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Patriots must beat Rams to be considered dynasty

6 min read

There’s a lot riding on today’s Super Bowl, especially for the New England Patriots.

The Patriots are either going to match the Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins in franchise history or they’re going to set a record for the most Super Bowl losses when they play the Los Angeles Rams at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Of course, all five of the Patriots’ Super Bowl victories have come since Tom Brady took over as the team’s starting quarterback in 2001. Since then, coach Bill Belichick’s teams have reached the NFL’s championship game nine times. Add the two others the franchise has played in and New England will be playing in its 11th Super Bowl.

But does that make the Patriots a dynasty? That word gets thrown around a lot. But does it include this current group of Patriots? Should they be considered among the Packers of the 1960s, the Steelers of the 1970s, the 49ers of the 1980s or Cowboys of the 1990s as one of the league’s greatest dynasties?

Certainly, the fact the Patriots will be making their fifth appearance in the NFL’s championship game since 2011 is remarkable. But the only things this current team has with the Patriots’ four trips – three wins – in common with the teams from 2001 to 2007 are Brady and Belichick and a pair of assistant coaches, offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia and defensive backs coach Josh Boyer.

There were 21 players who played on all three of the Patriots’ Super Bowl wins between 2001 and 2004. If this current group wins today, the Patriots will have 13 players who have won three between 2014 and 2018.

That’s some serious roster turnover.

But a loss Sunday would give this group of Patriots two in a row and three in the past eight years. That’s not exactly Buffalo Bills-type failure on the league’s biggest stage but it’s working its way into the conversation. You might recall the Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993.

Nobody is calling that team a dynasty.

The Patriots have won two Super Bowls in that time period, beating the Seahawks in 2014 and Falcons in 2016. But a loss to the Rams would mean the Patriots are only 2-4 in the Super Bowl since winning three from 2001 to 2004.

That does not a dynasty make.

So, the Patriots have a little more riding on this game than usual.

Ironically enough, New England’s first Super Bowl win in the Belichick-Brady era came against the Rams, albeit the St. Louis Rams, at the end of the 2001 season.

That kicked off what has been an amazing run of winning. The Patriots of 2001 to 2004 certainly qualify for dynasty status. They won three titles in four seasons.

And a victory over the Rams in this game would give the Patriots a second claim at a dynasty with three Super Bowl wins in five years. But they are most decidedly two separate entities connected only by Brady and Belichick.

A loss, however, would mean this current group is only a good, not great, team and should not be considered among the league’s best of all-time.

  • Speaking at an EA Sports event in Atlanta, Antonio Brown basically said this whole thing between he and the Steelers is a misunderstanding.

“I think what people didn’t understand is that football is a job,” Brown said. “You can’t miss and not show up, they’ll take your check. A lot of things went on and a lot of communication and a lot of facts wasn’t being said. It shows me who got me. Through all of the adversity, through the storm, you see how people feel.”

If by “people,” Brown meant himself, then it means he finally gets it. If by “people,” Brown meant everyone else, then not so much.

See, we all understand that football is a job and you can’t not show up. The question is, does Brown understand that?

  • Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has contacted the Steelers and let them know the wide receiver will be in contact with the team soon.

We’ll see what comes out of that. But the expectation remains that he’ll be playing elsewhere in 2019.

Expect trade talks to start to heat up toward the end of the month when the NFL holds its annual Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

If you’ll recall, that’s where Kansas City agreed to send quarterback Alex Smith to Washington a year ago in a deal that was completed once the new league year began.

  • If you watched the Pro Bowl last weekend – judging by the ratings it had 8.6 million viewers, so many of you did – you saw a game that barely resembled an NFL game.

It was more like a glorified practice.

But as long as people keep watching, the league will continue to play it.

This week’s pick

Patriots minus 2½ over Rams: The Rams might be more talented than the Patriots but what they are not is more experienced on this stage. More important, Rams quarterback Jared Goff is nowhere near as experienced as Brady. And that will likely show up on this stage. The Patriots also run the ball well, which is the Achilles’ heel of this Rams defense. Though the Rams allowed only 98 yards rushing in two playoff wins, they allowed 11 opponents to rush for 100 or more yards in the regular season. If the Patriots can get their running game going and protect Brady, who has not been sacked in two playoff wins, then the Rams are going to be in for a long day. Pitt product Aaron Donald will be critical for Los Angeles. Donald is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and is the favorite to win the award again this season. If he can be disruptive and get to Brady, the Rams will have a good chance to win. Either way, it promises to be a close game. Of the Patriots’ preview eight Super Bowls in the Brady-Belichick era, all have been decided by eight points or less. The difference here is that Goff has thrown seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions in his past seven games. This has the look of a 27-24 Patriots victory.

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