The Dynasty

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.

There are episodes (like the Jordan doc) that make watching this series captivating. Whether you're a fan of the patriots or not this documentary is totally worth watching.

Know going in that the Kraft family essentially manipulated this, specifically with all their access, which is understandable because they produced it. Yes, the Kraft's had final control of the finished product. So above everyone else, billionaire Robert Kraft gets his say, and the last word.

But the curtain being pulled back on the Patriots' dynastic run is fascinating. Bellicheck's relentless drive to win at all costs. The punishing years long pursuit of championships. Brady's maniacal will to win, also at all costs. The question everyone debates: was it Bellicheck or Brady? Answer: neither one. Actually both PLUS Kraft who managed to keep them together.

The Aaron Hernandez murder scandal, the deflate-gate scandal, the spy-gate scandal, the ego and prideful infighting between Brady and Bellicheck.

It's all there. It's obvious how the documentary wants to steer your thinking: Bellicheck's ego blew it up. And it did. But it was also Brady. AND Kraft. Bellicheck benched Malcom Butler in the Super Bowl. Ego? Maybe. Questionable? Absolutely. Was it him demonstrating that Brady couldn't win it all by himself? Possibly, even though Brady threw for over 500 yards in that game. Brady had his own office (not revealed in the documentary) and snuck his personal trainer into the Patriot camp. Subverted the strength and conditioning training of the organization because he was convinced that his way was better. He engineered (through Kraft) getting rid of Garropolo because he didn't went the competition. So there's some ego at play there too.

Kraft is the mastermind that created an invigorated organization that hadn't existed before. He assembled a lot of the pieces. He was also the Great Enabler. He coddled Hernandez. He created a separate safe haven for Brady and his wife, to complain about Bellicheck. He allowed Bellicheck to coach (govern?) without any checks or balances. It seems like Kraft wants it both ways: he's the genius, benevolent benefactor, but didn't know anything about any of the bad or questionable things that took place. There has to be some acceptance of accountability in there somewhere.

So Kraft gets a lot of credit, he also deserves a lot of the blame.

Bellicheck? He cheated, got fined, and never apologized. Brady? He cheated too. Suspended, never owned up. Bellicheck was a dictator. Brady was a sensitive diva who wanted complete protection.

You can argue that Brady left the organization and won a Super Bowl with the buccaneers, so it was all him. No. The Tuck Rule mismanaged call won him his first championship. Adam Viniteri won three in the last, or near last plays of the respective games. Pete Carroll gift wrapped one win by making the worst playcall in Super Bowl history. Bellicheck won championship number 6 on his outrageous decision to completely change the defense to thwart McVay's Rams.

A year after the Bucs won it all, it all fell apart. They won the division with a losing record and got blown out in wild card weekend. Brady was their QB.

Bellicheck got the Pats to the playoffs in his first year without Brady. Then the wheels came off.

What the documentary misses, and Kraft ignores, is what Bellicheck said at the beginning (and then forgot)...it's all about the team, and no one person is more important than the team.

Too bad that all three men, who achieved something amazing together, didn't understand that until it was over. And it seems as though they may never truly see their own roles in the deterioration of a uniquely special time.

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.

Overall Take

From the jump, this docuseries makes one thing crystal clear: This isn't a highlight reel.

This is the real story - the drama, the dysfunction, the genius, the resentment, the winning... and the implosion.

You get: Raw behind-the-scenes footage Candid interviews with all the key players (yes, even Brady, Kraft, and Belichick) Insight into how the machine ran - and what broke it down

This is House of Cards: NFL Edition - with rings.

Section 1: The Rise of the Empire

This starts with the humble roots - a nobody team with a cold, calculating coach in Bill Belichick and a sixth-round pick named Tom Brady.

Belichick, the scheming tactician, arrives like a storm cloud. Cold, brilliant, no-nonsense.

Brady, raw and underestimated, becomes the spark no one saw coming.

Drew Bledsoe's injury changes NFL history.

From here, the dynasty begins - and the first Super Bowl win in 2001 sets the tone: They don't just win - they shock the world doing it.

You feel the hunger in these early episodes. The chip on the shoulder is everything.

Section 2: Building the Machine

The middle of the series gets into the Patriots way - discipline, sacrifice, and complete control.

Brady transforms into a silent killer.

Belichick's system becomes law - no names, just roles.

Players are interchangeable cogs in a war machine.

The defense - Bruschi, Harrison, Seymour - becomes legendary.

And you start to see the price of perfection: Players speak about fear, silence, and being cut while still in their prime.

The joy is replaced with expectation.

Winning isn't a goal - it's a demand.

Section 3: The Cracks in the Armor

Then it shifts. The undefeated 2007 season looms.

Randy Moss joins, and the offense goes nuclear.

They steamroll everyone... until that Super Bowl. The Helmet Catch. The Giants.

18-1. And it haunts the dynasty forever.

That loss is a turning point. You can see the toll it takes.

Meanwhile: Brady begins to evolve - not just as a QB, but as a brand.

Belichick stays the same - ice-cold and unflinching.

Tensions rise. Control vs. Freedom. Logic vs. Emotion.

Section 4: The Second Era of Dominance

After setbacks and near-misses, the second wind hits.

The Malcolm Butler interception - absolute poetry.

The 28-3 comeback vs. The Falcons - the peak of NFL mythology.

Brady cements himself as the GOAT - the Michael Jordan of football.

But even during the greatest moments... you feel the divide growing.

Brady wants more voice.

Belichick sticks to his system.

Kraft becomes the mediator - and it wears on all of them.

Section 5: The Fall

This section is the most emotionally loaded.

You see the fallout of Jimmy Garoppolo's presence.

The "Guerrero rift" shows Brady asserting independence.

Belichick becomes isolated.

The locker room fractures.

Brady and Kraft connect emotionally. Belichick shuts down.

And when Brady finally leaves - it feels like a divorce.

Years of built-up emotion come to a head.

You can see it in Brady's eyes - tired, proud, and done.

It's not hate. It's just... time.

Final Episode: Legacy and Reflection

The ending doesn't pretend the dynasty ended perfectly.

Brady wins in Tampa - and it hurts Belichick's legacy.

Belichick struggles to rebuild without his QB.

Kraft looks back with bittersweet pride.

But the show doesn't pick a side.

It lets all three men - Brady, Belichick, and Kraft - tell their truth.

It's emotional. It's powerful. It's the end of an era.

Why It's a 10 out of 10 + Authentic, unfiltered storytelling + Candid interviews from the three pillars of the dynasty + Intimate look at one of the most successful (and controversial) runs in sports history + Not afraid to expose the dysfunction + Balances legacy with the human cost of perfection + High-quality production and pacing

Final Verdict

"The Dynasty: New England Patriots" isn't just about football.

It's about ambition, ego, control, trust, betrayal, and the brutal truth that winning comes at a cost.

If you ever wondered what it's really like behind a 20-year empire - this is it.

It's not a love letter. It's a portrait of power.

And it's damn near flawless.

A few reviewers wondered who this documentary is actually for. Obviously all the New Englanders and any Bill and Tom fans. Also, all New England and Brady haters, who are just waiting for the final episode to see the demise of the franchise without him and Bill (evidenced by their dismal record since he has left). And really, just anyone who cannot get enough of any football since the season is now over until August. Thus, it resonates with a lot of football fans.

I watched it just because I hated Brady, until he came to Tampa, and then I became an instant fan (I know, what a hypocrite). Thus, I wanted to see his emergence into becoming the GOAT that he is. Especially was it exciting reliving SB51--with that spectacular come-from-behind win against the Falcons (my team at the time--till I moved to Tampa) in overtime.

Yeah, they might be "cheaters," but you cannot win like they have by cheating the entire way. They just got caught is all (meaning most if not all teams cheat--they just have not gotten caught yet). In addition, it would not have been as big a deal had it been the Panthers (who actually need to cheat) or the Commanders.

All in all, I have enjoyed binge-watching the first eight episodes.