Just how talented are the Patriots without Brady?

[frash.exe]

Serious question.

Their defense was dog awful last year and yet they somehow managed to clinch a SB berth (thanks in part to some dropped passes and missed FGs in the AFCC game) in 2011. Anyway that year Brady passed for like a bajillion yards and how many TDs good god almighty, and this last year he passed for a bajillion more.

They have some good pieces and last offseason they made a concerted effort to rebuild the defense but there are weaknesses all over the place. At best they have average talent. Brady's essentially become the new Peyton Manning where he's carrying his team. Also the Pats have finally broken their trend of having 2 first round picks in almost every draft last year by upgrading their front seven.

[Brokenbad]

Ask Matt Cassel....

[Darth Biscuit]

As much as I hate the Pats and Bellicheat, you can't deny that he/they are probably the best talent evaluators in the NFL... along with the best at making the pieces they have fit.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

the pain from super bowl xxxviii is starting to fade and i've developed a respect and almost something approaching an appreciation for brady/belichick. i legitimately enjoy watching the patriots play now.

say what you will about spygate, the fact that the patriots haven't had amazing drafts recently, whether brady is a "system QB", etc. it's extremely hard to be that good for that long with the way the league is structured now.

[Davidson Deac II]

Couple of prognosticators I was listening to after the AFC championship game said that Patriots are building a good young core of talent, and that they should be ok for the next several years. I am not sure how true that is though.

[frash.exe]

Ask Matt Cassel....

dude that was like 5 years ago. the panthers were still relevant then

[X-Clown]

The offense has a lot of talent, defense not so much. One of the things about how incredible the patriots offense has been is that you barely heard any mention this year about how gronk and Hernandez were rarely on the field together since they were still crushing teams offensively. Belichick deserves a lot of credit for continuingly evolving the offense.

[Henne Given Sunday]

They are good, wildcard team maybe, but not this dynasty they have now!

Look at how average Wes Welker was for the Dolphins before he went to New England. He had 1 receiving TD in a couple of years. He joins with Brady and is all-everything. Once Brady declines, the AFC East is MIAMIS!!!!!!!

/Wishful thinking

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

well, ryan mallett will have been under the tutelage of belichick for four or five years by the time brady hangs it up. he might be an instant quality starter for the patriots when brady bows out.

really though i haven't seen much of mallett. just preseason and i wasn't exactly blown away.

[trix123]

lets not forget they have on the best olines in the league....probably no.1 in pass protection...

also play in a bad divison

[Brokenbad]

dude that was like 5 years ago. the panthers were still relevant then

I was just saying...Cassel REALLY sucks ass, but looked great that whole year.

Hoyer also never took a snap, but was "so coveted" by other teams.

[Brooklyn Bully]

What are we like without Cam?

[frash.exe]

What are we like without Cam?

probably winless

[dos poptarts]

heh. My explanation for the Pats dynasty is simply:

1) Belichick is a good HC.

2) Brady is an elite QB

3) Their division has been horrible for an entire decade.

Chad Pennington was QB for the Jets (2002) and Fins (2008) when someone else bothered to challenge the Pats and took the division crown.

Can you name any other division where there wasn't at least another team challenging the top dog over the last decade.

AFC East (one good year from Miami, 2-3 good years from Jets, was there any other year where the 2nd place team was even good from this division)