BradyManny

Just about anytime I make a post even referencing SB42 loosely, I'm reminded by how hauntingly close this team was to making extremely epic sports history, and how - a large part thanks to one lucky play - that was ripped away.

While Brady & Belichick are together, we as Patriot fans are in a unique situation where we have a reasonable expectation of a championship caliber team every year. Some will call it greed - I disagree. As long as these two are together, a year that doesn't end in a Patriots championship is going to be a disappointment.

Considering the bitter way in which 2007 ended, and considering how 2006 also had a strange, twisted and depressing ending [in that case, one in which fate, the refs, and the flu deprived of us a championship] does this team need to win another ring to "redeem" itself and help minimize the sting of those two losses and maximize the impact of their decade long greatness?

BradyFTW!

I sorta agree and sorta disagree, which I suppose captures the dilemma that you're talking about.

As a fan, I can't help but realize how lucky we are to have Brady and Belichick primarily, and also the rest of what's simply the most talented team in the NFL. When you have a championship-caliber team, it's always a bitter pill to swallow when it falls short. The better the team, the worse it feels if they don't win. In that respect, SB42 was the ultimate punch in the gut, and I don't think I'll fully recover from it until/unless the Pats win another SB.

As a rational human being, on the other hand, I look back at 2007 as an amazing accomlishment by the Patriots. They fell short of the ultimate goal, yes, but so did 30 other teams. A team wins a championship every year, but 16-0 has only happened once, 50 TDs have only been thrown once, 23 have been caught by a guy only once, and 589+ points have been scored only once. Would I trade all of that for a fourth Super Bowl? Of course, without question, but that was still a remarkable season to watch and be a fan for, regardless of what happened in the SB. The farther we get past that game, the more I find I'm able to look back on that season fondly.

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Box_O_Rocks

Perhaps, but that's for the historians to decide. While you're writing history, focus on the things you can control and let those youngsters picking your bones over later screw up at their own pace.

Now when's Training Camp start again? (Don't answer, too long!)

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BradyManny

Yes, very true, in one sense. The game itself will sting forever likely, but the season was as great an accomplishment as this team has made. It might be one of the most amazing accomplishments I've seen in all of sports in spite of the ending.

That said, doesn't it piss you off when people are having the "Best of the Decade" discussion, and 2007 doesn't even enter the discussion b/c it didn't end in a championship? One more ring would make that all go away.

BradyManny

Well, training camp is too long away...thus I have to do my best ESPN-impression and play the part of historian before I should...

Box_O_Rocks

Right, we don't have the violent smilies appropriate for my response to your Schlereth impersonation.

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tanked_as_usual

nope......does not need to be redeemed.....just go out and play football.........

BradyFTW!

Yeah it does, but at the end of the day the result is the same. I look at it this way:

If championships are the only thing that matters, then the "Team of the Decade" debate is simple: Patriots won the most SBs.

If championships aren't the only thing that matter, and non-championship seasons are rightly considered, then you have the Pats' 2007 16-0 record-breaking season to make it even more of a slam-dunk.

Either way, it's the Patriots, so I don't really care how people arrive at it. FWIW, though, I think common sense dictates that while championships are by far the most important factor, other points must be evaluated as well.

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TrueBeliever

It would definitely help me forget 2007 if we won it all this year, but even if we were to go 19-0, there'd still be part of me saying, "But we could have done it TWICE!"

I think a lot of Pats fans feel there was unfinished business at the end of 2007-08, and with the 2008-09 season having gone down the tubes just minutes into the first game, a lot of us are still waiting to see if there's any chance of catching lightning in a bottle again.

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BradyManny

In some ways, the depressing losses the Pats have faced will have been worth it if we get another ring. I think the casual fan around here was getting a little too used to things going our way - and granted, I understand the high expectations, but the team wasn't getting appreciated enough. I was at the last SB parade, and it paled in comparison to the previous ones.

Up until SB42, the most crushing defeat as a sports fan for me was the 03 ALCS game 7 loss to the Yankees. Given the Sox turned around and won the next season, I feel absolutely no remorse over the outcome of that game. In a way, it made what happened the ensuing season more special.

If the Pats went 19-0, it would be the hugest F-You to the league given they've come up short once. But even a SB ring would help put 18-1 in a different light.