Denver's quest for a third straight Super Bowl title was over almost as soon as it began.
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"We weren't even close, for a number of reasons," coach Mike Shanahan said.
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"It's impossible," defensive lineman Trevor Pryce said. "I have one statement: I went to the Pro Bowl the year the Ravens won it. Ray Lewis was at the table, talking crazy about repeats and three-peats. I said, `OK, remember this. You've got an `X' on your back. We had it twice. It's hard to win it. You will not win it again.' And they didn't."
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This season, injuries almost did in the Patriots. Bruschi, Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison. Corey Dillon, Matt Light, Kevin Faulk. All are key cogs who missed significant time. When the Pats came to Denver for a regular-season game on Oct. 16, they barely resembled playoff material, let alone a wannabe dynasty.
A weakened defense and a struggling offensive line that caused Tom Brady to take a beating were a big reason they fell behind 28-3. Their championship mentality is a big reason they rallied and nearly tied it, before falling 28-20.
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Over the final six games of the regular season, they allowed only 2.9 yards per run. Brady has thrown for a career-high 4,110 yards. They won six of seven before falling in the regular-season finale, a game in which coach Bill Belichick rested many of his starters.
Still, all those stats only speak to the bigger point - that the Patriots are champions, they know how to win, and they know how to do it with everyone else targeting them.
"It's why they are what they are," Shanahan said. "They've got a chance to do something pretty special."
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"Teams come at you harder when you get an `X' on your back. It's the nature of the game," Shanahan said. "Not too many teams have been able to do what New England has done. Now, they've got a chance to do something nobody's done. It's why they're very special."
