4th and 8 was my 62-7 moment for the Ballard/Steichen regime.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

This is a fun argument you guys are having. My own opinion is that there is no one QB who historically just stands head and shoulders above everyone else. Everyone thinks the greatest of all time was a player they watched, 40 years from now neither Brady or Maning will be the GOAT for those fans, it will be somebody not even born yet. Having said that Brady and Manning played in the same era and in my opinion Manning was way better than Brady at their peak. l Without Manning the Colts were mediocre, without Brady the Patriots were still contenders.

o


Bill Bellichick's best season as a coach was 2008 ...... when the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Casssell at quarterback when Tom Brady missed the entire season with a knee injury.

Since 1978 when the 16-game schedule was implemented, only 2 teams did not make the playoffs with a final record of 11-5 ...... the 1985 Denver Broncos, and the 2008 New England Patriots.

The only reason why the 2008 Patriots did not make the playoffs that year was because the AFC was stacked that season. It was the antithesis of when Peyton Manning missed the entire 2011 season with an injury, and the Colts wound up going 2-14. The 2020 Colts with Philip Rivers at QB were in the same exact position as were those 2008 Patriots (an 11-5 record), but were fortunate that a #7 seed was added to the NFL post-season tournament for the first time ever.


On the other hand, it was clear that Peyton Manning was almost singlehandedly keeping the Colts together in 2010 when they went 10-6 to win the AFC South title that season ...... when Manning missed the entire 2011 season the Colts started out at 0-13, and finished at 2-14.

But ....... but ...... but ...... but what if Matt Cassel had been the Colts' quarterback that season instead of Curtis Painter or Dan Orlovsky ???

Maybe ....... maybe those 2011 Colts would have gone 4-12 instead of 2-14 if an average QB like Matt Cassell had been taking snaps behind the center instead of Curtis Painter and/or Dan Orlovsky.




FINAL NOTE: l After going 11-5 with Matt Cassell at quarterback in 2008, the 2009 Patriots got a prime Tom Brady back the next season ...... and they went 10-6. Not only did the 2009 Patriots make the playoffs, but they won their division title. In their first playoff game, on their homefield eastern Massachusetts, they were crushed by the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 33-14.




The 2008 Patriots Will Forever be Bill Belichick’s True Masterpiece

(By Michael Self)

http://draftamerica.com/the-2008-pat...e-masterpiece/


o