Worst Dynasty Ever: The New England Patriots
Let's be honest: the Patriots will probably beat the Colts next week, they usually do. And we know that the AFC is going to trounce the NFC in the Super Bowl. Tie that all together and it means the Patriots will win yet another Super Bowl. So undoubtedly we will once again start to hear all the annoying claims that this team is a "dynasty". I suppose four super bowl wins in six years is pretty much undeniably a dynasty.But that would make the Patriots the worst dynasty in NFL football history.
It's very simple: the Patriots don't really beat anybody, their opponents beat themselves. The Chargers beat themselves yesterday, with poor offensive playcalling and mistakes. They dominated the Patriots for most of the game offensively and defensively and should have put the game away, but they made crucial mistakes that let the Patriots hang around, and in the end if you give a team enough chances you get burned. The Patriots didn't beat the Chargers so much as the Chargers beat themselves.
The same thing has happened in most of the Patriots playoff wins. Why is the game always so close? Why does Vinatieri keep winning it in the last second with a field goal? Certainly it can't be because the Patriots are dominating the other team, or else the Patriots would be coasting to victory at the end. No, the Patriots are simply getting lucky, a few breaks here, a few there, they have the last possession, and they win. That's not indicative of a team that is truly dominating their opponent. They always leave their opponents feeling like if they had one more drive they'd beat them. If they just made one less mistake, they'd win the game. The Patriots just get lucky.
Think about the truly great dynasty teams. Vince Lombardi's Packers. The Steel Curtain. Montana's Niners. America's Team. These were teams that won in convincing fashion. Few opponents left those Super Bowls feeling like if they had had just one more play they would have won; their opponents knew they were soundly beaten. And the scores reflect that. In the history of all the Super Bowls, there are only two teams other than Belicheck's Patriots that have won Super Bowls by a field goal or less, the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V, and the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV. That's right, Belicheck's Patriots have won more close Super Bowls than any other team in Super Bowl history. Every other Super Bowl team basically left no doubt. Lombardi's two Super Bowl wins were by almost 20 points each. While two of Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain victories were by four points, the other two were by 12 and 10 points. Montana destroyed Elway in Super Bowl XXIV, 55-10! And Aikman, Smith, and Irvin shellacked Buffalo in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII by a combined 52 points! These were teams that left no doubt that they were the champions.
The Patriots, on the other hand, squeak by each time, counting on opponents' mistakes. They are the world's luckiest team. Until they beat someone in a convincing fashion, they simply don't deserve to be talked about in the same breath as the other true dynasties.
posted by Chris @ 11:33 AM
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