***The Official New England Patriots Thread***

[camaleom]

Brady opened up on the Howard Stern show. Pretty surprising that he answered the question, but he answered it just as I've been saying before. Stern asked if he could win without Belichick and Brady said he can't do Belichick's job nor can Belichick do his. He also said that he doesn't think he would have been as successful without Belichick, but Belichick wouldn't have been as successful without him. While it's surprising to hear Brady answer that question, I think that answer is spot on. Together, both of them made each other better.

He also said that people have made a lot of wrong assumptions about his relationship with Belichick...meaning it was better than what people were saying. Both wanted to win, both understood football and both did everything they could to win.

The one thing that was a little disappointing, and I don't know if it made a difference or not, but Brady mentioned that before last season, this year was going to be his last in New England. I can't imagine Brady not playing his hardest, but seeing his frustration out there makes you wonder if he let emotions and knowing it was his last season get the better of him in some situations.

Oh well. It was a great 20 seasons and I wish him the best. He wants to prove something to himself and accomplish something with another team and I hope he can.

he wanted a multi year deal at the beginning of the season and he didn't get so OF COURSE he knew it was his last season.

I don't think his performance was due to that but the lack of weapons - with that being said: would you work your hardest for your current employer when you know you need to be healthy so you can play for a new employer next year? u can't expect commitment from someone that u don't believe in... pretty straight forward.

[128]

Brady opened up on the Howard Stern show. Pretty surprising that he answered the question, but he answered it just as I've been saying before. Stern asked if he could win without Belichick and Brady said he can't do Belichick's job nor can Belichick do his. He also said that he doesn't think he would have been as successful without Belichick, but Belichick wouldn't have been as successful without him. While it's surprising to hear Brady answer that question, I think that answer is spot on. Together, both of them made each other better.

He also said that people have made a lot of wrong assumptions about his relationship with Belichick...meaning it was better than what people were saying. Both wanted to win, both understood football and both did everything they could to win.

The one thing that was a little disappointing, and I don't know if it made a difference or not, but Brady mentioned that before last season, this year was going to be his last in New England. I can't imagine Brady not playing his hardest, but seeing his frustration out there makes you wonder if he let emotions and knowing it was his last season get the better of him in some situations.

Oh well. It was a great 20 seasons and I wish him the best. He wants to prove something to himself and accomplish something with another team and I hope he can.

I mean I think this decision leaves everyone happy:

Brady wanted a multi-year deal, got paid to be surrounded by a better offense

Belichick's plans did not include a 43+ year old QB being kept purely out of sentimental reasons

Kraft didn't have to get in the way and cause a rift between Brady and management

Fans aren't happy now Brady is gone but would've been unhappier if we saw a repeat of last season. I'd rather suck for a bit while we rebuild than be mediocre and waste our future/Brady's time just to say he's a Pat for life. Although ideally I wanted him to retire I'm excited to see what he can do for the Bucs

[camaleom]

it will go like this:

If Brady wins and we lose = fans will be mad at Kraft/BB
If Brady wins and we win = fans will be ok - "it was time to move on"
If Brady lose and we win = Yeah man Brady was done and BB knew it
If we both lose = so why did we brake the team????

[Tyler2106]

I'm okay with moving on from Brady. I think he would have made the team better, this season, but at some point you have to move on. That being said, I don't know if Belichick and Kraft said let's move on, or if that was Brady, but either way, our future wasn't Brady and we need to start finding our next QB.

McCourty is pushing to bring back Chris Hogan. I don't know why. Hogan wasn't and isn't a WR who is going to make a difference by himself. He made some great plays for us, but most of them wasn't him beating his man off the line as much as blown coverages / well drawn up plays.

[128]

it will go like this:

If Brady wins and we lose = fans will be mad at Kraft/BB
If Brady wins and we win = fans will be ok - "it was time to move on"
If Brady lose and we win = Yeah man Brady was done and BB knew it
If we both lose = so why did we brake the team????

I just don’t see how losing it bad for us, realistically this team is not a contender, we’ve done nothing but get worse even before Brady left.

Would rather get high draft picks and get a quick rebuild to the top going like the Celtics did than be a treadmill team for years to come.

[camaleom]

we are not doing the qb rookie any favor if we bring back guys that can't get open - we have enough with kneal lol

[camaleom]

I just don’t see how losing it bad for us, realistically this team is not a contender, we’ve done nothing but get worse even before Brady left.

Would rather get high draft picks and get a quick rebuild to the top going like the Celtics did than be a treadmill team for years to come.

2 years losing will equal 2 year with less revenue coming in - nobody is going to pay $50 parking $10 a drink when is 10F to watch a team lose by 20pts

[Tyler2106]

2 years losing will equal 2 year with less revenue coming in - nobody is going to pay $50 parking $10 a drink when is 10F to watch a team lose by 20pts

Doesn't matter if people don't come to watch, salary cap will always be the same.

The idea of losing, however, doesn't make sense and not what Bill is looking to do. We aren't far away from being contenders, or at least a playoff caliber team. One of Brady's biggest "faults" was his immobility, but Stidham gives us the ability to extend plays with his feet and hide some of our offensive line issues.

Stidham plays decent and doesn't turn the ball over a ton, Harry and Meyers make good progress and learn to create separation, and find a gem in the draft or another UDFA gem like we always do and we should be okay. I'm not expecting a deep playoff run, but we will be competitive.

The defensive side of the ball should be solid for us. Just need McDaniels and the offense to resemble an NFL offense this season.

My biggest concern, more so after this season, is the age of our players. We have one of the oldest rosters in the league and when veterans leave, others have to step up and so far we don't have that kind of depth.

Also, rumors are floating around that Gronk wants to / people think he wants to come back and play with Brady in TB. I'm not sure what TB would be willing to give up for Gronk, but if this is true, I think the Patriots need to get as much from TB as they can to help build the team.

[Tyler2106]

So many draft prospects for the Patriots. QB, WR, TE...everyone thinks they know, but no one does.

We re-signed Jermaine Eluemunor to a 1 year, $2.1m deal. That's a lot of money for how much salary cap space we don't have. It adds depth, but makes me wonder if we're going to trade Thuney after all. We're paying a pretty penny for Thuney and trading him would free up a lot of cap space to bring in more offensive talent.

I am hoping we see action before the draft so we get a better picture of what the team will look like this season.

Also, I read that the plan is for Hoyer to be the starter week 1. It's a rumor, but not a rumor I want to hear.

[HoganIsGOAT]

The Patriots 2020 Schedule

Road Games

at Buffalo Bills
at Houston Texans
at Kansas City Chiefs
at Los Angeles Chargers
at Los Angeles Rams
at Miami Dolphins
at New York Jets
at Seattle Seahawks


Home Games

Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
New York Jets
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
Arizona Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers
Baltimore Ravens

Does anyone honestly see this team finishing above .500 in the 2020 season?

Vegas odds have them at 8.5 wins.

[deltakappabrah]

Vegas odds have them at 8.5 wins.

Could see between 7-10 wins and pls no hoyer

[camaleom]

Vegas odds have them at 8.5 wins.

I think most of us here are in the 7-10 range.

We need a QB, WR, TE, OL, and LBs

BB better have the draft of his life lol

[camaleom]

Also, every single player says that playing for Bill is a grind... I want to see how that plays out when the team lose 3-4 in a row... I don't see many players putting up with Bill or giving them the discount if they are not winning.

[Tyler2106]

I think most of us here are in the 7-10 range.

We need a QB, WR, TE, OL, and LBs

BB better have the draft of his life lol

There are too many question marks at QB, WR, OL and LB to say we need them. Stidham could be good. Harry and Meyers could make big strides and be competent NFL WRs. We should have a pretty decent OL with players finally healthy and keeping a few key pieces. LB we should be fine. Goldilocks will fill in nicely and I forget who we brought in to fill those voids.

Also, every single player says that playing for Bill is a grind... I want to see how that plays out when the team lose 3-4 in a row... I don't see many players putting up with Bill or giving them the discount if they are not winning.

We won't lose 3-4 games in a row. We'll be in playoff contention for a majority of the season. Any good team the players grind all season.

[HoganIsGOAT]

We won't lose 3-4 games in a row.

I can absolutely see us losing three in a row with that schedule.

[Tyler2106]

I can absolutely see us losing three in a row with that schedule.

Only time will tell. I'm staying optimistic, but not expecting a great season. I think we'll stay competitive, maybe beat a team we shouldn't, and stay within wild card contention most of the season. The team isn't going to role over and give up. We have good pieces in place.

[HoganIsGOAT]

Only time will tell. I'm staying optimistic, but not expecting a great season. I think we'll stay competitive, maybe beat a team we shouldn't, and stay within wild card contention most of the season. The team isn't going to role over and give up. We have good pieces in place.

I appreciate the optimism. We lost two in a row last season with Tom Brady and a better defense.

Losing three in a row is very possible with the team we’ll field combined with that schedule.

Fortunately, they’re adding an extra playoff team so anything can happen.

[128]

2 years losing will equal 2 year with less revenue coming in - nobody is going to pay $50 parking $10 a drink when is 10F to watch a team lose by 20pts

Why does it have to be 2 years? If we suck this year we'll be coming out of it with high draft picks + 100 million in cap space to reload and not suck 2021.

Team got worse, schedule got tougher, I don't see us making the playoffs without a miracle so I'd much rather us be 4-12 than 8-8 or some ****.

[camaleom]

Watching last night "The Last Dance" brings the feels about the Patriots... Since then Bull shave been somewhat irrelevant with a good season here and there

History won't be kind to BB if he can't build a winning team again (Jerry Krause cough cough...); it is all about the team WHEN you have those special players like Mike, Tom, etc...

[camaleom]

Why does it have to be 2 years? If we suck this year we'll be coming out of it with high draft picks + 100 million in cap space to reload and not suck 2021.

Team got worse, schedule got tougher, I don't see us making the playoffs without a miracle so I'd much rather us be 4-12 than 8-8 or some ****.

how many teams do this? even team with mind numbing cap space can't seem to be able to do it - it is not as easy as it sound.

[camaleom]

I can absolutely see us losing three in a row with that schedule.

right on point - add the lack of weapons and it can get ugly pretty fast.

put it this way: This O as stands today is worst than last years O (not even talking about the QB).

[Tyler2106]

Jeezus, ya'll are a bunch of beaten down, pessimists. We don't even know the final roster, we haven't seen anyone's progress, we haven't even had the draft, the season hasn't started, we don't know who the QB will be, etc and you are acting like we can't be a competitive team.

In case you didn't realize, we can be a good team without Brady.

[AlBHappy]

I HATE the Patriots new uniforms. They have silver helmets but no silver in either of them. The piping on the road jersey doesn't match the piping on the road pants.

I don't want Pat Patriots back, believe me, but these are awful.

How about a white helmet with Elvis and add a little more red?

Then again, have the Yankees, Celtics or Canadiens ever changed their uniforms? Didn't think so.

Yuck



Yuckier



They scream 6-10

[GarthVader]

Home is not that bad but I agree about the silver. I'm not a fan of the away unis at all.

[ohiostate124]

They need to use white or silver pants for the away unis.

[meep316]

These better be a stop gap until they get good again. Can't stand the color rush uniforms and the new whites are terrible.

I want to keep silver helmets but if that's the case you have to have silver on the jerseys. It looks stupid otherwise. If you're going to remove the silver from the jerseys then go with white helmets and white pants. The stripes on the shoulders are large and tacky looking. AWFUL. F+

[AlBHappy]

The red white and blue are just thrown together. If matched white pants with the road, I could come around on them.

Best road uni's they ever had were the GB/NE Super Bowl ones . Those were perfection. Also the 1976 jerseys.

[Tyler2106]

The blue color rush jerseys I like, but the white doesn't look good

[GarthVader]

I don't like the stripes on the shoulders. The ones on the home uni look OKAY but they look terrible on the white jerseys.

[128]

how many teams do this? even team with mind numbing cap space can't seem to be able to do it - it is not as easy as it sound.

Difference is we have the best head coach.

It might not be easy but if you think about it, the majority of once bad teams were able to turn themselves into playoff teams with high draft picks/solid FA moves. And in 2021 we'll have the cap space and hopefully draft capital to make it even easier.