The Real Reason the ‘Patriot Way’ Works

People tend to be on one side of the New England Patriots debate in the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era. It’s usually the Patriot haters on one side that whine that the Patriots cheat (even though deflategate was debunked by scientists and the Pats got an exaggerated punishment for a minor infringement of taping teams’ signals from the sidelines which was allowed before 07). On the other side it is the Pats fans (a small minority in the U.S.).

Depending on which side you land on, you’re going to have your own idea what made the Patriot Way what it is. If you’re a Patriot hater (probably any non-Pats fan), you think cheating is what is behind the Patriot Way. If you’re a Patriot fan you think it’s the greatness of Brady and Belichick along with good ownership from the Krafts. You believe the Patriot Way stems from each player doing their individual job, being on time, being professional, no nonsense, and understanding that no one person is bigger than the team.

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Well guess what, I’m here to tell you the real reason the Patriots have endured excellence for almost two decades now. It is a fact that as great as Belichick and Brady are, they also benefit from playing in a terrible division as well as a lackluster conference that feature a number of teams that have had long playoff appearance droughts or playoff win droughts. Some Patriots haters will say: “see, Pats are frauds!! L-O-L!!”

Well, not quite fools. They’re still really good and still beat very good teams whenever they face them. Now to you Pats fans. You’ll probably say: “Yeah you’re right, Brady and Bill are great. The Patriot way yeah!!”.

They are but you’re overselling it there. You can still be really good but if you’re going to dominate for almost two decades, then you’re going to need some help from others sucking to make it a bit easier. All of this is coming from the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles won the most recent Super Bowl while being a team that had fun and did the most elaborate touchdown celebrations.

Many Patriots Stans claim that being tight lipped to the media, super strict with the players, and not having fun is the way for success. Apparently, having a personality and celebrating a touchdown automatically means that you are a malcontent that is a distraction for your team. However, the Eagles championship win proves otherwise. Furthermore, the narrative some of you Pats fans have pushed is that ‘any team can win one Super Bowl, but to win multiple and to be good for over a decade, you need to be stricter’. I’m here to tell those people to sit their butts down and realize that the real blue print to that type of excellence is having easier competition.

The Pats play in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets. In this millennium, the Bills just ended an 18 year playoff drought. The Dolphins have been to the playoffs only 3 times in this millennium. The Jets have an 8 year playoff drought and have it to the playoff no more than 5 times since 2000. Go to Wikipedia and find out the exact number for yourself. Whether it’s 4 or 5, my point is still proven. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Let’s go further.

Look across the AFC landscape. The Browns still haven’t made the playoffs since 2002. The Jaguars just ended a 10 year playoff drought. For the Titans, they just ended a 9 year no show. The Raiders have made it only once since 2002. Let’s take even another step forward. Teams like the Bengals and Chiefs occasionally make the playoffs but do not anything while there. The Chiefs have one playoff win almost a 30 year span (1 win against Brian Hoyer who 5 picks, WOW). The Bengals haven’t won in almost 30 years at this point. The lack of quality teams in the Pats division usually guarantees a 4-2 or 5-1 record. Playing at least three bad AFC teams like the Browns everyone other year helps too. All these type of teams the Pats face help to inflate their record to give them a higher seed. As a result, they’re often playing in the playoffs with a top seed.

AFC Teams Droughts

NFC Teams Droughts

Wow way less teams with this issue on the NFC side

Notable Playoff Win Droughts

By doing so, some of the few teams that could beat them often cannibalize each other in earlier rounds and the one that wins usually has to go to Foxborough. Those tough Ravens have won playoffs games at Foxborough but also lost a few there. In those years, it would’ve been an even bigger task for Pats if they were to play the Ravens on the road those years. We’ve seen times when the Pats had to go on the road in the playoffs such as in Denver. In 2013 and 2015, it didn’t go well when they were the second seed on the road. The Patriots haven’t won a road playoff game since 2006!

This team basically relies on facing enough bad AFC teams to get the highest seed so the bye week gives them one less game (one less chance to lose). In their two home playoff games, they only have to deal with only one legit AFC team that they often barely win to advance. They barely won the Jags in 2017 and the Ravens in 2011 and 2014. These are games they probably would’ve lost if they were on the road given their road playoff track record. The other game (usually in the divisional round) is often against a trash team that had no business being there like Osweiller and the 2016 Texans, Luck’s 2013 and 2014 Colts, Mariota with his 2017 team, and let us not forget about Tim Tebow’s Broncos team in 2011.

To their credit, they do own the Steelers schematically when they face them and the Steelers often lose before getting the chance to face the Pats, which proves my point about the bye limiting their opportunities to face good teams. This is a luxury a very good team on the NFC doesn’t have. The Eagles have a tough division this year with a healthy Cowboys team, a decent Redskins squad if healthy, and slightly improved Giants team. The rest of the conference have contenders such as the Rams, Vikings, Packers (only because of Rodgers), Saints, Falcons, and Panthers. Even the okay teams are still a tough out such as the Seahawks, Lions, and Cardinals. It is much harder to repeat, nonetheless sustain a decade of division dominant excellence.

Now back to Pats, I must say that they were truly great in the 2000’s since they beat a lot of really good Steelers teams, Peyton’s Colts teams, and Chargers teams. However, in these last 10 years they have been consistent and well prepared but the competition is too watered down. It’s only the last few seasons now that the Titans, Jaguars, and Raiders seem to no longer be completely pathetic (Browns still are for now). Prior to that, they were automatic wins on the Pats schedule to add to their lame divisional opponents that they would beat. Don’t get me wrong, they are still teams the Pats don’t take seriously in the playoffs (maybe not the case with the Jags). Going back to playoff win futility among some teams, the Andy Reid Chiefs can’t be taken seriously and nor can the Bengals. The Pats don’t have to even worry about those talented teams because they can’t even get out of the first round.

The Steelers don’t even give themselves a chance to prove “every dog has its day” against their nemeses since they often get bounce in earlier rounds like in 2017. Meanwhile, the Chargers have underachieved with Rivers. Whatever iteration of Texans teams and the Luck era Colts are mediocre teams that Pats trounce in divisional round weekend. Only the Ravens and Broncos give the Pats issues in these last 10 years but we’ll see if they can even get back to being playoff teams. The Jags might replace them as the next stout defensive AFC playoff team that gives the Pats issues.

To round this up, the Pats are great. You can’t fault them for being smart, efficient, and capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes. Trust your feelings, Patriot haters. You know it to be true. However, as good as the Pats are, they have benefited from a lack of competition in the AFC East, perennially bad AFC teams out of their division that are easy wins on their schedule, playoff teams that are futile in the postseason, and underachieving talented rosters that can’t even get past earlier rounds to challenge the Patriots more often.