Most depressing Patriot losses of all time

[JoeSixPat]

This one hurt - but only because the team was on the brink of making history.

I've got a bit more perspective now and I think as true Football fan, I truthfully feel that the fact that we lost to an underdog team reaffirms what it is that we all LOVE about football.

That anything is possible - that any team can win - and that if we're all honest with ourselves, we know that the Patriots didn't deserve to win that game the way that they played - and that the Giants did.

I don't feel like less of a Patriots fan for admitting all of that. Actually I think a lot of Patriots fans feel the same way.

And I think THAT'S what sets Patriots fans apart from the vast majority of fans from other teams - who constantly grouse and find reasons why they were ripped off from their "rightful" wins. The Rams fans and players are still making excuses 7 years later.

We need to stop and appreciate what we have in New England. A football team that has been a consistent contender and 3 Ring winner for the SB for going on 8 years in an age of supposed parity.

A baseball team coming off a championship - the 2nd in 4 years.

And a basketball team that is the leading contender for a 17th championship

Overall I'm feeling pretty grateful.

 

[richpats]

That anything is possible - that any team can win - and that if we're all honest with ourselves, we know that the Patriots didn't deserve to win that game the way that they played - and that the Giants did.

Exactly. The game came down to a team needing to make multiple plays (NYG) vs. a team needing to make ONE play (NE) and they got the job done. We didn't.

Let's not forget that in our first meeting, there were FIVE lead changes in that game. This Giants team was our match and we had the misfortune of having a rematch in the Super Bowl.

 

[Kontradiction]

There is no contest in this one. SB 42 was the single most heartbreaking football game that I have ever experienced in my life. I'll admit to actually going outside after the game and crying by myself. Yeah... no contest.

 

[BadMoFo]

im sorry, SB 42 isnt it. We have 3 titles behind us and it was still a SB season.
the old timers will remember the pain of thinking "we'll never win anything" after tough losses...

here are some worse ones in my book..

1. 1976 - Roughing the passer game
2. 1979 - Going to Denver when we were still in contention and losing in the snow something like 45-7. they used footage from the game in "Everybodys All-American"
3. 1979 - getting eliminated by getting upset at the Jets. following the game the famous Larry Johnson cartoon where the Red Sox player meets the Patriots player at the airport "Great Job, just a super choke!!!!"
4. for me, the worst night...1980..the night John Lennon was shot, and John Smith gets his kicked blocked in Miami as the season is lost. My two great loves at the time, the Beatles and the Patriots. a very bad night.
5. 1984 - Patriots needing a win in Denver, tie game, driving for a winning FG, Mosi Tatupu fumbles and the Broncos run it all the way back to win the game.
6. 1997 - playoff loss at Pittsburgh when Bledsoe gets stripped by Vrabel. My last straw with Drew. it always happened to Drew. from the moment on, i stopped hoping he'd be like Troy Aikman.

Care to rethink your answer?

Sounds like you are making this argument, hoping others will agree with you. It isn't happening.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

We may never see a double digit huge Super Bowl favorite again - Its been proven time and time again that large point spread favorites don't cover Super Bowl spreads - and some favorites even lose .

 

[Disco Volante]

Uh, that little game where we lost immortality and the claim to be the greatest team of all-time.

There’s no god damn question.

 

[richpats]

Uh, that little game where we lost immortality and the claim to be the greatest team of all-time.

There’s no god damn question.

Jesus, if I hear someone utter the "i"-word again I'm going to puke. Football teams aren't immortal. The Pats would still have to play in future seasons whether they went 19-0 or not. And one sad year they are going to really stink.

Time marches on. Live in the now.

Let's not act like Dolphin fans here.

 

[Kontradiction]

Jesus, if I hear someone utter the "i"-word again I'm going to puke. Football teams aren't immortal. The Pats would still have to play in future seasons whether they went 19-0 or not. And one sad year they are going to really stink.

Time marches on. Live in the now.

Let's not act like Dolphin fans here.

Vampires are immortal...




























































What that has to do with this thread, I have no idea. Just thought I should mention it.

 

[Lansdowne]

There have been brutal ones I've seen (AFCCG loss to the Colts) and ones I haven't (Ben Dreidt game against the Raiders), but the SB XLII loss takes the cake for me. I was pretty damn bummed out after losing SB XXXI but I felt fortunate that I even got to see them get that far. I did not think the Patriots would allow themselves to be defeated in XLII, at least not until the Tyree catch. Myself, along with virtually every Pats fan watching, knew the end was near when that happened. I'll never be completely over that SB loss, much like I'll never be completely over the XXXI loss, but the Pats winning the SB next year will help push those losses further away from my memory.

Vampires are immortal...




























































What that has to do with this thread, I have no idea. Just thought I should mention it.

I thought it was a great post!

 

[Kontradiction]

thxbro!!!

10 chars.

 

[castlelong1]

1976 Divisional vs. the F'in Raiders. Part of it was I was 9, but nothing comes close. Someday I won't hurt for 42, but I'll carry that regret to my grave. I'm glad Raider's idiots don't understand the tuck rule. If we have 1,000 more "tuck"-like games the debt won;'t be close to being paid.

 

[Disco Volante]

The Pats would still have to play in future seasons whether they went 19-0 or not

 

[Dragda]

Super Bowl XX. That sucked.

 

[Mogamedogz]

SB 42 was the most devastating loss I have ever experienced, and it is not close. No loss ever has, or ever will feel as bad. Not the Pats in '85 or the Sox in '86. DEFINITELY not a game that was for less than a world championship (read: any AFCCG's or ALCS's)... nothing, ever.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I agree that SB42 isn't the most depressing loss of all time. Don't get me wrong for it's way high up on the "this royally sucks" list, but it isn't the worst. 19-0 would have been awesome, but I'm not going to cry over a lost opportunity for a FOURTH title this decade. It's like being a multi-millionaire and whining why I'm not a billionaire. I've talked to a few Giants fans and despite their ability to claim scoreboard, they know the Giants pulled that game out of their butts (hello, David Tyree). We joked during the season about "the blueprint" created by Philly and Baltimore to "beat" the Pats, but the truth is that the Pats of the 2nd half of the season weren't the juggernaut of the 1st half and were ripe for the taking...by a team that could play the game of their life and make a huge play or two in the final minutes. Baltimore came closest, but couldn't make the key play when they needed it. NY (hello, David Tyree) did.

Blowing that 21-3 lead in Indy the year before hurt a ton worse. I don't think I've ever been as depressed over a loss. They had that game, then let it all fall apart in the 2nd half. Watching players drop like flies and their backups try vainly to hold the fort was gut-wrenching. The Pats were supposed to own Peyton Manning in the post-season. They were supposed to own the AFCCGs they played in. Twenty-one to three! That should be a big enough cushion to handle the personel losses in the 2nd half, right? Anyone? [shaking head]

Vrabel stripping Bledsoe in Pittsburgh pissed me off more than depressed me. Ditto Eason turtling for Rulon Jones. Ditto the coaches leaving Max Lane alone against Reggie White. SB20 was a lost cause once it was clear that the offense wasn't ready (especially Eason, James and the entire OL including Hannah) and the D wasn't going to keep them in the game (Lippett on Gault? Overplay Payton so Suhey and Gentry can kill you? Good call, coach!), so I wrote that one off before halftime. All of these games drew a more emotional response than SB42.

Regards,
Chris

 

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

im sorry, SB 42 isnt it. We have 3 titles behind us and it was still a SB season.
the old timers will remember the pain of thinking "we'll never win anything" after tough losses...

here are some worse ones in my book..

1. 1976 - Roughing the passer game
2. 1979 - Going to Denver when we were still in contention and losing in the snow something like 45-7. they used footage from the game in "Everybodys All-American"
3. 1979 - getting eliminated by getting upset at the Jets. following the game the famous Larry Johnson cartoon where the Red Sox player meets the Patriots player at the airport "Great Job, just a super choke!!!!"
4. for me, the worst night...1980..the night John Lennon was shot, and John Smith gets his kicked blocked in Miami as the season is lost. My two great loves at the time, the Beatles and the Patriots. a very bad night.
5. 1984 - Patriots needing a win in Denver, tie game, driving for a winning FG, Mosi Tatupu fumbles and the Broncos run it all the way back to win the game.
6. 1997 - playoff loss at Pittsburgh when Bledsoe gets stripped by Vrabel. My last straw with Drew. it always happened to Drew. from the moment on, i stopped hoping he'd be like Troy Aikman.

I was living in New Orleans at the time the Pats played the Packers in the Super Bowl.

It was one of the VERY few SBs where I didn't root for either team-however, once the Pats grabbed the momentum in the 2nd half after that Martin TD(and that Packers D got GASSED prior to that), I started hopping on the Pats bandwagon. Which was why I got deflated when Desmond Howard subsequently ran back that KR to take back the momentum for good.

BTW-in your opinions, do you think the outcome would have been different if Parcells hadn't gotten into that tirade weeks up to that Super Bowl? I remember reading several stories here in the New Orleans media how he was negotiating with the J-E-T-S the minute he arrived into his Big Easy hotel room.

 

[Jimke]

Let's stop kidding ourselves. The greatest football team ever had

a shot at football immortality by winning Superbowl 42 and blew it.

Nothing can compare to the disappointment of losing that game.

If the Patriots play for another fifty years, the odds are they will

never have another shot at an undefeated season.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Rationalize all you want. Convince yourself if you can. More power to you. I wish I could.

The Pats beat the Giants they go down as the best team in the history of the game. They are the best record wise and the best statistically. They can never be bettered, unbeaten can only be equalled.

They lost a game, a Super Bowl, and immortality - and in heartbreaking fashion. Nothing in franchise history compares.

yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me. There is no real close second, but I'd give that spot to "Roughing the Passer." Number three? The loss to Indy in the AFCG two seasons ago.

SBXX? I was just happy we were there (wrong attitude I know)

 

[richpats]

I'm more depressed hearing about how depressed fans are about a game we clearly didn't deserve to win.

 

[p8ryts]

Let's stop kidding ourselves. The greatest football team ever had

a shot at football immortality by winning Superbowl 42 and blew it.

Nothing can compare to the disappointment of losing that game.

If the Patriots play for another fifty years, the odds are they will

never have another shot at an undefeated season.

This is the truth. Some other contenders for me are the 78 playoff game against the Oilers, a regular season game where the Jets were down to the 3rd string QB and threw less than 10 times and they won something like 7-6, this was back in the 70's I believe. Some championship games have been brutal, XX,XXXI, the 66 game against San Diego, the 76 roughing the passer and the previous years game in Indy. In the end result they all pale against XLII.

The truth is that I don't care about an undefeated season just the super bowl. That's what made XLII so difficult, after going undefeated to miss out on the big prize at the end.

Still pretty good, 4 out 7 SB's, 5 AFCC champiionship games, life is good.