I can only imagine the pain they feel. I still think about that game often - far, far, far too often - and I'm just a fan. This is their livelihood, not just their profession, but a passion. The feeling of "what-if" they must have over that game will undoubtedly stick with them for the rest of their lives.
That said, particularly now with the Colts cowardice and failure to go for perfection, that 2007 team has nothing to be ashamed of. It should be proud of its accomplishments.
It took me a while to get over that loss, but this line of thinking is what helped me. The 2009 season really helped to put into perspective what that group of players was able to accomplish. All those teams trying to go 19-0, and either failing or not having the guts to even try... it says something about the kind of team we had that year. Those guys were special.
In the end, we lost to a hungry team that felt like it had been written off all season long. The Giants came out and played one of the best games in Super Bowl history.
There's nothing else you can say. We essentially lost to another team with a Patriots mentality. They didn't care who they were playing; they just came out, did their jobs, and played their hearts out. They were 10-6 and beat an undefeated team on the biggest stage of their careers. TBH, I don't think any other team from the NFC would've beaten the Pats in the Super Bowl.
At the same time, you can't take away what the Patriots did that year--no other team in history could have pulled off what they accomplished with the kind of pressure they were under every game after Spygate.
As time goes on, I think the 2007 Patriots will gain more and more respect as people's jealousy of the Pats in general fades into history. They did so many amazing things that year that you could make a great movie out of it. NFL Films will undoubtedly do something cool with them; there's too much controversy involved not to.
Even though they didn't win the Super Bowl, I can't think of another team in sports history that played better than the 2007 Patriots during those first 8 weeks. I know, the regular season doesn't matter, but if it did we'd easily beat out the Colts just because of 2007 by itself. That was something I don't think we'll ever see again, from the Patriots or anyone else.