella season.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancerman Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Weren’t that good. 01 was really a combination of a lot of things. Brady adding a spark to the team, the skeleton of the team Bill was building show flashes of what they could be, Bill having some masterful coaching jobs, and a lot of luck. That was just a preview of 03-04. Unfortunately in 02 the lightning didn’t strike twice 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamblinMan99 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Because they weren’t the 70s Steelers And never will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy86 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 1 hour ago, RamblinMan99 said: Because they weren’t the 70s Steelers And never will be. Eh, Brady Belichick era Patriots are above the Noll era Steelers to be honest. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apparition Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) As I recall there were 4 or 5 main reasons. 1. While Tom Brady led the league in TD passes and was generally solid, he also struggled a bit with having to take more of a commanding role in the offense (Charlie Weis later admitted that he probably opened up the playbook a little too much that year), and without the aid of a strong running game (Antowain Smith was significantly less effective than he had been in 2001) or good downfield targets. 2. Several of the key veteran free agents that were brought in during the '00 and '01 seasons and were crucial pieces of the defense really started showing their age that year. Otis Smith was shaky at RCB across from Ty Law, Anthony Pleasant kind of fell off a cliff, Bobby Hamilton had a down year, and some of the guys they brought in for '02 like Steve Martin, Rick Lyle and Victor Green were just trash. Plus, Belichick wanted to run more of a 3-4 base and the team just wasn't built for that. As a result, the run defense fell from just good enough in '01 to one of the worst in the league. 3. After an outstanding free agent haul in '01, the team's free agent class of '02 was mostly busts. The big one was Donald Hayes, who was supposed to provide the team with a big possession receiver after a couple of solid years in Carolina. He turned out to be worse than useless. Only caught 12 balls (on 31 targets) for 133 yards and 2 TDs. He never played in the NFL again after that season. 4. After a favorable schedule in 2001, the Pats faced the 3rd toughest in the league in '02. 5. Brett Favre and the Packers, with a first round bye and home field on the line, decided to melt down to the tune of 42-17 against the Jets in the final game of the season, which had a ripple effect of tiebreakers in the AFC East that left the Pats on the outside of the playoff picture. (Amusingly, Favre also had a meltdown in week 17 of the '08 season against the Dolphins, while playing for the Jets, which also cost the Pats a playoff spot). Edited May 14, 2021 by Starless 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Cameras weren’t working. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman93 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Tampa Bay would have smoked them that year. Oakland probably would have beat them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamblinMan99 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 13 hours ago, Billy86 said: Eh, Brady Belichick era Patriots are above the Noll era Steelers to be honest. Noll >>> Bellycheck He drafted all of his players and won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years with the same team. Belichick had to recycle his players through the free agency and had multiple illegitimate seasons due to cheating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamblinMan99 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 8 hours ago, notthatbluestuff said: Cameras weren’t working. Yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August4th Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 funny looking back at that team and the NFL during that yr. I remember talks of the pats as being a one off Cinderella type team and people wondering if the NFL will suffer from no longer having dynasties due to the salary cap..pretty sure that was a debate on PTI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 24 minutes ago, RamblinMan99 said: Noll >>> Bellycheck He drafted all of his players and won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years with the same team. Belichick had to recycle his players through the free agency and had multiple illegitimate seasons due to cheating. Uh, winning multiple times after revamping the roster is a lot more impressive than winning with the same players. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy86 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 21 minutes ago, RamblinMan99 said: Noll >>> Bellycheck He drafted all of his players and won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years with the same team. Belichick had to recycle his players through the free agency and had multiple illegitimate seasons due to cheating. Belichick is on 6 in his 21 years in NE while reaching another 3, while Noll had 4 in 22 years at Pittsburgh and didn't reach any others. And as you accidentally noted, Belichick managed this in the FA and salary cap era where it is universally accepted as much harder to sustain success. The last paragraph is just lol. The pick that Joe Montana went in in 1978 had been stripped from the Steelers... because of cheating. And that's before going into Terry Bradshaw admission of them being early pioneers of roiding. Glass houses, buddy. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamKid Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 3 minutes ago, notthatbluestuff said: Uh, winning multiple times after revamping the roster is a lot more impressive than winning with the same players. Yea, "Haha you won multiple Super Bowls with different sets of players"....... doesn't really land as criticism. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancerman Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Another thread ruined by someone ramblin 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamblinMan99 Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 23 hours ago, notthatbluestuff said: Uh, winning multiple times after revamping the roster is a lot more impressive than winning with the same players. No, it’s not. Belichick literally grabbed the best talent around the league for years. He drafted Brady and Gronk, but that’s about it. All his other talent came from other teams and were already proven. Noll managed to keep and maintain a super star team that he drafted and won multiple Super Bowls with them despite them getting older over the decade. The free agency process has made it easier for teams to build a dynasty. Chuck Noll did that at a time when you solely had to go by draft picks and walk ons. It’s was much more difficult on his time than now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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