The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

On Mike and Mike this morning, there was some discussion around the Patriot's playoff record since the video taping scandal broke.  The scandal broke in the year that the Pats lost to the Giants in the SB.  They have lost 3 straight post season games since that time.  It was also suggested that the Patriots hadn't won a significant/meaningful game since the scandal broke. 
It was further suggested that the Patriots only won because they were cheating by taping the opposing teams illegally; and without that advantage, Belichick has been out coached in the key games against the Giants, Ravens and now the Jets. 

While I think this is interesting, and can be used to annoy Patriot fans by suggesting that the 3 titles are tainted, I'm not ready to bury the Pats.  I will say that I think Belichick has been out coached in these key games, however he still ranks at the very top of the coaching ranks.   It's hard to win consistently, and the Pats have proven to be a dominant team that is regularly in the hunt.  In addition, this was suppose to be a rebuilding year for the Pats, and they have overachieved with a lot of young talent, especially on defense.  When I look at the strength of the Patriots current roster, and I think about all the draft picks they have, it's pretty depressing. 

I would say that Bellichick is a coaching genius, despite losing the last 3 post-season games that they have participated in.

The Patriots went 16-0 and 18-1 overall in that '07 record-breaking campaign

but then:

Then, they went 11-5 without Tom Brady (that's a challenge in of itself) and missed the playoffs by a tie-braker.
Then, they went 10-6 and won the AFC East, but lost in the wild-card weekend
They then went 13-3 this season and won the AFC East again.

So, since the '07 season (the year of spy-gate), the Patriots have gone 34-14 in the regular season with 2 AFC East titles. Outside of Mike Tomlin, I doubt there's any other coach with that 3-year resume currently in the NFL.

Their playoff record since the scandal broke is actually 2-3, not 0-2 (technically the scandal broke after week 1 of the '07 season, and the Patriots went on to the Super Bowl by beating the Jags and the Chargers I believe in that same season, which is 2 wins).

He somehow manages to wring the best out of the talent that he has.

^ All of that above doesn't include the Bellichick "intangibles". Turning guys like Danny Woodcock into key players of the offense and dumping Randy Moss type guys.

I actually expect the Patriots to once again be serious contenders in 2011.

I still think that he is.  Your sample size is very small, and you're only looking at the playoffs (including cases where they had a bye going in).  In short, it's the Pats vs. very good NFL teams.  The Pats have still been a force in the NFL and have regularly been a contender each year.

This game was the Jets SB. They had to win it. They pulled out all the stops to get pumped up for the game.
For christ's sake, they brought in Dennis Byrd to speak and carried his jersey for motivation. That is a little extreme for a game that is not for the AFC title or the SB.
What is Rexie going to pull out for this week?

Despite really not liking him, I'd say Bellicheat is probably the best coach in the NFL.

Belichik is  cheater.  Also, it isn't that belichik is such a genius, but a lot of nfl coaches are abysmal at gameday strategy/ clock management.

i smell bullshit.  it is the playoffs. the pats should have been just as pumped to play the jets.