Back-to-back 'Team of the Decade' for NE! '00s VS '10s

[74_75_78_79_]

No one knows what's going to happen from here in regards to the Pats getting eliminated last night vs Vrabel's Titans. Even if Kraft re-signs Tom to a two or three year deal, and the Dynasty extends just a tad into the 2020s, it looks as close-to-the-end as can be. In either event, TWO decades of dominance!

Which decade was better? Each produced three Lombardis; four SB berths total for the '00s, five for the '10s. Pats make playoffs every year of this past decade, earning a 1st-Rd bye every one of those years until this very season. In the previous decade, Pats made the playoffs 'only' seven times albeit - yes - 2000 ('Year One', obvious initial readjustments), a first-SB-win 'hangover' (a la '82 Forty Niners), and Brady being out taking up those three misses. Yes, I have to lean more to the '00s. That initial surge, 3-Lombardis-in-4-years from '01-thru-'04 (the 'heart' of it all), is what'll always come to mind first. A collection of great defensive players whom most ought to make the HOVG; a couple of them, or so, to Canton. There, of course, is that 16-0 campaign which tightens things in favor of the '00s. What a two-decade run it's been. If a sports franchise is going to go nine seasons without a title...that '05-thru-'13 'donut-hole' of theirs not a bad drought to have! Not too shabby at all if the 'nadir' of the B&B Era thus far is...'08-thru-'10; three straight seasons without a playoff win but 11-5, 10-6, 14-2 respectively just the same.

My guess, if I have to guess, is Kraft signing Tom to that two or three year deal while, of course, giving Tom some 'weapons' in the off-season. If not, he will NOT retire. Likely-enough he'll either join Vrabel in Ten (an obvious QB-upgrade it'll be) or even more-likely...he follows McDaniels to wherever he ends up (Dallas??). As for Belichick? I think he stays on in NE at least into the late-'20s if only for the 'challenge' of staying on without Tom and/or trying to surpass Shula's win-record. And, back to Brady, it wouldn't surprise me at all if after initially retiring, he'll become 'bored' and then make a highly-publicized 'comeback' later on. Kind of like what Jim Brown contemplated in the early-'80s; only Brady, in this case, will follow-through with the attempt. Pretty simple, you take me into the future - say, 2027 - and both Belichick is still coaching, Brady still a QB...I won't be shocked though quite amazed.


A bit off-subject...yesterday on the NFL Network, before both games, Michael Irvin was suggesting that it may be 'the end' for the Pats, comparing losing to the Titans to when the Cards knocked Dallas out 1st-Rd in '98. I don't know. At the time, I already felt going into that game that the Dynasty was already done even had Dallas won. With a losing season the year prior already behind them, they now seemed merely a 'good' team to me. The end of that Era, to me, was simply when Panthers knocked them out in the '96 divisional. Destroying Vikings the week prior, Big D (who, of course, beat both GB & Pats that regular season) looked to me like they were going to run-the-table if they just get by Carolina. Later in life, by attitude has shifted to GB finally getting past them in such a hypo-'96 NFCCG event; but either way, there would have still been some doubt amongst Packer faithful going into such a game being that Dallas was still unbeaten vs Holmgren/Favre.

[JuggernautJ]

I think Brady is in decline.
Whether he declines gradually over the next couple of years (including this one) or falls off a cliff remains to be seen.

But a frightening thought occurred to me after last years Super Bowl.
What if Belichick is just reaching his prime?
Granted, this Saturday might've left a lot to be desired but in general the Patriots coach has been doing more with less as time goes on.

I don't see Brady playing another several years but if Belichick can continue to excel over the course of a couple more seasons, perhaps even win a championship or two with another QB, he may well be perceived as the greatest coach in NFL history (even by those who don't already consider him that).

Regardless of the above, the 20 year dominance of the Patriots has been... historical and unprecedented.
If you're a fan then that run has been an amazing trip. If you're exhausted by the monopoly then the decline can't come soon enough. But either way, New England's superiority has probably been the preeminent story in NFL History since the turn of the century.