From 2001 to 2019, the New England Patriots were the class of the NFL. During that span, they won 17 division titles, appeared in the Super Bowl nine times, and won the Super Bowl six times. Their trophies and longevity made them the most successful dynasty in NFL history, but the Apple TV+ documentary series, “The Dynasty: New England Patriots,” reveals the inner conflict that led to the dynasty’s fall.
“The Dynasty” covers the highs and lows of the Patriots’ long run of success in the span of 10 episodes, showing never-before-seen footage and interviews with people involved. Most notably, the documentary interviews Patriots owner Robert Kraft, former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who are widely considered the three most important people in the Patriots dynasty.
The series begins by recapping how Tom Brady became the starting quarterback for New England after replacing the injured Drew Bledsoe. Belichick was credited with making what was, at the time, an unpopular decision to continue playing Brady even when Bledsoe was healthy again. The series does a good job outlining how controversial the decision was, as the events occurred before many younger fans were born. It is clear that Belichick put his job on the line to do what he felt was best for the team, and the series puts that in perspective.
The series then transitions into the Spygate scandal of 2007, where the Patriots were caught videotaping signals of the New York Jets coaching staff. Belichick was criticized for going outside the rules but was also given credit in the series for how the team rallied around him to finish the regular season a perfect 16-0. The team then lost the Super Bowl to the underdog New York Giants, finding themselves on the wrong side of the greatest upset in Super Bowl history.
Eventually, the series shifted to the Deflategate scandal where the Patriots and Tom Brady were accused of deflating footballs during the 2014 conference championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Episode seven specifically details the NFL’s evidence against the Patriots and its impact on Tom Brady.
Brady’s family was interviewed, and they spoke about how hard it was to see Brady have his character attacked. Teammates of Brady were also interviewed, such as receiver Danny Amendola, who talked about how bad he felt for Brady during that time. This is a stark contrast to the way Belichick is portrayed after Spygate, as Brady is defended instead of criticized, calling into question how impartial the series is.
Despite the difficulty of these multiple scandals, the Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2014 and again in 2016 by coming back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons. However, soon after this Super Bowl, a divide was created between Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. The series discussed how Belichick routinely criticized Brady during the week, with the idea of setting the standard for everyone else. After nearly twenty years, Brady had enough and did not want to work with Belichick anymore.
While New England would win its sixth championship in 2018, it was not enough to keep Brady and Belichick together. Brady left the Patriots in 2020, marking the end of the Patriots dynasty. Brady went on to win the Super Bowl with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Belichick and the Patriots struggled in the post-Brady era. Likely as a result, Belichick and Kraft recently agreed to part ways this offseason.
One criticism I have of the series is it comes largely from the perspective of Robert Kraft. This can be seen in how each of the three main characters — Brady, Belichick and Kraft — are portrayed. Throughout the series, Brady is shown as a team-first guy who bought into Belichick’s culture, sacrificing money and better treatment to win. Ultimately, the series claims Brady deserved better than what he had in New England. Kraft sees Brady, or “Tommy” as he calls him, like a son, so it is no surprise that he is portrayed positively.
Belichick, on the other hand, is often shown in a more negative light. He is often held accountable for things that go wrong in the organization, such as not trading Aaron Hernandez to a West Coast team when he requested it or benching Malcolm Butler in their 2017 Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Robert Kraft is ultimately depicted as the guy who kept them together for so long and who, even at the end, did his best to make the team function despite the tension between Belichick and Brady.
“The Dynasty: New England Patriots” gives an inside look into the most successful team in NFL history, showing the good and bad. The series was not afraid to highlight uncomfortable points in the Patriots’ dynasty, like Aaron Hernandez and Deflategate, which gives it credibility and intrigue. Despite the criticism of it being slanted to Kraft’s perspective and against Belichick, it is still informational and entertaining, and it explores the inside truth of the dynasty’s rise and fall.
