New England Patriots: Should They Enter 'Win Now' Mode?

The sting of the playoff loss to the New York Jets is still burning plenty of New England Patriots fans who are already anxious for the 2011 NFL offseason to get under way.

Many fans are wondering how the Patriots will approach the offseason. Will they enter win-now mode, or will they continue to stay the course of building through the draft?

Tom Brady's not getting any younger, and with a letdown like they had in the playoff game against the New York Jets, it would be easy for some GMs to push the panic button and go into Super Bowl or bust mode.

2007 was the only time the New England Patriots ever went "all out" for a Super Bowl, and they made it within minutes of an undefeated season.

Most teams that do that, though, end up mortgaging a season for nothing. Those teams often miss the Super Bowl, and most teams that build through the draft end up making it to the big game. Look at Pittsburgh and Green Bay, for example, both of which have over 35 home grown talents on their roster.

And the Patriots are well on their way doing things the way they've been doing them—the "Patriots way" as it's lovingly known around here.

Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Vince Wilfork, Logan Mankins, Matt Light, Ty Warren and Patrick Chung are just a few of the players that the Patriots have drafted. Oh, and some guy Tom Brady, too.

Looking back on their previous Super Bowl runs, they had plenty of drafted talent on those squads, as well. With names like Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour, Damien Woody, Deion Branch, Tom Brady, and many others, there was no shortage of star power that the Patriots had found and developed through the draft on those Super Bowl teams.

This isn't baseball or basketball, where one or two big free agent signings can guarantee more wins. With the talent they've drafted in the past few years, the Patriots have the beginnings of a solid foundation, and can finish the job with a few more solid picks. Then, they'll be primed for Super Bowl runs for a long time to come instead of banking it all on one run.

The Patriots have found many of the pieces to the puzzle in the draft, and with six picks in the first three rounds alone, they have plenty of opportunities to strike gold again.

The Steelers and Packers didn't get where they are by steering off-course. They knew that building through the draft is the best way to build a great team, and weren't deterred by missing the playoffs (Steelers) or by an early exit in 2009 (Packers). 

Tom Brady had another four years on his extension, and there's still plenty of time to develop a talented team through the draft. That being said, this isn't a team that's terribly far away from a run at the Super Bowl.

Even for those of you who are impatient, just look at the two teams participating in the Super Bowl this year. Both had disappointing finishes to their 2009 season, just like the Patriots had this year.

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