Has the curtain fallen on the Patriot Way?

[Woodman]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...e-patriot-way/

Twenty-one years ago, the Patriots dynasty unofficially was born when the Tuck Rule salvaged a certain loss to the Raiders in the playoffs. On Sunday, in another game against the Raiders, the curtain finally may have fallen on the Patriot Way.

It’s been coming, slowly creeping down from the rafters to the footlights. But it quite possibly dropped the rest of the way when receiver Jakobi Meyers made the kind of boneheaded gaffe that teams coached by Bill Belichick never make.

[OpIv37]

I find this interesting:

Ownership also needs to be sensitive to the customer base. Will they tolerate an extended period of failure, simply for nostalgia or blind loyalty or anything other than enjoying the relentless pursuit of more championships? At some point, the folks who buy tickets (or don’t) and support the team (or don’t) have a very loud voice.

The Patriots were always the red-headed stepchild of Boston sports. The fans support the Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox, and dealt with nearly a century without a title from the Sox. But they never supported the lowly Patriots, until Brady and Bellicheck started winning.


They had a hell of a run, but it's over and they have a lot of problems. It looks like they're headed for a rebuild for the first time in over 2 decades. How many of those "fans" that jumped on during the Brady years will stick around? Did NE win them over as actual fans, or are they just people who want to root for a winner?

[Cntrygal]

I find this interesting:



The Patriots were always the red-headed stepchild of Boston sports. The fans support the Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox, and dealt with nearly a century without a title from the Sox. But they never supported the lowly Patriots, until Brady and Bellicheck started winning.


They had a hell of a run, but it's over and they have a lot of problems. It looks like they're headed for a rebuild for the first time in over 2 decades. How many of those "fans" that jumped on during the Brady years will stick around? Did NE win them over as actual fans, or are they just people who want to root for a winner?

They're definitely bandwagoners.

[Novacane]

They had 100 years of success packed into 20. Time for things to even out.

[OpIv37]

They had 100 years of success packed into 20. Time for things to even out.

I fully admit that this is 100% opinion and I have no evidence to back this up, but here goes:

Boston fans are willing to struggle with the Red Sox. They've broken the curse but it never seemed to matter to Sox fans. They just hate the Yankees so much that they're going to support the Sox no matter what. The Bruins and Celtics aren't the juggernauts that they were 50-60 years ago, but they still win enough to keep the fans interested. Patriots "fans" are nothing but Boston fans riding a winner. Once they aren't winners, the fans are going to stop caring. Somehow, the Bills maintained their fan base through a 17 year playoff drought. I doubt the Patriots "fan" base would survive almost a 3 year drought. Their fans aren't fans of the team. They're only fans of winning.

[Woodman]

After a blowout loss to the Chiefs early in the 2014 season, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made “on to Cincinnati” one of his most memorable press conference soundbites and the Patriots beat the Bengals the next week to propel themselves on a run to a Super Bowl title. This year’s Patriots are also moving on to Cincinnati as the Bengals will be in town on Christmas Eve.


Go Patriots Go !!

This week and this week only for now !!

[OpIv37]

After a blowout loss to the Chiefs early in the 2014 season, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made “on to Cincinnati” one of his most memorable press conference soundbites and the Patriots beat the Bengals the next week to propel themselves on a run to a Super Bowl title. This year’s Patriots are also moving on to Cincinnati as the Bengals will be in town on Christmas Eve.


Go Patriots Go !!

This week and this week only for now !!

Go Patriots? WTF?

The Super Bowl isn't happening for them. They may squeak into the playoffs but they will lose to any other AFC playoff team. They're maybe the 8th or 9th best team in the conference, and every NFC playoff team except TB is better than them too. I don't even think they're in the top half of the league this year.

[Woodman]

Go Patriots? WTF?

The Super Bowl isn't happening for them. They may squeak into the playoffs but they will lose to any other AFC playoff team. They're maybe the 8th or 9th best team in the conference, and every NFC playoff team except TB is better than them too. I don't even think they're in the top half of the league this year.

The Go Patriots is for this week !

On to Cincinnati !

[OpIv37]

The Go Patriots is for this week !

On to Cincinnati !

Oh yeah, I forgot we need Cincy to lose. That's a tough one. A loss pretty much knocks NE out of the playoffs, but if Cincy wins, it basically means we are going to have to beat them in their house to get the #1 seed.

[Woodman]

Oh yeah, I forgot we need Cincy to lose. That's a tough one. A loss pretty much knocks NE out of the playoffs, but if Cincy wins, it basically means we are going to have to beat them in their house to get the #1 seed.

It's on to Cincinnati once again !

I'm counting on BB to make a final stand, they face Cincinnati without the Bengals having their starting DE's available and that makes passing and running a bunch easier.


The Bengals final 3 games are:

1) Patriots
2) Bills
3) Ravens



Bonus we knock the Patriots out in the final game.

[sukie]

It's on to Cincinnati once again !

I'm counting on BB to make a final stand, they face Cincinnati without the Bengals having their starting DE's available and that makes passing and running a bunch easier.


The Bengals final 3 games are:

1) Patriots
2) Bills
3) Ravens



Bonus we knock the Patriots out in the final game.

Kinda like the creepy murdering dude that is FINALLY dead only to rise up one last time to sinister music wildly swinging the blade.

let that one last time be vs Cincy.

[kgun12]

The simple answer is yes.

The longer answer is BB’s way of coaching in the pros seems to be fading. Look what they are saying about all the young coaches in the league. They relate to these kids, they talk to these kids in a way they can understand, they’re always so positive, they don’t dwell on mistakes, and on an in. BB just isn’t that guy, I thinks the old get in your face hard nose coaching style is almost gone.

[Mace]

I'm not going to write Belichick off until he stops coaching, but I don't think bringing back Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to run the offense helped his effort any. Very likely he'll realize that and have to look at how much he's committed to developing any more coaches. Kind of think he wants to retire but isn't happy with who he has to hand his team to, was hoping someone would step up, and they just didn't.

[Discotrish]

The Patriots are my defense in both of my fantasy leagues.

It has been a stellar year.

[Night Train]

Time is passing them by.

Present day is reality. The past no longer applies.

[Woodman]

I'm not going to write Belichick off until he stops coaching, but I don't think bringing back Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to run the offense helped his effort any.

Bill has made a few poor choices in the case of Patricia and Judge.