Julian Edelman Makes Surprise Pick For Patriots Best All-Time Team
Over the New England Patriots' 20-year run of success, fans have witnessed no shortage of great teams.
With six Super Bowls from 2001 to 2019, the Patriots won at a clip that has never and likely will never be replicated. The Patriots certainly had some struggles along the way, but now that those days are behind them, it's much easier to fully appreciate the franchise's dynastic run.
While it's more for fun than anything, the debate over which team is the best in franchise history rages on. Former Patriots star Julian Edelman, who won three rings with the club and won Super Bowl LIII MVP, gave his take on the debate, featuring an answer that may surprise some fans.
Julian Edelman
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“For me, 2014,” Edelman said in an Instagram reel. “We were all healthy. We had (Danny) Amendola, (Rob) Gronkowski, (Dont’a) Hightower. (Matthew) Slater on special teams. (Tom Brady) just (expletive) carrying the flag out. Down 10 points (in the Super Bowl). Mental toughness just through the roof in the fourth quarter and Malcolm Butler making an insane play. Making the play when his team needed it.”
The 2014 Patriots finished the regular season 12-4 to earn the AFC's top seed, as they did many times over their championship years. They then narrowly beat the Baltimore Ravens and dismantled the Indianapolis Colts en route to Super Bowl XLIX. In that game, New England came back to beat the Seattle Seahawks, thanks to a dramatic last-minute interception by Butler, in an instant classic.
Edelman didn't just name the best team in franchise history, but the top five. Coming in second is the 2016 team that famously overcame a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons to win Super Bowl LI, the one that many consider the very best.
Rounding out the top five are the 2007, 2004 and 2001 teams. The latter two won the Super Bowl, but the 2007 team infamously came up just short against the New York Giants in one of the NFL's greatest "David vs. Goliath" moments. However, the fact that the 2007 team crushed most of its opponents en route to an undefeated regular season still places it among the all-time greats, at least in Edelman's opinion.
With the last few ties of the Patriots' dynastic run now gone, the Patriots hope some future squads under new coach Jerod Mayo can stand among the franchise's best.
