End of the Dynasty?

[l2RDO]

Weve seen so many teams fall a long way after losing the Superbowl. Could this loss mean the end of the Pats dynasty?

Will veterans still take less money to come play here? - Losing the Superbowl really puts a damper on that "winning atmosphere" aura we had.

Will Moss, Stallworth, Gaffney, and Assante be back next year? - I cant imagine us having a chance losing some or all of those guys. Hobbs has proven he isnt a #1 corner, and all our work retooling the WR corps will be gone, and with all our other holes, we cant afford that.

Will Seau retire? What about some of our other older players like Bruschi, Vrabel, Faulk, Rodney etc? Even if they DONT retire, are they going to have enough left in the tank to contribute on a contending team next year? - Rodney and Bruschi have clearly lost a step. Seau was great this year, but he was running on pure emotion. Vrabel has hinted at retirement before.

What do you guys think? I suspect Im overreacting a bit due to the incredible state of depression Im in, but it does seem possible given the recent history of other Superbowl losers.

[UrbanLegendMD]

That defense needs to be retooled, but as long as Brady is there, they will be all right. SF pick gets traded for a nice package, and you will find yourself with a young great defense in three years. Pats dynasty is not over yet.

[wigglestrue]

I wouldn't be shocked if the Pats went as far in improving their defense this season as they went improving their offense last offseason. I also wouldn't be shocked if they trade away most of the picks this year (including #7) for impact vets. Dynasty is far from over.

[Bleeding Green]

7th pick in the draft, Moss and Samuel want to come back apparently, Tom Brady is still here, Belichick is still here.

Doubt it. As long as Brady and the current coaching staff and FO are here, I can't imagine they'll have a down year. Perhaps they won't win 3 more Super Bowls, but they should continue to win at least 11-12 games until something drastic changes. They'll almost certainly be the favorites next year by Vegas odds.

[The Rondo Show]

Tom Brady is 30 years old and not 40 years old, so no...far from over.

Belichick just re-signed until 2013, Brady has another 5 or so elite to very good years left in him and they've got quite a bit of young talent (Maroney, Mankins, Welker, Wilfork, Warren and the list goes on and on).

The Patriots are still the best team in the NFL and if Moss is back, will be the favorites to win it all. Pencil this team in for 11 wins right now (if Samuel and Moss are gone and all we add is our #7 pick) then continue to add wins as the Patriots get better as the off-season goes on (bump them up to 12-13 if Moss re-signs, 14 as they improve the D, etc.).

That loss sure sucked, but they'll be back.

[l2RDO]

I wouldn't be shocked if the Pats went as far in improving their defense this season as they went improving their offense last offseason. I also wouldn't be shocked if they trade away most of the picks this year (including #7) for impact vets. Dynasty is far from over.

I honestly believe they will try, my fear is that we could lose all that retooling we spent on the offense, AND lose what little we had in our defense as well. Only Welker is signed for next year, and if the rest of those guys want too much money, I doubt we will give it to them. Its been a couple of days tho, and im begining to accept that we actually lost. So I have a little more hope for next year.

[Basketball Jesus]

Maybe some good will come from this loss; this team desperately needs help on the offensive line, in the secondary, and three or four new linebackers.

This offseason will probably be the most critical of Belichick

[cfan79]

This is the dumbest question I've ever seen. We went 18 and 1. This team will be back to kicking ass next season.

[l2RDO]

Maybe some good will come from this loss; this team desperately needs help on the offensive line, in the secondary, and three or four new linebackers.

This offseason will probably be the most critical of Belichick

[Basketball Jesus]

What do you mean by complete overhaul? The secondary needs upgrading and the LB corps is old-ish (though Thomas, Vrabel, and Colvin don't seem to be slowing down much aside from Colvin's injury), and things are uncertain with Moss and Stallworth. What else? They could use a legit LT and slide Light over to RT where he'd probably be really good.

Well, if you consider that Samuel is as good as gone (I can't see New England picking up his price tag with Moss' fate still undecided); the secondary, outside of Sanders, Hobbs, and Meriwether, the team is going to need to fill some very important spots in the secondary. They have no #1 corner, their #2 guy (Hobbs) played like junk down the stretch, and their top draft pick last season was wildly inconsistent. Meriweather may still be good, but to count on him as a #1 or #2 guy in the secondary is a lot to ask. Not to mention that Randall Gay, Eugene Wilson, and a few other depth guys are all UFAs and most likely won't be back. You're probably looking at filling 4-5 spots in the secondary with outside players.

The linebacking corp is strong in Thomas and Colvin; Vrabel was great this year but can you really trust a player his age to repeat? Bruschi and Seau, while good, teeter on retirement. Best case scenario you replace 2.

Defensive front is solid.

Offensive line: aside from the guards, nobody played top-quality consistently enough. Koppen was great at time, decidedly mediocre at others. Both tackles need replacing. Moving Light to the right may help there but you'd still need a LT to take his place. They don't grow (cheaply) on trees.

RBs: Everybody's locked up under contract for a few years and Maroney/Morris make a fine tandem for this offense.

QB: Matt Cassell is a stud.

WR: If Moss goes, they should be OK with depth but they

[l2RDO]

WR: If Moss goes, they should be OK with depth but they

[Dirty Water]

This is the dumbest question I've ever seen. We went 18 and 1. This team will be back to kicking ass next season.

It's a crushing loss.

This is my first visit back to this board since the loss. So I feel like as a hugely avid Pats fan that the last week or so was hard. I play pickup basketball the the last few months 3 times a week with an avid Giants fan. We played and talked and now eventually I'm over it. As a sports fan, this was the most devastating loss I've suffered through. It even tops Red Sox 2003 Game 7 ALCS for me, just because you KNEW the sox were going to choke that away. This loss was inexcusable. Or was it? We ran into a team that wanted it more and was edgy.

Think of how many games the Pats stole away from the Manning family the past 5 years. So we blew some big games. We also stole some big games those years. So I guess I will try to get over it. The Record setting season is what did it in for me. This team went down in history as choking it away, it's very hard to put up with that as a fan of the team.

Well I'm sure in about 5 months I will be as ready as ever to open up training camp because all the pieces from this 2007 team seem to still want to play here. Of course defense is the big issue. Who is retiring? Anyone? I haven't heard any announcements yet. I've got to say we will be competitive through this decade as long as we have Tom Brady in his prime. When was the last time you remember this guy missing a game? Oh that's right.... never. Brett Favre has proved that great QBs can play into their late 30s and I'm convinced as long as we have Brady and the coaching staff we will find a way to have winning seasons for years to come. Management will give us the tools and Brady will flat out win.

[GossipOnSports]

Wait until next year. The Pats were denied two years in a row by a Manning. They'll have another winning (though not undefeated) regular season and then bust it out during playoffs. Look ahead to 2009 because we'll be at the Big Dance again.

[Celts09]

That defense needs to be retooled, but as long as Brady is there, they will be all right. SF pick gets traded for a nice package, and you will find yourself with a young great defense in three years. Pats dynasty is not over yet.

if McFadden is available i think we should get him otherwise trade th pick