As the first decade of the 21 century is coming to a close on the weekend I thought what was the best team (franchise) in the NFL for this time period and this is what I came up with the New England Patriots.
To start the run to fourth Superbowl appearances and 3 championships of 4 season like most things happened when people lest respected it with your francise quarterback Drew Bledsoe (just signed a 10/100m contract) gets hurt in the second game of the 2001 season and is out for the rest of the season. Then a 6-round pick in Tom Brady comes in and after starting the season 0-2 in the following 14 games of the season Brady guided the Patriots to a 11-3 record and the 6 of the season. Then on a snowy day on January 22Nd,2002 @ Foxboro Stadium where for the first and only time in NFL history a rule called the Tuck Rule where it was ruled that Brady's arm was going forward as he was sacked which overturned a fumble call on the field that would of ended the game but instead the Patriots were able to kick a game-tying 47 yard field goal to send the game to overtime where the Patriots beat the Raiders, 16-13. Then beat the Steelers and then the defending Superbowl champions the St. Louis Rams @ superbowl XXXVI and Tom Brady was named superbowl MVP and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48 yard field goal on the last play of the superbowl to win it for the Patroits.
Bill Belichick is the mastermind of the team of the decade because the team has allows prided themselves on their defense and when palyers left the defence for the big bucks else where he would be able to find through the draft, free agancy, or by trade and the team would not miss a beat. He has allows been able to come up with a game plan to win and more often they would (125 - 50 record in the 2000's even with a 5-11 record in 2000) and he has brought in average running backs and it has been enough to get the job done. Then the wide receivers have a been a group and not individuals and the best example of this that the team was more successful before Randy Moss (3 Superbowl championship) and after he left as the 2010 (13-2) is their best season since 2007 and it was looking like early in the season it was going to be a rebuilding season for the defense. Then he has brought back a wide receiver that was best in the Patriots system Deion Branch and Wes Welker is the quietist # 1 receiver on the best team in the NFL.
Adam Vinatieri was a huge part of the 3 superbowl in 4 seasons with the last play 48-yard field in 2002, a game winning 41-yard field goal in 2004, and finally a game deciding 22-yard field goal in 2005 and was key player for the Patriots before he went to the Colts for the money.
Tom Brady was leader of the team since 2001 and has 2 superbowl MVPs and was the NFL MVP for the 2007 season where he throw 50 TD passes where the Patriots were undefeated in the regular season (16-0). He has won 27 straight regular season home games and he also holds the record for most consecutive pass attempts (308) without an interception and has the five best passer rating with 95.0 of QBs who have thrown atleast 1500 passes while he is 15-3 in the playoffs.
But ofcourse the Patriots are not without their controversal moments with Eric Mangini (former Patriots assistant coach) blowing the whisile on the Patriots for video taping signal calling when he was the head coach of the New York Jets and also the Rams had a complaint about the Patriots having one of their people sticking around after their practice @ the Patriots-Rams Superbowl and video taped the practice. Then their is that one and only use of the tuck rule that won the Patriots-Raiders game for them because if it was called a fumble the game would have been over but instead it was the beginning of the decade of the Patriots.
Thanks for reading
Tom Mehegan
More @ tomiesworld.blogspot.com and tommehegan@twitter.com
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