OT: This was not the Patriots year. We knew that.

[upstater]

I'm from New Haven. Graduated HS in '95. I had a social studies teacher who was a Pats fan. My best friend Mike, who didn't care about sports, said he was a Pats fan because it made him unique. That's it. I literally knew 2 Patriots fans. And one of them was a Pats fan to be rebellious. College was when I finally met a huge Pats fan.

My uncle, born and bred in Marblehead, was a huge Niners fan...up until 2001. He denies it now, says he just liked Montana. OK.

I don't blame people for jumping on the bandwagon--Brady is the GOAT in my mind, and it's not really close--but let's not pretend it's the not the biggest bandwagon in sports history. There were a complete afterthought in New England until B&B. Diehard Pats fans between 1985 and 2001 were scarce.

Anyway, I don't mean to argue on a bad night for you. Pats have had an amazing run and they've got as good a chance as anyone at winning next year.

All I can tell you I've been following them for a very long time.

In fact, this name upstater comes from the Pts AOL boards (Bill Simmons was a regular there) in the early to mid 1990s.

Used to drive up to Sullivan Stadium regularly with 4 friends in the 1980s.

Used to take the T down there from Boston in the late 1980s.

Contracted a bad case of pneumonia when I showed up underdressed, drank too much, and froze on the T back to Boston.

Also, you graduated in 1995. Which explains a lot. Your generation lived through the worst era in Patriots history.

I am not surprised you knew hardly any people who were fans of Victor Kiam, Tommy Hodson, Hugh Millen, Dick McPherson and Rod Rust. Honestly, that is not surprising. Those 5 guys and their 1 win a year drove the Patriots fandom underground. It is telling that they immediately sold out the stadium when Parcells was hired, and they've never looked back. I graduated a decade before you and my friends and I got see the Fairbanks and Raymond Berry years. A bit different than Kiam/Rust.

 

[AntG168]

UConn has just as many fans as ever now!

Anyhow, yes, I lived through Fairbanks, Erhardt, Meyer, Rod Rust and Dick McPherson. Given the tenor of this board lately and the complete disloyalty to UConn, you can bet that these guys would never have stuck with a team through those 2 decades. Then again, the majority of these guys are lame Yankees fans. Talk about frontrunners.

You’re born a yankee fan. I’m s yankee fan the same way I’m a black male lol

 

[Rocktheworld]

Tom Brady will forget about that fumble at about 8:30 tomorrow morning when he wakes and finds out that he’s still Tom Brady.

Lol no. Big miss there.

 

[Fishy]

The plucky upstart Patriots, gate-to-wire favorites for this year’s Super Bowl, are already the favorites for next year’s Super Bowl.

Patriots +$450
Eagles +$600

 

[KemBaller]

The plucky upstart Patriots, gate-to-wire favorites for this year’s Super Bowl, are already the favorites for next year’s Super Bowl.

Patriots +$450
Eagles +$600

You should stick to one liners. You need an editor for anything over that.

 

[mauconnfan]

You have to get to Super Bowls to win and lose them. I've watched my team in 10 of them. Lost half of them. I will be over this one the quickest of all.

Rodney Harrison was not wrong when he said, "How in the world are the Patriots even in the Super Bowl with this defense?" He already had the answers to that question though: Brady and Gronk.

Please they won 8 games in a row and gave up an average 12 points a game during this streak with people applauding their excellence so cut the crap trying to make someone else so tremendous. The Eagles had a very good defense and Schwartz was pitiful...... people were wide open his DBacks were nowhere to be found while he got zero pass rush for the most part. D was not a huge part of the game on either side until the strip.

 

[mauconnfan]

UConn has just as many fans as ever now!

Anyhow, yes, I lived through Fairbanks, Erhardt, Meyer, Rod Rust and Dick McPherson. Given the tenor of this board lately and the complete disloyalty to UConn, you can bet that these guys would never have stuck with a team through those 2 decades. Then again, the majority of these guys are lame Yankees fans. Talk about frontrunners.

Yankee fans are front runners hilarious coming from a fan base who started wearing their stuff in 2004 again in both football and baseball lol..... rough night huh. Love it

 

[Deepster]

I have three high school school friends who followed the Cowboys, Giants and Titans/Oilers. They are all now “die hard” Pats fans and have season tickets. Every time I see them they’re wearing something with a Pats logo on it. The Giants fan even had a license plate on his truck that he got saying GNTFAN.

These are your typical fans. I don’t doubt there are actual die hards but the overwhelming majority of that fan base is made up of guys like this.

 

[August_West]

My uncle, born and bred in Marblehead, was a huge Niners fan...up until 2001. He denies it now, says he just liked Montana. OK.

What's not to like? He's the GOAT.

 

[FriarJ]

Strange take given that the Patriots were favored to win the Super Bowl from like last February, but all right.

And Tom Brady is still pretty good. Yes, he’d be the third-best quarterback on the Eagles and he’d have to play blocker or something at the Manning family flag football games, but there’s no shame in that. He’s still the best Tom Brady.

Not even funny. Way below your standards. Sorry not sorry your team sucks.

 

[FriarJ]

BTW, both reviews on Eagles TDs were called correctly. So pats fans can Shut up about that. On the second especially, clearly he was a runner regardless of what chris c wants to say.

I also do not get how CT residents can be Pats fans...

LOL, Connecticut is the most screwed up state and it not even close. Money, taxes, corruption, crime, poverty. on top of all that a complete and utter identity crisis. Yeah a NE state should not be rooting for NE. SMH

 

[upstater]

Please they won 8 games in a row and gave up an average 12 points a game during this streak with people applauding their excellence so cut the crap trying to make someone else so tremendous. The Eagles had a very good defense and Schwartz was pitiful. people were wide open his DBacks were nowhere to be found while he got zero pass rush for the most part. D was not a huge part of the game on either side until the strip.

32nd in defense. Faced fewest offensive possessions of any team. Faced worst field position. I said all this on Patsfans board well before the game. Barnwell nailed this one: The best Eagles-Patriots preview you'll read: Barnwell makes his Super Bowl pick

Here it is: "One of the reasons Foles might be able to enjoy some success on Sunday is that the Patriots' defense simply hasn't been very good in 2017. Raw numbers note that the Pats finished fifth in points allowed at 18.5 per game, which makes them look like a dominant defense. As I mentioned on Monday, New England simultaneously finished 31st in defensive DVOA, suggesting it is one of the worst defenses in the league.

How can a defense simultaneously be great and abysmal? Context. Raw numbers don't account for the fact that the Patriots' offense makes its defense's life as easy as possible. The average Patriots drive on offense included a league-high 6.2 plays, keeping their defense fresh and off the field for long stretches of time. The New England defense faced just 172 possessions this season, the fifth fewest in football and 12 below the league average. Contrast that to the Jaguars, who finished second in points allowed and faced 204 possessions. That's nearly three additional games worth of drives to defend.

In addition, that incredible Patriots offense rarely turns the ball over and delivers the defense consistently excellent field position. Only the Chiefs turned the ball over less frequently than the Patriots on a per-possession basis in 2017. Brady & Co. turned over the ball just 6.9 percent of the time, substantially lower than the league average (11.4 percent). Only two teams went three-and-out less frequently."

As a result, the defense almost never faced a short field. The average defense in 2017 had to face just over 17 possessions that began on its own side of the field. The Patriots went up against just five of those possessions, and two of them were the Chiefs and Dolphins kneeling at the end of their victories. (If we remove drives in the final two minutes to get rid of kneel-downs, the Patriots faced three, and the league average was 15.5.)"

 

[8893]

LOL, Connecticut is the most screwed up state and it not even close. Money, taxes, corruption, crime, poverty. on top of all that a complete and utter identity crisis. Yeah a NE state should not be rooting for NE. SMH

This from a Providence fan who posts here because he can't find another one.

The ghost of Buddy Cianci says hi.

 

[FriarJ]

This from a Providence fan who posts here because he can't find another one.

The ghost of Buddy Cianci says hi.

whatever, ancient history, and it doesnt change what a mess CT. is. somebody wondering how a NE state could have fans rooting for a team named NE is silly. Unless of course NY is CT.'s daddy. As I said, screwed up.

 

[beasteast]

Up until 2004, none of them were.

I went to UConn for four years and didn’t meet a single Patriots fan.

*** comment of the thread!!! . i am 53 years old and didnt know any Pats fans.... turned down tickets to Schaffer/Sullivan Stadiums on a weekly basis. was not until the Tuna arrived that things started to change... now everywhere i go , people my age are die hard Pats fans....

 

[Bonehead]

Patriots have plenty of blame to go around from offense, defense and ST.
4 possessions inside the 40 in the first half and 6 points That's on the offense.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

My brother was a die hard skins fan, up until he was 32 in 2004. Now it's all about the Pats. Naming his dogs after players and stuff. His wife was a Raiders fan, now also big Pats fan. There was some definite bandwagon jumping.

 

[nomar]

All I can tell you I've been following them for a very long time.

In fact, this name upstater comes from the Pts AOL boards (Bill Simmons was a regular there) in the early to mid 1990s.

Used to drive up to Sullivan Stadium regularly with 4 friends in the 1980s.

Used to take the T down there from Boston in the late 1980s.

Contracted a bad case of pneumonia when I showed up underdressed, drank too much, and froze on the T back to Boston.

Also, you graduated in 1995. Which explains a lot. Your generation lived through the worst era in Patriots history.

I am not surprised you knew hardly any people who were fans of Victor Kiam, Tommy Hodson, Hugh Millen, Dick McPherson and Rod Rust. Honestly, that is not surprising. Those 5 guys and their 1 win a year drove the Patriots fandom underground. It is telling that they immediately sold out the stadium when Parcells was hired, and they've never looked back. I graduated a decade before you and my friends and I got see the Fairbanks and Raymond Berry years. A bit different than Kiam/Rust.

Didn't mean to suggest you weren't a long-time diehard.

 

[whaler11]

BTW from New Haven to Foxboro is 128 miles and it’s 81 to Met Life. I don’t know if that’s the same..

 

[nomar]

whatever, ancient history, and it doesnt change what a mess CT. is. somebody wondering how a NE state could have fans rooting for a team named NE is silly. Unless of course NY is CT.'s daddy. As I said, screwed up.

Doesn't seem you understand the basis for his comment. The Patriots used CT as leverage to get a new stadium. Personally, I don't think that's a reason for someone to stop liking their favorite team, but your reaction was uninformed. You should have wondered why he said that, rather than make a blanket comment about a state based on ignorance.

 

[auggie22]

Because I know what I’m talking about? Pats fans in CT started appearing after they hired Parcells. Congrats on being the only kid in New Haven that liked them.

Well there were at least two. I come from a family of giants fans with the exception of my father. I have been a Pats fan my whole life. There were some lean early years there while Bill and Bill were making hay in the meadowlands.

 

[The Funster]

In a couple of years the Pats fans will start falling by the wayside again. Just about every Pats fan at work has a "second team", lol.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

We knew this wasn't their year? Kind of a bizarre excuse to throw out there minutes after the conclusion of a Super Bowl when you're team held a lead towards the end of the 4th quarter.

It wasn't the Giants season. They sucked and went 3-13. Not sure the same thing can be said about the Patriots.

 

[temery]

In a couple of years the Pats fans will start falling by the wayside again. Just about every Pats fan at work has a "second team", lol.

Those poor UConn fans who have been saying, "well, at least we have the Patriots!"

 

[upstater]

BTW from New Haven to Foxboro is 128 miles and it’s 81 to Met Life. I don’t know if that’s the same..

Depends on NY traffic and the GW Bridge. 1:40 to Foxboro.