Some Perspective

[Ivan]

2011 SB Champs New York Giants-Week 15 Loss to Washington 23-10

2010 SB Champs Green Bay-Week 15 Loss to New England 31-27

2009 SB Champs New Orleans Week 15 Loss to Dallas 24-17, Week 16 Loss to Tampa Bay 20-17, Week 17 Loss to Carolina 23-10

2008 SB Champs Pittsburgh-Week 16 Loss to Tennessee 31-14

2007 SB Champs New York Giants-Week 17 Loss to New England 38-35

2006 SB Champs Indy-Week 16 Loss to Houston 27-24



Late season losses in no way indicate that a team is going to win the Super Bowl, however they also in no way end a really good team's hopes for a Lombardi. This is a really good football team and they have shown it all season. Last night's loss sucks, they all do, but the real season is just about to begin and that loss won't harm them in any way when it does.

 

[BlueThunder]

Everything that could go wrong for he Pats did so in one game.

Watch the tape, fix it and move on.

Get everyone healthy and come out firing on all cylinders and nobody can keep up. :rocker:

 

[Ivan]

Everything that could go wrong for he Pats did so in one game.

Watch the tape, fix it and move on.

Get everyone healthy and come out firing on all cylinders and nobody can keep up. :rocker:

Pretty much how i see it. Sloppy game, watch it, fix it, put it behind them.

 

[PatriotSeven]

I agree. The only thing that sucks about last night to me is that the last 2 games are less meaningful to us now with us no longer being in control of our seeding destiny and I think Tom's probably lost the MVP race.

That's a bummer and the only thing that will really make up for it, is a Superbowl MVP instead, another ring on Tom's finger and another Lombardi in our trophy case.

 

[Lansdowne]

Adding...

2004 SB Champs New England - Week 15 Loss @ Miami 29-28

These things happen, we can only be glad it didn't happen in the playoffs. Here's to finishing strong and a return to the Superdome, whether it takes 2 or 3 playoff games to do it.

 

[BrainTrust66]

Late season losses in no way indicate that a team is going to win the Super Bowl, however they also in no way end a really good team's hopes for a Lombardi.

Very true - and for anyone who's ready to jump off the bridge because the Pats likely won't get a bye, look at how many of those teams listed went to the SB without a bye. All but two, I believe (2008 Steelers, 2009 Saints).

There is a path here...Pats just need to clean some stuff up.

 

[mayoclinic]

Also consider:

- The 2011 Giants lost to the 49ers and Packers but beat both en route to the SB
- The 2010 Packers lost to Atlanta, then blew them out in the playoffs
- The 2004 Pats lost to the Steelers but won convincingly on the road in the AFCCG
- Both the 2001 Pats and 2007 Giants beat teams in the SB to who they had list in the regular season

Pats imploded. 49ers played well, Pats imploded, and Pats still had a shot. Move on.

 

[IllegalContact]

while a win would have been real nice, the fact that the pats provided plenty of game plan on how to make the niners defense look stupid by scoring 31 in a half, shows that if the pats showed up for the niners the way they showed up for the texans, the result would have been the same......

the niners didn't stop the pats, the pats stopped the pats.....

do you see solder rag-dolling aldon smith when justin smith could not get a grab of him?

my perspective is that I hope this slap in the face gives the pats enough motivation to last 6 games.....but then again, if the ravens lose again, the pats may have nothing to play for week 17 and could give players who need it a bye week the week before the broncos and texans get theirs.

also, whoever gets to play the pats which is likely going to be the broncos, sitting a week will hurt them

 

[dales804]

Clearly the season is not over. It is just disappointing that they probably won't end up with a bye. Stranger things have happened, though. Maybe KC will somehow surprise DEN in week 17.

Good post, Ivan. I always think of that 2007 game @ NYG and how things changed in the Super Bowl. Nice to see other similarities in that list, too.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I think the Week 15 thing is more of a statistical anomaly, but the point is taken that a late season loss is not a death blow.

What I do think is very true is that teams that have won a tough game on the road are generally more battle-tested and confident than teams that haven't. I think the Giants had an advantage over the Pats in both Super Bowls having crawled through the gates of hell to get there. The Super Bowl to them was a neutral site; to the Pats it would an uncomfortable purgatory without 60,000 screaming fans willing them to victory.

Even before the Super Bowl last year, there was almost an unsettling feeling that I had that the Pats still hadn't quite done something. They hadn't really gone into another team's stadium and taken the life out of the crowd like so many SB champions had.

My favorite Patriots game of all-time was the '04 AFCCG against the Steelers.

Anyway, the price of earning one of these confidence-building, championship moulding wins (and one that would be so critical for this defense) is high. Winning on the road is difficult, and the Pats last road playoff game was in 2006, that horrible loss to the Colts, and the year before that, 2005, the meltdown to the Broncos. Clearly winning in Denver would be quite a challenge, but if they could win that game, I think this team wins it all.

 

[QB12]

...
My favorite Patriots game of all-time was the '04 AFCCG against the Steelers.

One of my all-time favorites also.

 

[Ivan]

I think the Week 15 thing is more of a statistical anomaly, but the point is taken that a late season loss is not a death blow.

Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting a week 15 loss correlated with winning the SB in any way, just that late season losses don't kill a good team's chances for winning it all, and I agree that winning a tough play-off game on the road is often a significant part of winning the Lombardi. I think they will beat Denver in Denver and it will come down to winning in Houston. NE/SF in New Orleans is how I see it ending, and I really believe the Patriots will win the rematch.

Had the patriots rolled over last night I might feel a little different but given the way they rallied really gave me confidence about their chances going forward.

 

[olschool]

Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting a week 15 loss correlated with winning the SB in any way, just that late season losses don't kill a good team's chances for winning it all, and I agree that winning a tough play-off game on the road is often a significant part of winning the Lombardi. I think they will beat Denver in Denver and it will come down to winning in Houston. NE/SF in New Orleans is how I see it ending, and I really believe the Patriots will win the rematch.

Had the patriots rolled over last night I might feel a little different but given the way they rallied really gave me confidence about their chances going forward.

Given the Patriots record in Denver, don't be surprised at a Broncos / 49er Superbowl.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Given the Patriots record in Denver, don't be surprised at a Broncos / 49er Superbowl.

Yes, but the Texans slaughtered the Broncos in Denver, so let's just not write off the Texans either. They got hammered by the Pats- big deal. The Pats obviously needed that game more, and then Texans rolled over. The Texans aren't 12-2 by accident, and I'd say that right now they are still the favorite. They'll get a cakewalk divisional championship game against the Colts or Ravens, so they really just need to win one big game. Against the Pats, I'd take the Pats in a close game. Against the Broncos, I'd take the Texans. I'm sure the city of Houston would like nothing more than to take down their longtime thorn in Peyton Manning, and the Texans defense matches up much better with Peyton than Brady.

 

[wyomingpatsfan]

Given the Patriots record in Denver, don't be surprised at a Broncos / 49er Superbowl.

Yep, I think the Pats biggest struggle will be against DEN in the playoffs...

It would be exciting to see a SF/PATS rematch in the SB!

 

[pwes]

What Exactly is the Pats Record in Denver? I tried looking this up but I really dont have much time or patience to go searching for it if someone has it on hand.

 

[dales804]

What Exactly is the Pats Record in Denver? I tried looking this up but I really dont have much time or patience to go searching for it if someone has it on hand.

The Patriots are 9-18 in Denver, including 0-2 in the playoffs.

 

[Ivan]

Given the Patriots record in Denver, don't be surprised at a Broncos / 49er Superbowl.

I believe the Patriots will beat them for the following reasons:

The Patriots have scored 117 points on this Broncos defense in the last 3 games, almost 40 points a game.

Manning has never played his home play-off games outside, and really hasn't fared well when he has played play-off games outside. january in Denver should at least be cold and could be nasty, that doesn't bode well for him. Manning always concerns me and will this time, but Denver has no answers for the Patriots offense and i don't believe that will change this time.

 

[Ivan]

James ihedigbo at safety against Brady, can't wait.

 

[mayoclinic]

Given the Patriots record in Denver, don't be surprised at a Broncos / 49er Superbowl.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 49ers, the newly anointed "best team in the NFL", lose to Seattle next week. They'll have a hard time finding the same energy that they found against the Pats, and 1 more win gives them the NFC West, so they pretty much have the division locked up.

I think a Pats/Seahawks SB is as likely as a Broncos/49ers SB at this point. Both are realistic possibilities, nothing more. 4 good teams. And at least 3 more who could have a reasonable shot at making the game (Houston, Green Bay and Atlanta, probably in that order). I think anyone else is a real long shot at this point, though stranger things have happened.