The Story of the 2004 Patriots

The Story of the 2003 Patriots

The Story of the 2001 Patriots

Protecting The Legacy

Being a Patriots fan is a bittersweet endeavor. We have three historic Super Bowl victories, but none since 2004. We have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but he’s still overshadowed by Joe Montana. We have one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time, but he’s still overshadowed by Paul Brown, Chuck Noll and Vince Lombardi. And in 2007 we had the opportunity to become the greatest team in sports history, but a crushing loss to the Giants unraveled the dream.

Most teams would kill for this resume, but Boston fans expect more. We have Bobby Orr, Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, Larry Bird and Teddy Ballgame. We want Tom Brady and Bill Belichick on that list. And in a way, they already are. But until the Patriots get another ring, there will always be questions.

The questions won’t come from us, of course, they’ll come from the millions of people who despise Brady and Belichick. Even the most adamant detractors are forced to acknowledge the greatness of Orr and the other guys I just mentioned. But when it comes to the two fellas from New England, the critics are unrelenting in their protest.

It isn’t the presence of Brady and Belichick in the halls of greatness that people will question. It’s their rank. It’s how they’ll stack up against the legends who are already there.

Last year, around this time, Tom Brady was the first unanimous MVP in NFL history, and the whole world was still on the fence about whether or not Aaron Rodgers was an elite quarterback. I knew Rodgers was elite, but most NFL analysts remained skeptical until he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Now, only one year later, Rodgers is widely regarded as the best quarterback in the game.

I love and respect Aaron Rodgers, but this goes to show how quickly people want to slide Tom Brady out of the top spot. Most critics still bring up “Spy-Gate” when they hear Belichick’s name mentioned. Clips from Super Bowl XLII run on a near-daily basis on ESPN and NFL Network, and the legend of the Patriots is further sunk by the fact that their titles came so soon and so bunched together. The greatest players win at different times, and Tom Brady has thus far only won in the earliest phase of his career.

It should also be noted that the Green Bay Packers stand to do immeasurable damage to the Patriots’ legacy. If the Packers go undefeated and win the Super Bowl this season, it will immediately tie Rodgers and Brady in the history books. It wouldn’t matter that Brady would have three rings to Rodgers’ two, because Rodgers would have the bonus of completing the dream season that Brady couldn’t. For many critics, a tie wouldn’t be enough, and Rodgers would jump past Brady in the ranks of greatness.

I’m of the belief that one more Super Bowl victory for the Patriots would put an end to all the critics and all the questions. But if not now, when? The Packers and the Saints have the potential to exert dominance for the next decade, and the Lions and the 49’ers have enough talent on their rosters to intimidate anybody.

The good news for New England is those four teams are in the NFC. All the Patriots have to do this season is cut through the AFC, and then play sixty minutes of excellent football against one of those NFC squads. It’s possible.

But then again, we haven’t won a playoff game in three years. One year was understandable because Brady didn’t play. Another was slightly acceptable because the Ravens were (and still are) a fantastic team. But last year was devastating. The Jets. Not only was that loss entirely unacceptable, but it’s fodder for further anxiety. That loss tells me we can just as easily lose this season to the Texans, the Broncos, the Steelers, the Bengals, the Ravens, and of course again to the Jets.

There’s also an issue of momentum. Or more specifically, the importance of having it. Right now, the Patriots have none. It’s all being swallowed up by the Packers. Last season, the Packers had a slight momentum edge on the Steelers, but it was far from a stranglehold. The Saints had it in 2010, and the Steelers had it 2009. But the Giants most definitely did not have it in 2008.

If momentum is crucial, then the Packers are unstoppable. But if heart is as significant a quality as momentum, then all bets are off. The Patriots have a shot. Not a great one, but a good one. And if the Giants proved anything, it’s that momentum can be decapitated.

Yeah, it’s slightly important for the Patriots to finish the season on a strong note, but it’s not my biggest concern. We went 16-0 in ‘07, 11-5 in ‘08, 10-6 in ‘09, 14-2 last year, and we got zip. So having a stellar regular season record hasn’t exactly proved to be a magic spell for us in recent years. I’m less concerned with their final tally and more concerned with their spirit in the post-season, with or without a bye, and with or without home field advantage.

Can the Patriots play desperate? I’m thinking about the St. Louis Cardinals being one swing away from losing the World Series. Twice. I’m thinking about an old and courageous Dallas Mavericks team overpowering a young and red hot Miami Heat team. I’m thinking about the Boston Bruins’ improbable leap from misfit status to total NHL dominance.

Can the Patriots play like their entire legacy depends on it? Because, in way, it does.

Why Patriots Fans Hate Rex Ryan

Sure, there are teams I dislike more than others. Would I ever wear a Lakers hat? Of course not. Would I ever wear a Canadiens jersey? Of course not. But really, as long as the Celtics and the Bruins win against any team, I’m happy. Sometimes I’ll get a rush from watching Tom Brady beat Peyton Manning or Joe Flacco or Big Ben, but it’s only a fleeting moment of bliss and then I’m right back to focusing on the bigger picture. I’ve just never been a big rivalry guy.

But then Mark Sanchez waltzed into my life. Now I’m left here wondering how a quarterback who can barely complete a pass managed to become our Magic Johnson. Well, it all traces back to the guy who once said “As much as I respect and admire Bill Belichick, I came here to kick his ass.”

The Jets have competed in the last two AFC Championships while the Patriots followed a bludgeoning in Super Bowl XLII with three straight seasons without a playoff win. This isn’t exactly the recipe for a monumental rivalry. So why is Rex keeping this fire burning? Well, as Rex himself put it: “This is about Bill Belichick versus Rex Ryan. There’s no question, it’s personal.”

Rex’s least attractive quality is his psychotic obsession with the Patriots. He says he cares about winning, but it’s painfully obvious he cares more about beating Belichick. That’s not respect. Respect is the mutual admiration between great icons like Russell and Chamberlain or Federer and Nadal. To qualify for a rivalry with one of the best, you have to be one of the best. Did I sleep through the part where Rex Ryan became a great coach? Did I miss the wildly long string of achievements that placed him on Belichick’s level? When exactly did this become “personal?”

If Bill Belichick were to have one great rival, Rex Ryan wouldn’t be it. But Rex has gone ahead and crowned himself with that title anyway, and that’s why we hate him. He doesn’t deserve to have Belichick as a rival. Rex has one Super Bowl ring as defensive coordinator. Belichick has five Super Bowl rings, two as a defensive coordinator and three as a head coach. So until the day we rewrite the book on mathematics and 1 becomes greater than 5, this rivalry will continue to be nothing more than a ruse created by Rex Ryan to spread his own false legend. The distance between these two coaches is vast and shouldn’t be allowed to even-out because of an unfounded grudge fueled by media hype.

Without the press building them up as New England’s archenemy, the Jets would just be another squad of scrubs making people groan and change the channel on Sunday nights. Did I overlook the Jets dynasty that qualified them to enter this rivalry with the Patriots? By my calculations, Gang Green has one Super Bowl title. The year? 1969. If the Jets and the Patriots were boxers, they’d never be allowed to fight in the same weight class.

Just who entitles the Jets to share this spotlight with the Patriots? I don’t see Reggie Wayne or Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis on this Jets team. I don’t see Mike Tomlin or Troy Polamalu or Hines Ward. I don’t see Ray Lewis or Ed Reed or Ray Rice. I see the great Darrelle Revis surrounded by a bunch of other guys pretending to play football. I’m offended that the Jets became a “somebody” in this league by attaching themselves to the Patriots like a virus.

They didn’t earn this conflict. Rex, especially, didn’t earn this. The Jets made their reputation by pretending to be the Habs to our B’s, and Rex made his name by masquerading as the mastermind who could outwit Bill Belichick. It’s demeaning, disrespectful, and sad.

And there’s another insulting element of Rex’s personality worth mentioning. It’s the way he prepares his guys to play so passionately against the Patriots and so poorly against every other team in the league. I have a similar gripe with Tom Coughlin and the G-Men.

When you watch the Jets and the Giants play, you notice a pattern. Week after week you see the flaws, you see the holes, you see the mental mistakes. And then, miraculously, the flaws and the holes and the mental mistakes vanish when they play against the Patriots. When a team only plays at an elite level against one specific opponent, it reflects the true colors of the players and of the coach.

Rivalries can make certain games pretty interesting to watch, but guys like Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady really don’t care who they play against. And they definitely don’t adjust the levels of their greatness to suit any specific opponent. Beating the Celtics in 2010 was probably sweet revenge for Kobe Bryant, but he didn’t seem to play with any less intensity when he brutally took down the Magic in 2009. Great players play great against everybody.

One of Rex’s greatest miscalculations is his belief that beating Belichick can only be accomplished on those rare days when the Jets and the Patriots clash. Rex treats every New England game like a playoff game, but Belichick treats every game like a playoff game. That means Rex gives himself 2 or 3 games a year to prove his worth, and Belichick gets close to 20.

Is it any wonder why one of these guys has 5 rings and the other doesn’t?

The Mess

There’s merit to the argument that acquiring Chris Paul would put the C’s in a better position to win a title this year. It saddens me, though, that #9 would be the newest in a long line of great Celtics that I would be forced to say goodbye to; Posey, House, Tony, Leon, Perk...Rondo? With that unit held in tact, we’d already have an eighteenth banner. But instead we stripped the team down to the bloody bone, and we got zip in return for the pieces we gave up. So, here we are in this mess.

I’m angry with Celtics management for putting us in the position of having to potentially part ways with another player who not only hasn’t had a dip in productivity, but has actually gotten better from season-to-season and emerged as the reason why the Celtics have achieved the success they have in recent years. We haven’t won a title in three years, but Rajon Rondo is not the reason why we keep coming up short. The reason is our depleted team, our insane salary payouts, a history of bad decision-making, and desperately holding on to a quickly-aging Big 3. We’ve gotten as far as we have in the playoffs over the last few years because of #9. That’s why it’s so tragic that his head is the one on the chopping block.

Chris Paul would absolutely help us win a title, but it’s tragic that Rondo would have to take the bullet to make this happen. Forget the fact that they’re both Point Guards; there’s a ton of players at various positions that could help us win just as much as CP3 -- especially at the Center and Power Forward positions. But Danny Ainge is really fixated on this deal, and so are a lot of Boston fans and a whole slew of ESPN analysts. Again, I’m not saying CP3 wouldn’t help. Of course he would. I’m not blind to the basketball genius of CP3. He’s a Golden God. But it doesn’t change the fact that this trade would be painful and profound for me, and I hope for most of Celtics Nation.

I just don’t want to have to say goodbye to the youngest, freshest, most productive guy on our team before he even hits the prime of his career. Not to mention the fact that we’d only be acquiring CP3 for one year, after which he could (and probably would) decide to go somewhere else. So, really, we’d be trading our long-term relationship with Rondo for one year with CP3. That’s sort of like having an awesomely hot wife who’s totally committed to you, and then breaking up with her to pursue a life with a gorgeous but somewhat flighty model. Yeah, I want the fling as much as you do, and yeah, it could work out nicely. But there’s serious doubt there, as well as an issue of loyalty.

Analysts will say it’s not personal, it’s business. But ask yourself this: If that Godfather mentality is indeed at play here, then why isn’t KG on the chopping block? While Rondo’s stock has gone up over the years, and Ray’s and Pierce’s have remained steady, KG’s has plummeted like a bucket in a well. Right now, we’re shelling-out massive dough for KG’s heart, but for not his body or his productivity. He can’t even out-muscle Pau Gasol anymore. So if this truly is a business where decisions are made without the burden of emotion, then why is KG’s spot so sacred in Boston? Could it be because there is, indeed, an emotional attachment to him? Pierce, I can understand; he’s a Celtic till the end. Ray was mentioned as a potential trade last season, but that didn’t make sense to me because his shot is as sweet as it’s ever been. And despite all the “this is a business” chatter, the truth is people are making this personal and their emotions are loyal to #5. Call it the respect of seniority or the advantage of being a part of the Big 3. Any way you slice it, Rondo’s unfairly on the hot seat -- and the prize for his head is a good one. Now, both Boston and New Orleans have star players who know they’re not wanted.

What a mess.

Winter Is Coming

Paul Perillo made an interesting observation today on PFW In Progress. He cited Coach Belichick’s stone-cold demeanor in approaching the Colts game, and then he contrasted that intensity to the events of the actual game in which Belichick experimented with his roster and tinkered with his chess pieces like it was a pre-season contest. Fred Kirsch added an interesting follow-up point; week-to-week, it’s like “community auditions” with New England’s defensive backfield, and it’s becoming clear that this Patriots roster is still in a fluid state of change. I’d prefer to call it “evolution,” but I’m not certain whether we’re moving forwards or backwards. Only the playoffs will tell.

Perillo and Kirsch always spark ideas in me, and today was no different. Their whole concept of a coach incessantly adjusting his roster got me thinking about another Boston coach who likes to tinker with his toys -- Doc Rivers. Doc is known for his ability to squeeze productivity out of every single player on his team. Back when the Celtics were deep into the ‘08 season and making their run at the crown, they rather suddenly acquired Sam Cassell and PJ Brown to help complete their title quest. On the surface, the addition of Cassell and Brown really didn’t seem all that important to anyone, let alone to Celtics fans. Neither guy was really anybody’s idea of a “missing piece.” This was especially true of PJ Brown; he was already retired at the time, but that didn’t stop Paul Pierce from using the All-Star break as a business trip to lure him off the proverbial golf course and bring him to Boston as a metaphorical closer. Brown and Cassell both proved to be vital pick-ups; they made small but tremendously important plays when their numbers were called. What Cassell lacked physically he made up for in the emotional and mental leadership he provided for the team, and Brown nailed two or three shots that completely altered the course of significant playoff games in Boston’s favor.

And that’s what Doc Rivers does; he plays with his toys, he puts everyone on the court, and he extracts the maximum amount of mojo possible from every player he has -- no matter what their particular skill set might be. Here’s proof positive of that: Doc made Brian Scalabrine a star in Boston, and you and I both know that Brian Scalabrine is not a good basketball player. But Doc didn’t care about Scal’s unlimited shortcomings, because he was able to exploit the one or two things Scal did well -- he provided a spark of energy off the bench, his presence on the court invigorated the home crowd which contagiously rejuvenated the rest of the team, and he semi-routinely hit timely 3’s. Boom, maximized potential. That’s the magic of Doc; he plays his players in different schemes and rotations, he mixes and matches five-man units on the floor, he shifts his guys in-and-out of positions they may or may not be accustomed to playing, and he finds ways to make everybody contribute. That’s the Doc Rivers way. That’s sort of the Bill Belichick way too -- but with a far more ominous tone. With Doc, it’s “You’re a Celtic, therefore you will contribute.” With Bill, it’s “You’re a Patriot, therefore you will contribute, or else one of three things will happen: 1) you won’t play, 2) you’ll play just infrequently enough to keep you from getting into a rhythm and establishing yourself, or 3) you’ll get cut from the team.”

Yes, both coaches play with their toys, but while Doc simply changes the batteries when a few of ‘em aren’t working properly, Bill just smashes them with a mallet. Or, perhaps that’s too harsh. Let’s just say he donates them to charity. And that’s really where the philosophies of these two great Boston icons reaches the proverbial fork in the road. Is one philosophy better than the other? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it doesn’t matter at all, or maybe it means everything. They’re both phenomenal coaches, so let’s chalk it up to a matter of varying approach. As long as there’s a trophy at the end of the journey, I suppose it doesn’t matter which route you take to get there. But then again, Coach Belichick has a fistful of rings to his name.

Advantage Belichick.