The demise of the NE Patriots?

Hazys

A lot of people are saying that the Patriots are on a decline after losing a large amount of their backroom staff, Brady’s injury and the fact that in the salary cap era nobody can stay at the top forever.

Backroom staff lost so far:

GM/Player Personnel Pioli
OC/QB Coach McDaniels
2ndary Coach Capers
ST Coach Seeley

Pioli and McDaniels are big losses. There is a good chance that Brady may never comeback as strong after a very serious injury.

On the upside for the Patriots is that they have an excellently managed roster in terms of salary, 3 picks in the top 60 in this year’s draft not to mention anything they might get for Cassel.

I think as long as we have Belichick and Kraft running the organization we are going to be there or there about each season, but obviously I’m biased, but what are the opinions of non Pats fans?

What about the Colts after losing Dungy?

kryogen

The Patriots will survive and come back stronger imo as long as Bill is in charge, he is a very shrewd operater and has a good knack of developing those around him to help him achieve his goals

The Colts on the other hand, well its gonna be hard to rule them out as long as they have Peyton Manning in the team! they will always be a threat with him around, but they really need to revamp the running game which was non existent this season

eagle eye

Who is saying all this garbage about our team?

Tom Brady is the King, don't ever forget it, he will be back and better than ever. Maroney will be back as well. We were missing the biggest NFL offensive weapon in football Tom Brady, and also another crucial offensive weapon for us, that being Lawrence Maroney and we still went 11-5.

Obviously we have places that need to be addressed in our team but as you say, with our picks in the draft and any deals that might come our way we should be in as good, if not better shape than we were in 2007.

Don't mind all the coaches, they are important but as long as we have Bill at the helm, we will be fine in that department as he has made all those guys that he brought in.

On the Colts, I will look at it with interest to see how they do. Manning is superb and will no doubt continue to impress, but Dungy might be a bigger loss than a lot of people think. I've seen it here with guys saying us Pats can be successful because of our coach, but that Dungy is not as important as Manning in Indy, I don't know about that.

Hazys

Another blow to the colts is that they have just lost their DC who has been with the team since 2001.

Two of their main defensive brains are now gone, which may huge since they have had a very good and consistent defence where at one stage only 25% of the salary cap was spent on defensive players

davyjose

The fact that within 3 posts this turned into a "are the Colts in decline", rather than the Pats probably says it all. Bill & Tom = success ALWAYS, whether you like it or not. On the same subject, disregard Peyton at your peril (no, please ... disregard him, please).

Colts get a decent RB, or at least their OL learn how to create room for the run, and a fit Defense and we're back in it. TBH, Dungy - for all his legendary status - was starting to lose his edge.

So in all probability threr'll be a Colts/Pats AFC title game next season...... Aaahh, just like old times

tallaghtoutlaws

Im not going to explain my answer in depth. But no way are we in Decline. Pioli did alot of great work in the backroom but can be replaced. His decisions dont affect Bill's gameplan. Josh Mc turned out to be a good O Coord but again replaceable. When Charlie Weiss left people doubted we could replace him and we did. All is good in the hood.

Hazys

According to the latest odds from Las Vegas, the Patriots are favourites to win the 2010 Superbowl

============================================
TEAM ODDS
============================================
New England Patriots 6-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 7-1
New York Giants 8-1
Indianapolis Colts 8-1
Dallas Cowboys 9-1
Baltimore Ravens 11-1
Carolina Panthers 12-1
Philadelphia Eagles 12-1
Tennessee Titans 12-1
San Diego Chargers 14-1
Arizona Cardinals 15-1
Atlanta Falcons 16-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Green Bay Packers 20-1
Minnesota Vikings 22-1
Miami Dolphins 25-1
Washington Redskins 25-1
New York Jets 28-1
Chicago Bears 28-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-1
Denver Broncos 35-1
Houston Texans 40-1
San Francisco 49ers 40-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Seattle Seahawks 60-1
Cleveland Browns 60-1
Cincinnati Bengals 75-1
St. Louis Rams 100-1
Kansas City Chiefs 100-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Detroit Lions 150-1
============================================

You'd be crazy to put money down now but its interesting tho

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aA41yNPr7XMI&refer=home

de5p0i1er

Belichick always winds a way to get things done, I'm sure they'll stay afloat.