That really sums it up. Great head coach and an all-time QB. Cannot deny them that at all. And that covers up a lot of warts elsewhere. Most Patriots teams the past 10 years have not been more talented than their playoff opponents (including Jacksonville this weekend). They had great defenses in 2003 and 2004 but their defenses have been pretty average since. They went years without any standout WRs.

But better coaching- and sometimes really it's partly also facing pretty bad coaching- results in them making a fraction of the mistakes of their opponents, Brady capitalizing when the opposing teams soil themselves, and on to victory... tack on the AFC East being pretty dysfunctional otherwise for 15 years and they waltz into a playoff bye annually with relative ease. I firmly believe Belichick treats September most years as extended preseason and tries new and various things because he knows they have that luxury in that the rest of the division will fade away by Thanksgiving.

Anyway, living in New England since fall 1998 that's my observation....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2018 08:18AM by LMU93.