Right now in front of us there is an unprecedented dominance going on in the world of sports. The New England Patriots are almost redefining the word dynasty. Since their first Super Bowl Championship against the Rams in 2001 (and here we are again, 18 years later, seeing the same two teams) they have been unfathomably great. The consistency with which they have won is astounding. They will have made the Super Bowl 9 times in 19 tries, including the last 3 in a row. In those 19 years, they will have only missed the playoffs once. The dynamic duo of Brady and Belichick will have made the Super Bowl more times than any franchise in history, except the Patriots themselves. Understandably, people are tired of the Patriots. Especially if you are a fan in the AFC, half the Super Bowls in this century will have been represented by the red white and blue. Everyone roots against the Patriots, and they are becoming one of the most hated franchises in the NFL. And there is no sign of the dominance declining. But we cannot let our jealousy as fans get in the way of appreciating (not necessarily liking) something truly unique taking place right in front of our eyes. It is easy to ignore or discredit what they are doing, and wishing that the Patriots nightmare will finally end. That however, would be a disservice to yourself as a sports fan, because this Patriot run deserves to be acknowledged now, and missed when it is gone.
Every year we love to say, the Patriots are done. You can point to numerous articles posted after every Patriots loss, "the dynasty is finally over" but it never is. Like Thanos says, "dread it, run from it, destiny (or the Patriots) still arrives." Even now, a story line that many writers wish they could go with for Super Bowl 53 is the ascension of the young hot Rams vs. the final descent of the old Patriots. LA, the trendy, young city, versus the old streets of Boston, steeped in history. But you can't. The Patriots show no sign of decline. Tom Brady was at the height of his powers late in the AFC championship game, carving the Kansas City like the bar-b-que brisket they are famous for. Belichick, while perhaps growing more ornery every year, still masterminds performances game after game. Shutting out Mahomes and the best offense in the league in the 1st half of the aforementioned AFC game, and thoroughly dominating the LA Chargers, a team many thought was the strongest on paper. He continues to cycle through whatever random players he can put together, like Rex Burkhead resurfacing to score his only rushing touchdowns of the season in these last two playoff games. The Patriots year after year to find gems in the draft despite having a 30th or below pick every year, like Sony Michel, who looks like he will be a top 10 running back for the next five years. No matter who is on the team (even a Tom Brady-less Patriots team won 11 games and somehow barely missed the playoffs) the Patriots resist any attempt to balance them and just win. They've even survived multiple scandals and penalties by the league itself. But they still arrive. When will Brady and Belichick be done? Belichick may actually have to pass away before he is out of the league. Brady will probably play to an age no one thought possible for a football player. But all things do come to an end sometime. Maybe not next year, maybe not even in five years, but eventually, time catches up to all men, and the Patriots dynasty will actually be over. I say all these things to point out that the Patriots are truly, wonderfully special.
No team dominates like the Patriots, and I think that is under appreciated. We need to make sure we soak up as much of this Patriots team as we can, because we will never see anything like it again. For a team in this league to succeed like they have in these 20 years, it will never be done a second time. And the way they succeed is nothing but admirable. They win within the financial rules of the game, a system designed to have ebbs and flows of teams. They win without stars at every position. And they have done it for so darn long. No other team can say they dominate like this. The Yankees in baseball, or some teams in European soccer have similar dominance, but all play in an uncapped league, where they can quite literally buy the best players and assemble them together. The Warriors in the NBA may have a better 5 year stretch than anything the Patriots have, but that window will not last even 10 years, much less twenty, and they were able to get extremely fortunate with a bunch of dominoes falling exactly right to do what they will do. No, this Patriots team is truly unique. I cannot say to fans of the AFC teams that the Patriots consistently trod "shut up and enjoy." But I do ask that we understand the magnitude of this Patriots team. This is a team our generation will grow up telling our children about. That we got to see the Patriots at the height of their powers, the greatest team of all time. We can hate the Patriots, but they demand our respect, both now and forever. Just like everything else they've done, they've more than earned it.