The Patriots Dynasty, Expressed in Twitter Poll Form
There are an almost infinite number of ways to measure, quantify and assess this Patriots Dynasty. Believe me, I know. I’ve spend most of my adult life trying to invent new ones. And quite possibly, this could be the one that best does it.
It took a simple Twitter poll by one of the NFL’s media accounts to truly put into perspective the impossibly massive scale of their greatness. Sustained over such a long period of time that NFL Research had to cut it into halves just to be able to compare them to the 21st centuries only other sports dynasty.
It’s mind-boggling. Like one of those science videos that starts with the moon, compares its size to the Earth, then to Jupiter and works its way up to black holes that are beyond the comprehension of the human brain. But just to try to grasp the size of the Patriots Canis Majoris, they are an impossible catch by David Tyree and a Wes Welker drop away from having a third dynasty you could compare to the Warriors, from 2006-2013.
But fine. If they want to play it this way, let’s play. To state the obvious, the NBA by far the easiest league in which to build a great team. Tank. Get in the draft lottery. Get a top 10 player. Get him to recruit a top 10 free agent player. Fill in with a couple of role players to form a supporting cast. Max out on the salary cap. Boom. You can make a nice five year run like Golden State has. Any GM who’s not brain damaged could do the same.
Compare that to the Patriots. Losing key players in their prime to teams trying to transplant a winning organ from the Pats into their roster. Coordinators taking head coaching jobs every couple of years or so. Restocking the roster with late draft picks, middle-tier free agents and undrafted rookies. That is, when the NFL isn’t taking their draft picks away over nothing. And not to mention the multiple rules that have been changed as soon as New England established they were the best in the game at exploiting them. Let’s see how many Finals the Warriors would make if the NBA eliminated the 3-point line because Steph Curry made it unfair.
And with regard to sustaining a winner over 18 years (and counting), rather than compare the two distinct dynasties listed in the poll, let’s use the 2007 16-0 team as the fulcrum of this seesaw of dominance. Tom Brady had two teammates on his offense who were with him when the Dynasty began in 2001 and were still there in 2007: Kevin Faulk and Matt Light. He has just one teammate who was with him in 2007 and the 2018 Super Bowl champs: Stephen Gostkowski.
And yet they’ve not only sustained it, not just endured, they’ve thrived. Over an impossibly long period of time. Just to update a measurement I’ve used before just because it’s simple and says it better than any other stat I can think of, Brady right now is 237-70 in his career. That’s 167 games over .500. There are only five QBs in history with 155 or more wins altogether. And another: He’s now two postseason wins away from doubling Joe Montana’s previous record of 16. He’s lapping the field before our eyes as his team continues to flourish.
In fact, they’ve improved. This current iteration of the Bradichick Epoch is better than the earlier one included in the Tweet, which is borne out by the fact it’s leading the poll with 63%. Since 2007, no offense in the league has scored more points. Only a few have given up fewer points. They’re coming off their biggest margin of victory in their six Super Bowls while producing the only defensive effort I would compare to the time they held Peyton Manning’s Colts to 3 points in the playoffs.
And, based on the last couple of drafts, they might actually be better this coming year then last. Meaning I’ll probably do a poll of my own sometime down the road:
Which is the best dynasty:
Patriots, 2001-2005
Patriots, 2014-2018
Patriots, 2019-2024