The New England Patriots took their Super Bowl LI championship squad of 2016 and somehow upgraded the roster while loading up and going “all in” this offseason.
That raised the question: Are the 2017 Patriots more talented than the 2007 team that went undefeated in the regular season but lost Super Bowl XLII?
ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi, who played linebacker on the 2007 squad, thinks not.
“Are you kidding me?” Bruschi said on ESPN’s “NFL Insiders.” “That 2007 team — I’ll just go straight to the defensive line, having (Vince) Wilfork, (Ty) Warren and (Richard) Seymour in front of me … Three first-round picks. The talent we had along the front-seven. That starts with me right there. That guy was old, but he was talented.
“You know, Randy Moss. A lot of the guys that they had on offense, especially. Tom (Brady) threw 50 touchdown passes. Welker couldn’t be stopped in the slot. You know what else was a talent? Mental toughness. And that’s what those guys had to go 16-0 to carry that burden.”
Former Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday raised a solid point, however.
“As much as I respect Tedy B being on that team, you talk about mental toughness,” Saturday said. “How about coming back from the greatest deficit in Super Bowl history to get it done? And now, you’ve added to this team. This team is stacked and loaded and ready to repeat.”
The 2007 Patriots’ wide receiver corps, offensive line and defensive front seven probably get the edge on paper, while the 2017 team looks deeper at quarterback, running back, tight end and in the secondary. Time will tell if they can have similar regular-season success and finish in the postseason.
Thumbnail photo via Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports Images
