I am curious to hear your opinions of what this season can do for Belicheck's reputation. If you look at his time in Cleveland, he was never even close to being a good head coach. His pre- Brady tenure with the Patriots, not really enough time to evaluate. I'm just wondering how much of his "genious", is due to having Brady as a QB? It's like my feelings on Phil Jackson. I think he is a coach that's only as good as his superstar players. No Shaq, no Jordan=No championship. Your thoughts:
they still have a really good team around the QB position...any nfl qb 1st or 3rd string can make a throw with the right protection..and unfortunately i think cassel will be fine and pats will still be good
Face meet palm And, like I've said before, I distinctly remember people making the criticism of Brady just being a "system QB" who would fall apart when Weis left. That worked out well, huh? Can't have it both ways, folks.
They have an ok team. Everybody is trying to say how good they still are but that is all hype. Their CBs are bad, their OL is falling apart and their front 7 are getting old. They are ok but they were headed down with or without Brady. It will just happen faster now.
Cleveland was a mess while he was there. Modell was looking to move out of there. It's tough to really blame him. But I will say...he hasn't won a championship without Crenell or Weiss or Vinateri yet...
More meh. Crenell hasn't done shit with Belichick, Weis is a blubbery punchline, and Vinatieri hasn't hit a 40 year field goal since the 2006 season. His team won 18 games in a row last year, and even with the Super Bowl loss, it's damn impressive.
I agree that this season will probably tell alot about Belichik. However, he did get the Browns to an 11-5 season and won a playoff game after inheriting a pretty bad team. The team moving had quite a bit to do with the 5-11 final year there. But if the Pats really fall on their ass this year, you could probably question the greatness label. It should be interesting.
I think that you can question the CBs for sure. But the front 7? The Pats have 6 Defensive lineman that are all under 30. Adalius Thomas 31, Vrabel 32, and Bruschi 34, are getting older. But Pierre Woods, Jerod Mayo, Shawn Crable, and Gary Guyton are young guys starting to make the scene.
You don't say much, but for some reason I always enjoy looking at.... errr... reading your posts.:beer:
If Cassel was diligently watching the films Belicheat pilfered from the league throughout the years, Cassel would be just as good - just as Brady was good from the get-go.
I certainly think you can question the DL..... None of those guys you have mentioned have done anything exceptional and Mayo and Crable are playing in their 2nd games so I can hardly say he is coming onto the scene. I think Don hit it on the head, last year was one last gasp from this dynasty*