Oh look, our next opponent is in worse disarray than we are!

[supafly]

Great details. It's been a while and it is largely foggy to me now, but my brother (and me to an extent) had the feeling that the first few series really could have been game changing. Your details help bring that back.
If nothing else it would have been great to see the Patriots make it a competitive game where they were with a 7 to 10 points in the 4th quarter (considering they were given a 0.00001 percent chance of winning) versus what it ended up as.

That was the postseason run that really started to draw my attention and loyalty to this team. I loved the fact that they were such enormous underdogs and at the time were the first WC team to win 3 games on the road to go to the SB.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

That was the postseason run that really started to draw my attention and loyalty to this team. I loved the fact that they were such enormous underdogs and at the time were the first WC team to win 3 games on the road to go to the SB.

I forgot about that, 3 in a row on the road baby! That was something, totally improbable at the time. I remember how the Patriots, as they kept winning, were disrespected too. They didn't belong with a Miami and or a Raiders. And as I recall, at this point in history, the Phins totally owned us (especially in Miami). I think it was only the Jets game that the Patriots were given much of a chance against (I think it was the Jets).

Maybe I'm a bit older then you Sup, for me what got me into the Patriots was the 76 season. I wasn't old enough to understand much at all except my bother and stepdad was all about the Patriots (therefore so was I) that year including the blood vessels they about popped on the BS call on Hamilton (that quite probably took a real good shot at the first SB win for the Patriots -- which, as someone who calls the bay area home base, makes the way the Raider fans see the snow bowl as SWEET! just desserts).

 

[supafly]

I forgot about that, 3 in a row on the road baby! That was something, totally improbable at the time. I remember how the Patriots, as they kept winning, were disrespected too. They didn't belong with a Miami and or a Raiders. And as I recall, at this point in history, the Phins totally owned us (especially in Miami). I think it was only the Jets game that the Patriots were given much of a chance against (I think it was the Jets).

Maybe I'm a bit older then you Sup, for me what got me into the Patriots was the 76 season. I wasn't old enough to understand much at all except my bother and stepdad was all about the Patriots (therefore so was I) that year including the blood vessels they about popped on the BS call on Hamilton (that quite probably took a real good shot at the first SB win for the Patriots -- which, as someone who calls the bay area home base, makes the way the Raider fans see the snow bowl as SWEET! just desserts).

Yes sir, I'm in my late 30's at this point in my life, so I was only about 10 or so when the '85 postseason run occurred. Considering that I was living in Youngstown, OH at the time the split was evenly divided between CLE and PIT fans. My father was an avid sportsbettor, so I quickly picked up just about every sport know to man at a young age, as my weekends were spent watching my father sweat, smoke, swear, cheer, and cry (sans jai alai--but had we lived in FL that would have been another story).

The benefit to this was that I was able to understand and remember some of the important games in all of the major sports that many people my age simply have no recollection of.

I've heard absolute horror stories about the '76 postseason Raiders game from many, many posters and fans, so you'd be right that the Snow bowl game ended up balancing things out nicely.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Yes sir, I'm in my late 30's at this point in my life, so I was only about 10 or so when the '85 postseason run occurred. Considering that I was living in Youngstown, OH at the time the split was evenly divided between CLE and PIT fans. My father was an avid sportsbettor, so I quickly picked up just about every sport know to man at a young age, as my weekends were spent watching my father sweat, smoke, swear, cheer, and cry (sans jai alai--but had we lived in FL that would have been another story).

The benefit to this was that I was able to understand and remember some of the important games in all of the major sports that many people my age simply have no recollection of.

I've heard absolute horror stories about the '76 postseason Raiders game from many, many posters and fans, so you'd be right that the Snow bowl game ended up balancing things out nicely.

Yeah, I got about 5 years on ya .
As I look back the 85 team that was probably the season where I became into the Patriots from a 'know' standpoint. For the 76-78 Patriots, even though I remember watching games and it is what got me into it, I had to look up quite a bit to 'know' about the team. For example I had no memory of the Jets accusing the Patriots of cheating (yep, that actually occurred in 78. Apparently the Jets have been sore losers for 3+ decades ). And while I remember the 'goodbye chuckie' chants from fans that year, I didn't recall anything about the actual situation. I just know it was an almost absurdly comical meltdown to end the season. For any Patriot fan who wants to know/read some interesting history, look up what happened in those few weeks in 78. Seeing how teams are run nowadays, it's utterly unbelievable to think that could happen. And it chopped the legs out from a good Patriot team (after that HC thing happened, the team got hammered two straight games. Those two games were to clinch the division and the divisional round playoff game). Someone with a few more years than I could probably give better specifics, but it makes the Parcells-Kraft ending seem like a minor misunderstanding.

is probably worse (again looking it up and matching it with what I do remember from watching it). 78 was not as painful as that single brutal play in 76, but the HC circus killed that team (and that was the season of Stingley's unfortunate injury).