Disappointed in Sunday's Super Bowl loss but it is not close to the worst Patriots loss in my lifetime. Here's how I'd rank them.
1. 2007 Super Bowl loss to the Giants - this was supposed to be the "perfect" season. If this game is played 100 times the Giants maybe win once and guess what happens? Silver lining was that Tom Coughlan was respected in Boston by many for what he did for BC football so we felt good for him.
2. 2006 AFC Championship game 38-34 loss to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. This one really hurt. Indy went on to win Super Bowl LXI over the Bears. The Patriots would have destroyed Chicago.
3. Giants Super Bowl XLVI loss. Not only did it give Eli Manning and the Giants two Super Bowl wins over the Pats but believe it or not there was a bit of a vibe that the end of the road was near for Tom Brady. That was six years ago.
4. 1978 preseason game vs Oakland. This is the game Darryl Stingley was paralyzed by Jack Tatum. Don't even know if this was a loss on the scorecard but we lost Darryl Stingley. Am I a bad person that this isn't higher on my list?
5. Super Bowl XX 46-10 loss to the Chicago Bears. Every male in New England felt much less manly after that beatdown.
The loss to the Eagles Sunday doesn't come close to making the list. Philadelphia was simply the better team - no shame in losing to a better team. The most devastating loss in my lifetime was the 2003 extra innings home run by Aaron Boone off Tim Wakefield. The Yankees went on to win the World Series and the day after that loss I had to drive to NYC for business. When I got there I seriously thought about jumping off a bridge (I take sports much less seriously now).
Soundly reasoned from a team standpoint. From a personal one for Brady, this most recent loss could be first since it rests - undeservedly so - on his shoulders in many minds because of the sack/fumble.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Brady threw for 505 yards with 3 TD's and 0 INT's. The offense should have scored 36 points (missed chip shot FG) and lost it's biggest threat receiver in the 1st half. Score 36 in a big game - the offense and thus Brady was not a problem. The only thing I bet bugs Brady is he didn't catch that pass.
ReplyDeleteHe was also just named MVP so I'm guessing he's not too crushed.
That 2006 loss to Peyton Manning on the other hand I bet still bugs him. That was the game famous for Pats receivers (Wes Welker) dropping passes.