Congrats Patriots on 16-0

[montecristo#4]

Originally Posted by Stu

Now, just read the sports boards and that moron Sports Guy homer and see the constant chip on the shoulder of Pats fans. It befuddles me why your fan base just can't see to generate a little more class when winning so much. Hell, you have a permanent place reserved at the adult table, but you seem to continue to want to eat at the card table.

Whatever. I'm not sure what the gripe here is, but I can tell you that all the whining about "classiness" is a joke. I haven't seen any evidence that Patriots fans are any less classy than fans of other teams, but whatever.

By the way, here's a picture of the definition of classiness:

It's also interesting to see the sound of silence when Woolfolk or whatever the hell his name is does the old Moe-Curly routine the other night and no penalty is called. Had that been Bob Sanders doing it to someone on the Pats, you all would be up in arms.

Wilfork deserves a fine. He'll get one. The refs didn't see the poke, so there wasn't a flag (I'm not sure why that is difficult to understand). FWIW, the refs also didn't see (and flag) what Jacobs did to earn Wilfork's ire (elbow to the head of a Patriot after the play had been blown dead). Also FWIW, there clearly wasn't any intent to actually poke Jacobs in the eye. It was obviously an act of intimidation, not violence. Wilfork and Jacobs apparently shook hands after the game and everyone is cool.

Consensus among Pats fans is that what Wilfork did was stupid because it could have cost the team 15 yards if the refs saw it. Consensus is also that Wilfork should be fined, and will be fined. I'm not sure how we'd feel any different if it had been Bob "Illegal Spear Man" Sanders delivering the poke.

Oh yeah, incidentally how about Wilfork getting poked in the preseason game?

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

Great achievement by the Patriots, but it doesn't mean much without a Super Bowl victory. Does anyone remember the 1998 Vikings, who went 15-1 and lost to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game? Jacksonville is the sexy dark-horse pick in the AFC, and I'm riding shotgun on the bandwagon. If they beat Pittsburgh this weekend (which I fully expect them to do), they will give New England a helluva game in Foxboro.

 

[montecristo#4]

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Great achievement by the Patriots, but it doesn't mean much without a Super Bowl victory. Does anyone remember the 1998 Vikings, who went 15-1 and lost to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game? Jacksonville is the sexy dark-horse pick in the AFC, and I'm riding shotgun on the bandwagon. If they beat Pittsburgh this weekend (which I fully expect them to do), they will give New England a helluva game in Foxboro.

I agree with you that 16-0 is pretty irrelevant. I think the media hoopla is a joke, actually. It's not worth spit if they don't go all the way.

The individual records set along the way are meaningful, however, because they stand in comparison to other individual records achieved by players on teams that didn't win Super Bowls.

 

[Brian278]

I'm surprised at all the dismissal of 16-0 as a staggering accomplishment in and of itself. They beat a lot of very good teams (better than the Dolphins played) in the much tougher conference and found a way to win 16 times. That's unbelievably hard to do, and even harder in the free agent, injury-ridden, salary capped, parity driven modern NFL era. In fact it's so hard that team has done it in over 30 years. I would argue it's a far better measure of the greatness of a team than who gets hot for 3 or 4 games. I mean if the Pats lose the Super Bowl to the Cowboys in a close game (or lose to the Colts in the AFC title game), are we really going to argue that the '05 Steelers, the '02 Buccs, or the '01 Ravens were actually better overall teams? Let's be serious.

 

[quevola]

Originally Posted by Brian278

I'm surprised at all the dismissal of 16-0 as a staggering accomplishment in and of itself. They beat a lot of very good teams (better than the Dolphins played) in the much tougher conference and found a way to win 16 times. That's unbelievably hard to do, and even harder in the free agent, injury-ridden, salary capped, parity driven modern NFL era. In fact it's so hard that team has done it in over 30 years. I would argue it's a far better measure of the greatness of a team than who gets hot for 3 or 4 games. I mean if the Pats lose the Super Bowl to the Cowboys in a close game (or lose to the Colts in the AFC title game), are we really going to argue that the '05 Steelers, the '02 Buccs, or the '01 Ravens were actually better overall teams? Let's be serious.

I agree with you that if the '07 Patriots don't win the Super Bowl they are still a better team than the '05 Steelers among many others who have won Super Bowls. However, the argument could be made that the '85 Bears were the most dominant team in modern day football.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

Originally Posted by Brian278

I'm surprised at all the dismissal of 16-0 as a staggering accomplishment in and of itself. They beat a lot of very good teams (better than the Dolphins played) in the much tougher conference and found a way to win 16 times. That's unbelievably hard to do, and even harder in the free agent, injury-ridden, salary capped, parity driven modern NFL era. In fact it's so hard that team has done it in over 30 years. I would argue it's a far better measure of the greatness of a team than who gets hot for 3 or 4 games. I mean if the Pats lose the Super Bowl to the Cowboys in a close game (or lose to the Colts in the AFC title game), are we really going to argue that the '05 Steelers, the '02 Buccs, or the '01 Ravens were actually better overall teams? Let's be serious.
The Patriots are not looking to be compared to these pedestrian Super Bowl winners. They are looking to be compared to the best teams of all time. A loss in the playoffs automatically takes them out of that discussion, unless you consider the 1990 San Francisco 49ers and 1998 Minnesota Vikings to be among the best teams of all time. I would not be surprised to see some NE fans lump them in with the 1986 Red Sox if that happens.

 

[Tomasso]

 

[HomerJ]

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