Thoughts from rewatching Patriots SB wins against Carolina and Eagles

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

1. The front 7 was amazingly good and was the backbone of both those wins. The Eagles simply could not run the ball and Panthers were pretty much stymied.
2. Reminder of the greatness of Seymour, Bruschi, Vrabel. Ty Warren and Roman Phifer and Rodney Harrison. RH made so many great plays. With all those veterans on defense they were just such a smart team.
3. Seymour was a physical beast, he absolutely crushed Donovan Mcnabb on one sack that look like it had Mcnabb really stunned
3. The Eagles game was a really close tough fought affair in which Patriots depended heavily on Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk in the first half.
4. Deion Brach was extremely deserving of MVP in Eagles game he was simply amazing and he dominated
5. I remember how bad I felt when Eugene Wilson left during the Eagles game with a broken arm and with Ty Law and Tyrone Poole both injured it left the secondary threadbare with just Asante Samuel (2nd year), Gay and 2 young safeties.
6. I forgot just how strong and physical David Givens was a receiver. It may be no coincidence that he wore number 87, because he was like a receiver in a tight end's body. He made so many BIG BIG catches in the panther's win. I think he is definitely a bit overlooked in his importance to patriots for that SB win.
7. Patriots overcame turnovers in both games with Brady interception at goal line against panthers and 2 fumbles (brady had one in red zone) against eagles.
8. Antoine Smith was critical in SB against panthers, another underrated pats performance.
9. Both SB's, other than Matt Light...no stars on offensive line but they held it together just enough testament to Dante's coaching skills...I remember when Warren Sapp called Russ Hochstein a stub who should not even be on the field against the panthers star DL..but he did pretty well
10. Wow BB looked so much younger..he has really aged a lot over past 13-14 years
11. Adam Vinitierri missed 2 field goals against panthers and announcers were actually questioning his reliability when it came down to that last kick against panthers with 8 seconds left.
11. Simply amazing that with the same QB and entirely different group of players they are on another super bowl run 11 years later.
12. Vrabel had back to back touchdowns in both Super Bowls ..what a clutch guy he was.....
I would love to see him back with Patriots as a coach some day.

 

[rogerthat]

I'll add a couple:

1. I forgot how good Deion Branch was.
2. I forgot how great of a game that Carolina Super Bowl was.
3. Tom Brady is a MUCH better qb now than he was then.
4. I forgot how vital Vrabel was to the goal line passing game.

 

[Seacoast Fan]

13. When joined with the dozen or so replays of Super Bowl 51, after watching both the Carolina Super Bowl and the Eagles Super Bowl, my wife has decided I've seen enough football lately.

 

[brdmaverick]

The game against the Panthers was the Pats 4th overall Super Bowl appearance but marked the first time they did not face the league's juggernaut.

After defeating the Colts and their vaunted 'no punt' offense, I think most suspected the Panthers game would be easier than it was. In fact, the Pats trailed in the fourth quarter and faced a critical 3rd and 5 (that was converted by Troy Brown) in which I was truly concerned they may not actually win. Definitely one of the weirdest Super Bowls ever.

 

[brdmaverick]

Also, in the Eagles game the Pats were up by 10 points and the Eagles themselves seemed to be killing the clock in the fourth quarter.

That was BY FAR the most comfortable we fans have ever felt during a Super Bowl.

 

[signbabybrady]

Super Bowl wins for days!

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

2004 was the best pats team and one of the best overall in nfl history. They were a man amongst boys in the playoffs, when its hardest to win easy and they did it against 3 great teams. They technically beat philly by 3 but i doubt anyone broke a sweat from the time we were up 7 in the fourth and driving for another score onwards. Every other ne title team has had at least 1 or 2 extreme nail biters out of their 3 playoff games.

That front 7, the only dominant run game in the bb era, and efficient passing - as mentioned people forget how good branch/givens were. Coaching staff very similarly great to this years, both oc and dc were hc candidates at the time. That is not only a stacked team but a team built for playoff success and it showed.

 

[Froob]

Yeah Givens was super underrated, him and Branch are two of the most clutch receivers to ever play the game.

 

[signbabybrady]

2004 was the best pats team and one of the best overall in nfl history. They were a man amongst boys in the playoffs, when its hardest to win easy and they did it against 3 great teams. They technically beat philly by 3 but i doubt anyone broke a sweat from the time we were up 7 in the fourth and driving for another score onwards. Every other ne title team has had at least 1 or 2 extreme nail biters out of their 3 playoff games.

That front 7, the only dominant run game in the bb era, and efficient passing - as mentioned people forget how good branch/givens were. Coaching staff very similarly great to this years, both oc and dc were hc candidates at the time. That is not only a stacked team but a team built for playoff success and it showed.

I always felt the 04 team gets all the credit but I think the 03 team was the better of the 2. The big difference from 03 to 04 was the presence of Corey and that's huge but I think the 03 team with Ted Washington up front and a healthy secondary was the better of the 2 defensively. And so I lean that way.

 

[Wax Frog]

6. I forgot just how strong and physical David Givens was a receiver. It may be no coincidence that he wore number 87, because he was like a receiver in a tight end's body. He made so many BIG BIG catches in the panther's win. I think he is definitely a bit overlooked in his importance to patriots for that SB win.

I never could forget. Every time he'd make a big play I'd get confused and think he was TE until I saw name/number

 

[brdmaverick]

They technically beat philly by 3 but i doubt anyone broke a sweat from the time we were up 7 in the fourth and driving for another score onwards. Every other ne title team has had at least 1 or 2 extreme nail biters out of their 3 playoff games.

Right, the final score showed a 3 point difference but we all know that there was not much serious doubt in the fourth quarter. The only time the Eagles had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead was with less than 1 minute to go on their one (or two) yard line with no time outs.

 

[102 Pat]

It's really too bad Given's had that terrible knee inury in Tennessee.

 

[p8ryts]

I'll add a couple:

1. I forgot how good Deion Branch was.
2. I forgot how great of a game that Carolina Super Bowl was.
3. Tom Brady is a MUCH better qb now than he was then.
4. I forgot how vital Vrabel was to the goal line passing game.

I thought the Carolina game was the best game, it was tough throughout. At the end of the game only one starting DB was playing, Samuel, and he was in place of an injured Law. Shawn Mayer had no clue. There was an unbelievable catch at the end that brought them just outside of FG range before the Branch catch, but I don't remember now if it was Branch or Brown that caught, I think the latter, double coverage, don't know how the ball got in there or how it was possibly caught, and the subsequent Branch catch, he took a helluva shot and still held on.
In the Philadelphia game, I didn't remember that they hadn't gotten a first down into midway second quarter. That was a tougher game than I remembered.

 

[Ivan]

I watched the replays yesterday and what was really striking about each of their championship teams was their physical and mental toughness.

 

[PrairiePat]

I kind of enjoyed BB yelling at Ratgini near the end of the Eagles game, when he inexplicably called for single coverage on Greg Jennings to allow that last Iggles TD. The Pats looked like they were still rushing 5 or 6 at that point, when a Prevent scheme probably runs out the clock.

 

[PatsDeb]

It was GREAT re-watching the Pats' first 3 Super Bowls and reliving all the highlights! We turned it off when the Giants replay came on, LOL. No need to go there.

 

[jri37]

How good the linebacker group was and how underrated Pfifer was.

 

[newenglandsports11]

Watched both yesterday too....
1) Brady and Brown had some incredible connections in the fourth vs Carolina on third down plays.
2) How Branch holds onto that ball with :9 seconds left has always left me in awe
-----
3) McNabb and Reid's play calling / lack of urgency still shocks me to this day. Calling runs and huddling up down 10 in the fourth? Thank God we didn't do that last Sunday.
4) Bruschi's INT was huge, love that guy.

 

[scott99]

Also, offensive line for that 2003 season, did not allow a sack in the playoffs. Think about that for a second. Also, Antowain Smith was way better in the SBs (two SBs each) than Legarrette Blount, and it's not even close.

Brady at age 37 and 39 is a much better QB than he was in his first 3 SBs. He was still awesome, but he was legendary vs Seattle and Atlanta, especially in the 4th quarter (and OT).

 

[PittPatriot]

The game against the Panthers was the Pats 4th overall Super Bowl appearance but marked the first time they did not face the league's juggernaut.

After defeating the Colts and their vaunted 'no punt' offense, I think most suspected the Panthers game would be easier than it was. In fact, the Pats trailed in the fourth quarter and faced a critical 3rd and 5 (that was converted by Troy Brown) in which I was truly concerned they may not actually win. Definitely one of the weirdest Super Bowls ever.

I am amazed how we couldn't stop Carolina/Delhomme in the 2nd half.
They moved the ball on us with surprising ease to tie the game. Like the Giants, if Carolina had 1 more possession after AV's field goal, they may have won.

As close as TB12 is to 7-0 in the SB...he is pretty close to 1-6, also. Weird.