Opinion of the New England Patriots

[Suburbia]

What is your opinion of the AFC East team, the New England Patriots, who is arguably one of the most successful sports franchises of the past 20 years, despite the baggage of Deflategate, Spygate, etc?

[Enduro]

HT, the fifth worse team in the NFL.

[The Arizonan]

They should rename themselves the New England Cheaters and change their logo to a colonial soldier with his fingers crossed behind his back.

[muon2]

It depends on what one expects from a professional sport.

If one expects a match held with a spirit of fairness, like a bunch of friends (albeit of very high skill) playing a friendly game, then HT.

If one expects a professional organization who is paid to win, and uses every rule to their best advantage, then FT. The fact that sometimes they use rules that go beyond the official interpretation indicates that they are attempting to use every rule to its fullest extent. Some rules, like some laws, aren't clearly spelled out and are open to interpretation. That's why there are referees and judges.

[dead0man]

As a football fan not from the Northeast, HT.  People that like them and aren't from there are the worst.



why yes, I am a Steelers fan from St Louis, why do you ask?

[JGibson]

Obvious HT.

I HATE the Cheatriots with a passion. Hated them ever since their Spygate-aided Super Bowl win over my then-favorite team Rams in 2002, and will do so until the end of time.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

As a football fan not from the Northeast, HT.  People that like them and aren't from there are the worst.



why yes, I am a Steelers fan from St Louis, why do you ask?

The Steelers are a respectable choice (as are the Packers though I won't praise myself). Patriot/Cowboy non-local fans tells you a lot.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I think they thrive on being hated.

[dead0man]

As a football fan not from the Northeast, HT.  People that like them and aren't from there are the worst.



why yes, I am a Steelers fan from St Louis, why do you ask?

The Steelers are a respectable choice (as are the Packers though I won't praise myself). Patriot/Cowboy non-local fans tells you a lot.

I've got a decent defense, my dad isn't a football guy so I didn't grow up with the game, by the time I discovered it the Cardinals had left for browner pastures so I was a free agent.  I like organizations with class and history and hate bandwangoners, the Steelers were good but not great team at the time (late 80s/early 90s).

[Illiniwek]

As a 1a. Bears fan, and even as a 1b. Dolphins fan, I hate the Packers way way way more than the Patriots. The only time I really actively rooted against the Patriots was the first Brady-Manning Super Bowl matchup (because 1972). But otherwise, TB12 is the bomb. FT

[RINO Tom]

I hate all sports teams from the Northeast that ESPN salivates over 24/7 (normal Midwestern sports fan).

[LLR]

Awful and evil (not Midewstern but a fan of a Midwestern team)

[DemPGH]

FT. I'm no fan, but they've been winning consistently since 1996 when they lost the SB to Green Bay (4 SB wins, 2 close losses, and a 16-0 reg. season) when Bill Parcels got them to the SB, then Pete Carroll took over in 1997 and was above average (despite being underrated and thrown under the bus), and then Belichick took it to the next level. No one else's body of work surpasses his in the modern NFL. He has always engineered answers for everything utilizing a variety of personnel, going back to his stint as DC for the NY Giants (SB wins in 1986 and 1990). That has continued to the present. Which is interesting, because he was the HC of the Browns during the middle 1990s and managed to do not much except lose a crucial 1994 playoff game to, of course, the Steelers. But with the NY Giants as DC and with the Pats as HC he's been epic, and he's a lot of that success.

Kraft has hired football people who know football and gotten out of their way. In that respect they are a model franchise.