1985 Patriots Or 1996 Patriots

[InRodWeRust]

The 1985 Pats would have been cool winning but for me it's the 1996 Pats and its not even close. Why? Because I was at that game with my dad. The stadium appeared to be about 75% Packers fans so I felt like the underdog. The first half of the game was incredible because I thought we had a chance to pull it off. I was heartbroken when the game slowly slipped away. I've been bitter against Brett Favre and the media's ball washing of him ever since.

 

[FCB02062]

96..

50% of the 85 team was on coke

Plus the 1996 AFC title game literally SHOOK Foxboro Stadium... When Otis smith picked up that fumble and returned it for a td the ****ing benches were shaking...i was in 223 and I remember it like yesterday

 

[TruthSeeker]

I'm amazed the vote is this close. The '85 team in a shoo-in. Beating the Bears and winning the Super Bowl would have been an historic win and an incredible route to a World Championship (close to but not achieving the Impossible Dream '67 Red Sox). Beating the Packers would have been a Super Bowl victory.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm amazed the vote is this close. The '85 team in a shoo-in. Beating the Bears and winning the Super Bowl would have been an historic win and an incredible route to a World Championship (close to but not achieving the Impossible Dream '67 Red Sox). Beating the Packers would have been a Super Bowl victory.

Fun Fact:

85 Bears were favored by 10.5

01 Rams were favored by 14.5

 

[Dingleberry]

96..

.50% of the 85 team was on coke

Plus the 1996 AFC title game literally SHOOK Foxboro Stadium... When Otis smith picked up that fumble and returned it for a td the ****ing benches were shaking...i was in 223 and I remember it like yesterday

.50% would be less than one player. Tony Collins was definitely one player.

To be fair though, 50% of the general population was on coke in the 80's

 

[Jackson 2]

I'm trying to decide if I would trade 2003 for 1985. I think I would.

I know what you mean. I think I would trade it. I was at the 86 SB in NO. I went there with friends w/o tickets. We figured if we didn't get in we'd just go to one of the 4 million great bars and watch it there. We got end zone seats among 8 million Bears fans on the street for $300 per about 30 minutes before kickoff. When the Pats went ahead 3-0 in the first quarter, we went nuts giving Chicago fans crap. Major error, LOL.

 

[Patjew]

Fun Fact:

85 Bears were favored by 10.5

01 Rams were favored by 14.5

Vegas has gotten better and better.

 

[Jackson 2]

Vegas has gotten better and better.

As opposed to the Rams and Bears...

 

[mosslost]

If you could choose which one wins the Super Bowl in their respective seasons instead of losing to who they lost to which team would you pick and why

1985 Patriots
11-5
Road to Super Bowl XX
HC Raymond Berry/GM Billy Sullivan
(QB Tony Eason/QB Steve Grogan)

Wild Card
Patriots Defeat Jets 26-14

Divisional Round
Patriots Defeat Raiders 27-20

AFCCG
Patriots Defeat Dolphins 31-14

Super Bowl XX
Bears 46
Patriots 10



1996 Patriots
11-5
Road to Super Bowl XXXI
HC Bill Parcells
QB Drew Bledsoe

Divisional Round
Patriots Def. Steelers 28-3

AFCCG
Patriots Def. Jaguars 20-6

Super Bowl XXXI
Packers 35
Patriots 21

85.

If Bledsoe had a ring, he "might" have been given his job back (Brady was only 5-3 with not great stats when Bledsoe was ready) I have wondered if 96 had been won if he might not have lost his job.

 

[Bradyking12]

85.

If Bledsoe had a ring, he "might" have been given his job back (Brady was only 5-3 with not great stats when Bledsoe was ready) I have wondered if 96 had been won if he might not have lost his job.

Yea I always wondered if it was a blessing in disguise that we lost

 

[RobertWeathers]

85.

If Bledsoe had a ring, he "might" have been given his job back (Brady was only 5-3 with not great stats when Bledsoe was ready) I have wondered if 96 had been won if he might not have lost his job.

BB wouldn't have given a rats fart about 1996

 

[Bradyking12]

BB wouldn't have given a rats fart about 1996

I can picture something like this

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Both games were heart breakers but they set the stage for the victory over the Rams. I was euphoric for a long time.

 

[Calhoun44]

1985. No question. Had just finished basic training and was away from home for the first time AND John "freaking" Hannah!!!!

 

[SilverSeven]

BB wouldn't have given a rats fart about 1996

Yeah but what about Kraft?

Hot take: I choose neither. Who knows if we have this current run if we win either of those super bowls? Possibly changes the timeline of the franchise and screw everything up...

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Bledsoe played well in 96

Ray you're speaking of the whole of 96 playoffs not just about the 96 SB, right? Bledsoe's play in the SB shouldn't be characterized as "played well".

And as I remember it, while the DH kick off return was the most deflating event in the game, if memory serves me one of BF's first passes of the game went for something like 60+ yards for a TD followed right up (again if I remember) a Bledsoe int giving GB a free 3 points. It was 10-0 and don't think GB had even moved the sticks yet

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

85 would have been great to win because it was o improbable, the mountain to get over was almost a straight upward climb. But we could replay that 85 game 10 times and the outcome would have been ugly 10 times. For those that aren't old enough to have seen it, the Bears utterly, completely, unequivocally blew through their playoff opponents. If memory serves me -- through the NFCDG, NFCCG and SB if not for the Peyton fumble no one would have scored on the Bears through all 3 playoff games until Grogan's 4th quarter SB TD when the Bears were up by 40 points.
No disrespect to the 2000 Ravens who had a dominant D but that 85 Bears' D was the most fearsomely dominating NFL playoff performance I've seen in my lifetime.

Conversely I think 96 was winnable. Odds weren't in our favor but it wasn't a country mile from 50/50. The 85 SB odds for the Patriots to win were, rounded off to the nearest tenth, zero point zero .

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

If the question is who would win in a rematch, it's easy. Bledsoe played well in 96, they only lost cause of a kick off return.

If it's who I would have liked to, it's 85 without question. Younger fans have no idea of the emotion and payback, the vengeance in the Miami and Oakland games. Like destroying two schoolyard bullies who'd been taking your lunch money for decades and laughing.

I would have gone out of my mind if they'd won that Super Bowl against the arrogant Bears.

1985 without question.

I remember every one of those playoff games.

Beating the Bears would have been beyond incredible.

'85 Bears were like '86 Mets - arrogant and inferior.

Imagine Zo playing first half in '97.

Or me in goal vs. the Russians instead of Jim Craig for the first period.

From '83-'89, Eason started the games with our season on the line, and we lost.

I think this century has proven that playing the quarterback with the awareness, toughness and leadership wins.

Had Berry done the obvious, right thing, Pete Axthelm et al. would not have been laughing and celebrating the Bear's coronation prior to kickoff.

Suey got all those rushing yards on an exhausted, desperate Pats defense.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

85 would have been great to win because it was o improbable, the mountain to get over was almost a straight upward climb. But we could replay that 85 game 10 times and the outcome would have been ugly 10 times. For those that aren't old enough to have seen it, the Bears utterly, completely, unequivocally blew through their playoff opponents. If memory serves me -- through the NFCDG, NFCCG and SB if not for the Peyton fumble no one would have scored on the Bears through all 3 playoff games until Grogan's 4th quarter SB TD when the Bears were up by 40 points.
No disrespect to the 2000 Ravens who had a dominant D but that 85 Bears' D was the most fearsomely dominating NFL playoff performance I've seen in my lifetime.

Conversely I think 96 was winnable. Odds weren't in our favor but it wasn't a country mile from 50/50. The 85 SB odds for the Patriots to win were, rounded off to the nearest tenth, zero point zero .

We'll never know because Berry decided to put a young, inexperienced, frail, inferior, record-setting sack-prone kid with the flu in there.

The Bears were very good...they were also full of themselves, immature and nervous to start the game. Three of McMahon's early throws could, or should, have been pick sixed.

For four previous games, the Pats' D & ST & running game carried us, but they needed our real leader and QB in there, from the start, not after it was out of hand.

I tend to agree with you, 0.0 chance - only with Eason starting.

 

[supafly]

‘85 Pats

Although I cannot recite each player and position aside from the “names,” it’s the underdog team that made me a fan to begin with. I was only ten and lodged directly in the middle of Browns/Steeler fans (equal distance from both).

Loved the fact that they were the first team to ever win 3 games on the road as a WC to reach the SB. Just wish they could’ve gone up against anyone else and finished the job in the SB. Admittedly, I lost some interest in my early teens after that with the poor records and hopped back on with the drafting of Bledsoe in ‘93. That was back when I could still wear a Patriots jersey in Pittsburgh. Times have changed.