I disagree. In this day and age, playing conservatively kills you. There was still way too much time left to simply call 3 running plays every drive (they were up by 21pts with 26 mins left when they got back the football). Look what happened to the Broncos last year in the playoffs and to the Saints (vs the Pats and Panthers) this year. There are countless examples this year of teams just trying to run out the clock only to be beat by the last play of the game. Coaches (many that have been fired since last week) have learned their lessons the hard way. The game has changed. Big leads are not safe anymore. Too many pts scored, too many long passes, too many pass interference penalties.
In today’s football, the QB with the ball last will win. Both the Saints and 49ers won with field goals with no time left. If Bowe doesn’t lose his positioning on the field, KC wins the game the same way.
there is a difference between winning your division (which the pats should do with Brady and the rest of the division sporting mediocre qb’s) and winning 3 or 4 Super Bowls in a short span. The last dynasty was the pats of the early 2000’s but that was a long time ago.
The Pats haven’t played a road playoff game since January 2007 (AFC championship game vs Indy).
Although the Colts and Pats have been the cream of the crop during the last decade, Manning vs Brady has not happened in the playoffs since 2007. It came real close several times, including last year.