Inexperienced Patriots Have Solid Core of Super Bowl Champions to Emulate As Playoffs Near

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Dec 30, 2010

Inexperienced Patriots Have Solid Core of Super Bowl Champions to Emulate As Playoffs Near FOXBORO, Mass. — If playoff experience counts for anything, the Patriots could be fighting an uphill battle when the postseason gets underway.

As of Thursday morning, the Patriots' 54-man roster (including suspended linebacker Brandon Spikes, who isn't on the active roster but will return for the playoffs) was very thin on playoff experience. They've got 37 players who have never won a playoff game, including 23 players who have never even played in the postseason.

Obviously, two heavy draft classes in the last two seasons have contributed to those high numbers. The Patriots have 18 of their own draft picks since 2008 who are on the active roster, plus three undrafted rookies. Just seven of those 21 players were active for last season's playoff defeat against the Ravens.

The 54 players on the Patriots roster have a combined playoff record of 91-64 in 155 games, which works out to an average of 2.9 postseason games per player and 1.7 wins.

Those numbers take a huge dive when you remove the team's six Super Bowl winners: quarterback Tom Brady (14-4 playoff record), left tackle Matt Light (13-3), center Dan Koppen (10-3), defensive lineman Vince Wilfork (8-4), wide receiver Deion Branch (8-3) and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain (8-3). This group has a combined playoff record of 61-20 in 81 games. That means the Patriots' other 48 players are a combined 30-44 in 74 games, which is an average of 1.5 games per player and 0.6 wins.

On a general basis, it's fairly startling to note the lack of overall playoff experience for a team that locked up the top seed in the AFC, but with a half-dozen players — Brady especially — having so many playoff games under their belt, the rest of the roster can follow behind.

"To be honest, we have guys on this team that have Super Bowl rings," said linebacker Jerod Mayo, who has only played in one postseason game. "The rest of us are just going to follow their lead."

Some players were genuinely surprised to hear how many players in the locker room lacked a significant postseason résumé, but on the same token, playoff experience isn’t exactly the end-all, be-all when it comes to wins and losses in January and February.

"There's definitely something to say for [playoff experience] — some merit," said running back Sammy Morris, who played in his first playoff game last season, which was his 10th in the NFL. "But at the same time, guys have been playing the whole year and it’s still time to perform."

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