Dynasty: Die Insidergeschichte der New England Patriots

The vast majority of my football-watching life to this point occurred during the Bill Belichick & Tom Brady New England Patriots dynasty. As such, this Last Dance-style sports doc was always going to hit the nostalgic sweet spot for me. Filmmakers Matthew Hamacheck & Jeff Benedict are largely able to transcend the "nostalgia grab" narrative, however, by featuring excellent production values and one-on-one interviews with key Patriot figures that are as enlightening as they are sometimes exceedingly strange.

The Dynasty examines exactly that--the New England football dominance of 2001 through 2018. Quite literally every main event of that time period is covered through the prism of old TV footage, sit down interviews with the figures themselves, and color commentary from NE or national reporters. There will likely never be another dynasty rivaling the one created by Brady, Belichick, & owner Robert Kraft, and this ten-part series examines it all.

For the most part, I'd call this a pretty fair examination of the "Patriots Way", so to speak. They are hit hard on the Spygate scandal, the mismanagement (which led to tragedy) of the Aaron Hernandez situation, and Belichick's slide into utter arrogance towards the end. At the same time, the team's remarkable resiliency through it all is chronicled step by step.

Of course, to get the "big hitters" (Brady, Kraft family, Bill, other key players) to participate whatsoever there were a few seeming concessions made. The narrative here about "Deflate-gate" is poo-poo'd almost to minimization levels, and the elder Kraft is often portrayed as the "white knight" of the whole shebang despite off-gridiron scandals and chumminess with NFL commissioners that are never even hinted at. But all in all, a relatively small price to pay for on-the-record cooperation.

The strange--and often outright hilarious--piece of "Dynasty" is Bill Belichick's participation (or lack thereof). He does not have one insightful or constructive comment on anything asked of him. The now-former Patriots head coach simply refuses to engage--either playing to his stereotype or actually living it to fruition. As such, he is painted (rightfully or wrongfully who can tell) the villain of the piece simply due to his reticence towards any sort of candor.

Overall, I enjoyed "Dynasty" and more often than not had both Friday night episodes binged before my head hit the pillow! I can't quite give it the full 10-star treatment--mainly due to Belichick's odd presence and the Deflate-gate "hatchet job" episode--but it was a treat to re-live (through the lens of 20+ years of history) the entire saga of the dynastic New England Patriots.

This was a very fascinating, informative documentary that allowed life-long fans to relive amazing moments while at the same time educate those unfamiliar with the greatest sports dynasty of all time. From humble beginnings, through controversies both real and imagined all the way until the bitter, inevitable end this series provides the viewer with a front row seat to all the ups and downs. My only disappointment is with many of the reviews disparaging this phenomenal documentary. To be a fan is natural and to "hate" a team that displayed consistent success at the expense of ones own team is understandable but, being unable to see past your own fandom to appreciate true greatness is unforgivable. True football fans will see the documentary for what it is: a recording of greatness as it rose and fell. Ignore the negatively of some of these reviews. They were written by fake football fans and bandwagoners who have allowed their bitterness to cloud their judgement.

In February 2005 with The New England patriots winning there third Superbowl championship in four years the Patriots were now well established as a Dynasty in the NFL. Robert Kraft took over ownership in 1993 and after a falling out with head coach Bill Parcells in 1997 and two turbulent years with the enthusiastic but ineffective coach Pete Carol, Kraft settled on Bill Belichick to be the Patriots 5th head coach in 10 years. Within two years they won their first Superbowl against the heavily favored St Louis Rams with the help of 6th round draft pick Tom Brady playing quarterback coming in early in the season for the injured Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe was traded at the end of the season and although the following season the Patriots had some issues with Brady missing the playoffs, things got back on track in 2003 with a 14-2 season and another win in the Superbowl, this time against Carolina Panthers. The Patriots did back-to-back Superbowl's after another 14-2 season and there were high hopes for the 2005 season as owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady were riding high on the success. The downside to playing a lot of post season games, which are normally tough encounters is that over that four-year period the Patriots played an extra nine games which takes a toll on the players. The Patriots went into the 2005 with a similar roster but they were older, tired and were in need of fresh legs, but they didn't get them, and the Patriots struggled to a 10-6 season, and ran out of steam in that post season losing in the divisional round.

Things didn't improve in the 2006 season; in fact, it got worse with the departure of some wide receivers and experienced players who were looking for big money. Despite an impressive 12-4 record, again the Patriots were overmatched in the playoffs losing to the Colts in the AFC championship. With the 2007 season the Patriots did the opposite and loaded up on offence and Tom Brady ran up some impressive numbers and personnel bests as they chopped up everybody they played. They began to misfire towards the end of the season, but were able etch out close victories down the stretch and were the first team to go unbeaten through the 16-game season. In the post season they had an easy path to the Superbowl but were upset in that game by the New York Giants and missed out on an unbeaten season. In 2008 the Patriots missed the playoffs with a backup quarterback and in 2009 got bounced out in the wild card round by the Ravens on the back of another 10-6 season.

After 10 years with the same coach and quarterback what were the observations. Bill Belichick has head coach installed his professional ethic on the entire roster and ran aggressive defensive scheme. Having a good quarterback, a clutch place kicker, and a good defense they had a well-balanced team. There was a great emphasis on physicality, but with discipline, which meant no turnovers, don't give up penalties and don't put the ball on the ground. Let the other teams do that and win games for you with their indiscipline. This worked in the early years, but after 2005 there were changes that would be challenge for the Patriots and although they constantly won their division, for a number of years came up empty in the post season. What happened??

After 2005 the NFL was becoming more quarterback centric and there was a greater emphasis on the passing game. Consequently, defenses who previously who could jam the receivers were now being penalized for pass interference. The Patriots who had benefited from the earlier rules now found that cornerbacks and safety's couldn't be as physical as they were. There were two ways of going forward, the first way was to load up on the best talent on defense to get the edge or alternatively give up on playmakers and cheap out and go for value. Belichick decided on the latter as the best course of action, the defense was to bend not to break, stop the big play down the field and try to limit the team to field goals in the red zone. With Tom Brady at quarterback, they had confidence that they could score points. The Patriots were also fortunate that the AFC east was a very weak division, so there were some soft games on the schedule each year. Overall, this would explain why the Patriots had winning records but came up short in the post season because they believed in value at some key positions. Ball security, bend but don't break and Tom Brady alone was not enough to carry them forward to post season success. The Patriots could easily beat weak teams, but against a well drilled team they seemed to fall down. Believing in value can work with soft teams but against good teams, you can be exposed.

However, things were going to change even more from 2010 onwards. The NFL was becoming more sensitive to injuries and in particular protecting the quarterback. To promote this change, hits on receivers and the quarterbacks which were previously legal were now flagged as penalties. You couldn't hit a quarter back anywhere near the knee or below it, nor above the shoulder and receivers were also better protected. If a defensive player put a hand on a receiver 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage they'd be penalized. Flags for pass interference, unnecessary roughness, and roughing the passer proliferated which made the quarter backs job much easier. The Patriots went an impressive 14-2 in 2010, but they were an inexperienced and young team who were beaten by the New York Jets in the divisional round of the playoffs.

However. It was 2011 that was a massive watershed for the Patriots. It was the start of the Patriots competing in eight AFC championship games in a row, competing in five Superbowl's, four of them in five years from 2014-2018 and three in a row from 2016-2018. That's quite an unprecedented level of dominance and consistency. Tom Brady understood the rules and knew how to play the officials to his advantage, and he was the past master throwing 5,10, 15-yard passes, and after the snap was releasing the ball very quickly which made pass rushers almost obsolete. Even when he was getting hit as he released the ball, while on his backside, he'd always call for a penalty, and on many occasions, the officials responded with a flag. These were golden years for Tom Brady and at that time was playing better than he'd ever done. To take the Patriots over the hump in 2014 they shored up their defense by signing top corner back from the Jets Derrell Revis and Saints safety Brandon Browner and beat the Seahawks in the Superbowl.

So to summarize from 2010-13 again the Patriots were aided by a weak division (except for the 2010 Jets), mediocre defense and Tom Brady carving up opposition defenses, but were still being tripped up in the playoffs. As for the Patriots fans, they had the best owner, best head coach and best quarterback and the regular season was nothing but a bunch of exhibition games which were easily won. However, it was the post season where the trepidation crept in as they were always worried that an inferior team would get lucky. This appeared to be the case from 2010-2013, and there was a feeling that the Patriots lacked something, as they just weren't good enough against the quality teams in the playoffs. However, by 2014 that all changed and with a stronger defense on the roster, so it was off to the races for the Patriots and Tom Brady as he took advantage of the officials being much more kind to quarterbacks. He established a great relationship with Rob Gronkowski, Dany Amendola and Julian Edelman, who were his go to receivers. Brady had a very good work ethic and studied opposition defenses and was able to expose weaknesses. He never sat on his laurels and continued to work on getting better as the years went by - the NFL and the Patriots were everything to him.

All in all, with the exception of the 2002 season with Tom Brady as quarterback the Patriots never ever lost more than two games in a row during that 19-year period, that's quite a record. For any sporting dynasty to last almost 20 years is unheard of - but nevertheless there is still the feeling that they missed out on some Superbowl's if they had spent the money.

By 2019 it all came to an end with the Patriots being beaten in the wild card round by Tennessee Titans. Brady's contract wasn't renewed and he left and went to Tampa. The departure of Brady to the Buccaneers exposed Belichick to a coaching life without Brady and it all unraveled and collapsed with records of 7-9, 10-7, 8-9 and finally 4-13. Belichick made the mistake of hanging on too long, something athletes themselves do. For a head coach at 70 odd years of age, having total control and used to having the last word, was in unfortunate position of not having a confident to tell him the dangers of coaching a team after 18 years without Tom Brady under center. Unfortunately, that's something he learned the hard way as well as realizing that he's outlived his welcome in the NFL.

Brady himself carried on the Dynasty with Tampa winning a Superbowl in his first season, which seemed to be taking liberties. To go to a new Franchise, different coach, new division and new conference at the age of 43 perhaps exposed how soft the NFL was in some quarters. Marquis quarterbacks, Drew Brees and media favorite Arron Rogers stunk in their playoff games with Tampa and Patrick Mahomes until this year had his worst game as quarter back in a Superbowl. It's often wondered, what's more important, being good or being lucky, it's probably an idea to have both.

I'll give them credit because they do have some never before seen footage of my beloved New England Patriots which was cool to see. Also they get some tid bits of players prospective that nobody's heard but is this a hit piece to try and make certain players/coaches look bad? They focus way more on the negative and drama than they do on the actual teambuilding, tough front office decisions, game strategy, and player relationships. Seriously they skip right over Super Bowls seasons to focus on scandals and murderer stories. It does sometimes catch lightning in a bottle, but could be been better.

I've only seen a few sports documentaries over the years, but I'm glad I caught this one. "The Dynasty" allows us all to peek behind the curtain and to see the rise and fall of the patriots dynasty. This show gives an inside look at how Robert Kraft, Bill Billichick, Tom Brady and company, all established themselves as champions, as well as the struggles they all dealt with over the years. It's important to note how much of a role ego plays in an arena of this stage. But it's also worth remembering that we're all human and could've made the same mistakes or choices. What's most fascinating is reliving those moments from the players', staff's, and management's perspectives. All in all it was a nice trip to the past and it was a pleasure to be part of their journey.

I see a lot of review bombing going on and I really don't know why. This documentary is exceptional and I think people are letting their emotions get in the way. If you have Apple TV+ and are even remotely aware of the NFL, this should automatically go to the top of your list.