âItâs the mooooosssst wonderful tiiiiiime of the yeeaaaarrrrâŠ..â Itâs the truth, isnât it?
Even though the sun sets at about 11:47 a.m., a cold, dark, pandemic winter awaits and there wonât be nearly enough Black Friday wilding on the internet to observe this year, itâs still a special time. A time to reflect and give thanks.
And who, among sports fans the world over, has more to give thanks for than supporters of the New England Patriots?
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Think about it. Prior to 2001, every single epic moment/season was ultimately ruined. Enjoyous interruptus in 1976 by the Raiders, 1985 by the Bears, 1996 by the Packers and Bill Parcells.
I mean, before, âITâS GOOOOOD! ITâS GOOOOOD! ITâS GOOOOOOD!â happened, one of the most indelible games in franchise history was a 1994 mid-November overtime win over the Vikings that got the team to 4-6 and helped propel them to a 10-6 record and a Wild Card loss.
New England Patriots
Woot!
Look at us now. A cornucopia of Lombardi Trophies. Sodden Super Bowl weeks in New Orleans, Jacksonville, Houston, Arizona, Indianapolis, Houston, Arizona, Minnesota and Atlanta to barely recall! Tailgates! Parades!
âI wouldnât say itâs been all that thin around here, personally,â Bill Belichick said last January after Tom Bradyâs final game as a Patriot.
Heâs right. You ingrates.
And the fact itâs thin now and may get thinner? Well, Bill answered that too when he essentially said a couple of weeks ago, âScoreboardâ and flashed his rings.
Dadâs mad. And after all heâs done for you, how DARE you (and me) complain.
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After we sit and silently reflect on how selfish, entitled and rotten weâve become to expect â EXPECT?! â annual brilliance and something resembling competence from second-round picks, letâs do an exercise.
Letâs reflect on some of the reasons we should be â RIGHT NOW â thankful for the Patriots!
Iâll start.
EASIER SCHEDULE IN 2021
Bring on the third-place schedule!!!
Every ⊠single ⊠year since 2009 the Patriots have finished first in the AFC East, which means theyâve drawn all the other division winners in the AFC the ensuing season. Not gonna happen this year. So see ya later, Steelers! Buh-bye Kansas City!!
Letâs get some soft-serve opponents lined up which means, lemme see here ⊠if the season ended today ⊠doot-da-doooooo ⊠Houston, Denver and Baltimore would be the other third-place teams. ⊠Alright. So not a lot of novelty in those opponents.
BE THAT AS IT MAY!!! Itâll still be fun. The Patriots havenât finished third in the AFC East since 1988. Weâre in not-very-precedented times. Be thankful.
DRAFTâS GONNA BE A DOOZY
Even though the Patriots had their third-round pick confiscated on that BS Spygate 2.0 crap from last year, theyâll still have a third-round compensatory pick since the greatest quarterback to ever stride the planet left as a free agent.
But thatâs burying the lead! The Patriots are currently projected to select 13th thanks to the website Tankathon.com. Would you know about that site if the Patriots were 8-2? Doubt it. Be grateful. And also be grateful for the drama and intrigue of selecting in the top 15!
Perry's 2021 NFL Mock Draft: Will Pats get their next QB?
Is it ideal to have a top-15 pick following a college season in which some of the best teams and players didnât play at all and scouting has been severely hampered by the inability to visit schools and cozy up to coaches and team personnel to get the skinny on prospects? Â Candidly? No. Worst-case scenario.
But when youâre staring down at a scratchie, a quarter pinched between your thumb and index finger and you KNOW the only thing between you and a big winner is a thin, smooth, shiny layer of gray latex THE ABSOLUTE RUSH IS AMAYYYYZING!!! That will be April for all of us. Give thanks.
YOUâRE SAVING MONEY
How much has the annual Patriots road trip cost you through the years?
Flight. Hotel. Food. Booze. Bail money. Attorneyâs fees. A lot.
And even if youâve just been driving down Route 1 and never taking in a road game, youâre saving on gas, parking, food, booze, bail money, attorneyâs fees. And you arenât tempted by the sirenâs song of the Patriots Pro Shop and a Chase Winovich jersey which you know youâd regret having bought when he plays three snaps. So this is good.
TOMMYâS IN TOWN NEXT YEAR!
Unless my projections are awry, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to visit Gillette Stadium in 2021.
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So weâve done a good job getting the pandemic out of the way this year to clear the runway for the Return of Tom in autumn of 2021. That is, unless the Bucs decide to move on from Brady this offseason and the Patriots â with all that cap space â re-sign him to finish out his career backing up Jarrett Stidham. Then the return would be in the spring.
Either way, something to look forward to.
FREE AGENT FRENZY!!
The Patriots have more than $60M in cap space squirrelled away for the 2021 League Year which begins on St. Patrickâs Day. One-third of the league is already over the cap and will have to throw talented players overboard to get right with the $175M or so ceiling.
So the start of free agency this year may be a big enough lure to keep Belichick out of Barbados and back stateside to ensure that the 2021 versions of Adam Humphries, Golden Tate, Cole Beasley and Jared Cook don't end up someplace else.  Â
So there you go. A short list, to be sure. But weâre all a little out of practice on being giddy about this sub-.500 stuff. In the coming years, with more experience, we may get better at it. And thatâs something to be thankful for too, I guess.