MontanaHawk05":344qe5nj said:
I'm really not sure what you guys want.
They have given us a team that gets to the playoffs every year. That is all you can ask for. There is nothing higher than that. There is no mysterious level of "obviously Super Bowl bound this year" above the rest of the playoff teams. 12 teams get to the playoffs; from there, anyone can and has made it before. The 2005 Steelers were a #6 seed.
Even the Patriots don't make it every year. They went a decade without a Lombardi. Did they stop being a good team during that span?
Hey, I don't mean to come across as bitching. I def think the team has and and will continue to have a really good shot to win it all every year since they drafted Russ.
Just trying to be objective and it's a fact that the #1 seed has won 13/27 of the last SBs and the #1 or #2 seed has won 19/27. A first-round by is empirically a huge advantage. Also note that each of the three times the Hawks made the SB, they were the #1 seed in the NFC.
I believe Atlanta this year and SF in 2012 were two of the few (maybe only) teams that got a first round bye with only 11 wins. That's why I don't think 11 wins is enough to have a good shot. But hey, anything is possible. As you mentioned, the Steelers won it all as a 6th seed in 2005. Packers did it too in 2010.
As for your Pats point, I don't think it's really a fair comparison. Brady's been in something like 11/16 of the past AFC championships and has been in 7 SBs. Even with the 10 year "gap," the Pats were getting damn close almost every year.