Greatest Patriots team of all time?
by MrNFL on Mar 17, 2010 8:41 PM EDT
11 comments
Hey Pats fans, I've come over here to see your thoughts on this. I made a Tecmo Super Bowl hack two years ago which put what I determined to be each teams' pinnacle season. This rom was made during the 2007 season, and I put the 16-0 in even before the Super Bowl, as I (Like the team did) thought there was no chance they'd get beat.
Well, I'm planning on re-doing the rom and I was considering potentially going more based on total distance gone, meaning that 16-0 team would be out of consideration since other teams won the Super Bowl. But in talking with Vikings fans at Daily Norseman, I'm reconsidering. I originally used the 98 Vikings who went 15-1 and lost in the Conference final, and asked them about if one of the 70's Super Bowl runner ups were better. So far, the 98 is winning.
Which comes to my question, which team would you consider the Patriots all time best team? Would you still go with the 07 team or would you pick 04 or 03? (I personally think 04 was a much stronger team, but I'll include both.)
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2004 was the most rounded team.
2007 was extremely single dimensional and, if we played by 2004 rules, the 2004 team would WRECK the 2007 team.
2004 was the best Patriots team ever, in my opinion
although it’s hard to argue with the dominance of the 2007 team. What pushes 2004 over the top is the Super Bowl win, and the fact that they had to beat the league’s best offense (Colts) and the league’ defense (Steelers) to do it.
Keep the faith!
i voted 07
39 seconds away from perfection…thanks ashante samuel…i will hate you till death
though the 04 team was dominating.
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2004 - without question.....but where is the '01 team? '07 shouldn't be on the list
About 2001:
An unheralded team, with a patch work offense gets hot at the right time and makes a run through the playoffs. They prevail in a snow game with some craziness involved, then defeat a high powered offense (who they lost to during the regular season) in the Superbowl with brilliant defense.
That was the Pats in ’01, that happened to the Pats in ’07
Which is the better team? The one that was supposed to win but didn’t, or the team that wasn’t supposed to be there, but won anyway? The game isn’t played on paper, you have to win when it counts to be the best. And in that regard, it’s the 2004 team.
For 2004:
Talk about domination with purpose, ’04 went 14-2 in the regular season, then had an unquestionably dominate playoff run in the playoffs against THE BEST the NFL had to offer:
- Hold the NFL’s #1 offense (Colts) to 3 pts.
- Put up 41 on the NFL’s # defense (Steelers)
That’s is real domination, stopping a team from what they do best, and running away with it.
Why Not ’07:
To quote a certain boxer “Sound & Fury, signifying nothing”
This team had a high powered offense, but they ran out of gas in the end.
They absolutely crushed teams through most of the regular season, but by the end of it, there was more stress then fun in the games.
In terms of the playoffs they didn’t face any of the NFLs best teams, yet every game was a one possession game well into the 4th Q. Hardly dominating or winning with conviction when it counts.
Now, if this team had lost to say Baltimore of Philly in the regular season, I think it would have changed everything. But that didn’t happen, they were hanging on by a thread in the playoffs and go punch in the mouth in the SB.
I have very hard time even seeing them on this list
A bit misleading with the end-of-season lack of 'dominance' by the 2007 Patriots
The Patriots were the team to knock down. The unquestioned standard. It’s hard to describe them as ‘hanging on by a thread’ because every team they played was playing them like it was the playoffs or the Super Bowl (and I’m not talking about the early season blow-outs.)
Even teams that weren’t going anywhere gave the Patriots their best shot. Look at the Ravens, who went on to put the only 1 in the win column for the 1-15 Dolphins, after losing to New England. It certainly didn’t look as if Baltimore put the same effort into that Miami game as they did against the Pats and that’s how teams were playing them especially towards the end of the season. They got everyone’s best effort.
To say that they hardly dominated or won with conviction when it counted isn’t fair. They won. They came from behind to win games. That doesn’t show ‘hanging on’ that shows grit, determination and fighting spirit. I don’t understand the qualification that for some reason they had to win all of their games ‘with conviction’. Why that standard? The 2004 team certainly didn’t win most of their games easily.
Keep the faith!
Good post - you made me dig further on this
first, I use the standard of “with conviction” because we are talking about the best of some very good teams.
I’m sure there are other ways to compare them, but winning the trophy and how you win I think are key determiners of choosing the ‘best of the best.’
Relating to ‘07: I understand and agree with everyone giving their best shot against that team, absolutely. But in terms of being the best pats team, shouldn’t we look at how they handled their situations?
Yes, a lot of grit, heart and effort went into going 16-0, but it also went into going 14-2.
The Pats rolled into ’04 with a double digit unbeaten streak and as SB champs. Those are not small bulls-eyes on the back either. We all know the stats about simply making the playoffs in the year following a SB victory right? The ’04 team is the second half of back to back SB winning teams, and they got better as the season went on.
in ‘04 they definitely took everyone’s best shot until losing to Pitt in week 8 and the unbeaten streak was killed. After that loss they were still defending SB champs, and one of the top teams in the NFL. So it’s not like the ’04 season was a stroll either, they were overlooked or under appreciated by any means.
What I think is most defining of the ‘04 team is how they got better as the season went on. After the Pitt loss the ’04 Pats:
- won 8 of their last 9 games by an average margin of victory of 16+ points.
- they dominated the AFC playoffs, taking out the best O and the Best D – the the best D’s house!
- they finished the season with their 2nd SB in two years and 3rd in 4 yrs.
As good as ’07 was, there was plenty riding on the ’04 team as well they finished stronger and finished on top.
As long as it's a hack anyway
Why not just pair the 2007 offense with the 2004 defense and dominate everyone with it!
Holy crap man, that would be a beastly team
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Very close so far
Thanks for voting guys, still not sure on this one.
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