Best Patriots teams to not win a title

[PF_SU]

Exactly the point of my post ... We beat everyone's fav ...
Dallas, Indy, SDC, Phila, Pitt were legit.

Brutal schedule from start to finish. SDC, Cinci, Dallas, Dallas, Colts, Phila, Balt, Pitt and a dog fight with NYG to end the regular season.

I personally think that even without the SB win the 2007 team is a top-5 if not top-3 team of all time. How many 18-1 teams have there been in NFL history? Exactly one as no other team ever went 16-0 and none of the 15-1 teams in NFL history have won the SB.

And as already said by you and others, their schedule was brutal and they not only won all the games, but dominated the majority of them:

They beat the 11-5 Chargers who made it to the AFCCG 38-14 at home
They beat the 10-6 Browns 34-17 at home
They beat the 13-3 Cowboys who are 5-0 at the time 48-27 at Texas Stadium
They beat the 9-7 Redskins 52-7 at home
They beat the 13-3 Colts who were 7-0 at the time 24-20 at the RCA Dome
They beat the 10-6 Steelers who were 9-3 at the time 34-13 at home
They beat the 10-6 Giants 38-35 in New York

This isn't the cupcake schedule the 72 Dolphins faced.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Exactly the point of my post ... We beat everyone's fav ...
Dallas, Indy, SDC, Phila, Pitt were legit.

Brutal schedule from start to finish. SDC, Cinci, Dallas, Dallas, Colts, Phila, Balt, Pitt and a dog fight with NYG to end the regular season.

As glorious as the 16-0 game was against the Giants it was the one winning game that really did them in. Don’t think Coughlin comes up with that game plan without having the footage against his own personal to make the adjustments he needed to win.

Giants caught a lot of breaks to get there and had Green Bay took care of business like they should of, the Pats would of destroyed them in a bad way. The matchups would of been so in favor of NE at just about every position on the field. Not to mention the Pats not playing them that year.

Best Patriots team ever and I’m surprised some still blame Hobbs for that game considering the Defense only gave up 17 points. They definitely could of played better and had some of the $**£iest luck ever coming down with game ending turnovers and one play that should of been called back for clear holding and blind luck. 17 points though... Could probably throw in the inability to stop the run on that opening drive which was close to 9 minutes.

Neals injury huge. I think Gostkowski missed? to punt instead of the 50 yard attempt later on, Oline didn’t take care of business. Swear if they played that game 10 times the Pats would win 9/10.

 

[jmt57]

2007 first
1976 second

1985 and 1996 are also on my list

2007 and 1976, without a doubt.

The '76 team wins the Super Bowl easily if not for Ben Dreith. Ranks up their with the referee giving the USSR three chances to win the gold medal in the '72 Olympics as the worst, most egregious and biased officiating in sports history, in my opinion. That tends to be forgotten in lists such as this due to it being so long ago many are not old enough to remember it.

2006 was a difficult missed opportunity. The team was hit by the flu and then had to deal with the Colts turning up the heat in the AFCCG. The Pats would have easily defeated the Bears for another Lombardi.

I don't rank 2011 that high because I personally was not high on that team. I thought the 13-3 record was a bit of a mirage and they had overachieved to get as far as they did. We probably tend to consider that team to be better than they really were simply because they made it to the Super Bowl.

 

[TheRainMaker]

And the 01 Pat's wouldn't have beaten St Louis

You don’t remember how Denver beat them down the two previous times in ‘96 and ‘97 regular season? And they beat them again in ‘98.

Denver owned their ***!

 

[Patriot Missile]

You don’t remember how Denver beat them down the two previous times in ‘96 and ‘97 regular season? And they beat them again in ‘98.

Denver owner their ***!

Elway was undefeated vs Patriots in his career.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Elway was undefeated vs Patriots in his career.

They couldn’t match up with the Broncos on either side of the ball.

This also continued in the early to mid 2000’s where TB and BB were 1-5 vs Mike Shanahan without Elway (2001-2006). And in that one win in 2003 they barely escaped in victory.

 

[VrabelJr]

2015-2016. We started the year off looking invincible, lost like 5 pro bowlers to IR, and lost to the Broncos in the AFCCG by a missed XP on the road. The 2016-17 and 2018-19 teams that won titles weren’t as good as the 2015-16 team.

 

[Doctor DDS]

2010 was an absolute wagon the 2nd half of the year. Outscored opponents 299-125 in last 8 games including beating both Super Bowl teams in the Steelers and Packers and crushing both the Bears and Jets. Very similar dominance as the first half of 2007. Last time I ever listened to the importance of momentum as that team had more momentum than any Pats team before or after. Obviously 2007 needs to be #1 on any list but 2010 is certainly up there.

 

[Calhoun44]

1) 2007
2) 1976
3) 2010
4)2015
5) 2006

I kept wanting to put the 1985 team on there, but I think that is my emotions getting to me.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

1) 2007
2) 1976
3) 2010
4)2015
5) 2006

I kept wanting to put the 1985 team on there, but I think that is my emotions getting to me.

'85 & '96 brought fundamentally flawed game plans to the Bayou.

Starting Grogan was a no brainer; but both staffs should have committed to the run. Minimum thirty five carries.

 

[stinkypete]

I think that 2015 team would have gone undefeated if not for the injuries on offense.

 

[LuRkeR1978]

2010 was a solid team but in retrospect not really super bowl worthy.

That team went 7-1 vs. the playoff teams it faced in the regular season, including eventual SB champion Packers(yeah yeah Matt Flynn, they still won)!

They were SB worthy.

 

[LuRkeR1978]

none of the 15-1 teams in NFL history have won the SB.

84 49ers, and 85 Bears were 15-1.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

2007 and 1976, without a doubt.

The '76 team wins the Super Bowl easily if not for Ben Dreith. Ranks up their with the referee giving the USSR three chances to win the gold medal in the '72 Olympics as the worst, most egregious and biased officiating in sports history, in my opinion. That tends to be forgotten in lists such as this due to it being so long ago many are not old enough to remember it.

2006 was a difficult missed opportunity. The team was hit by the flu and then had to deal with the Colts turning up the heat in the AFCCG. The Pats would have easily defeated the Bears for another Lombardi.

I don't rank 2011 that high because I personally was not high on that team. I thought the 13-3 record was a bit of a mirage and they had overachieved to get as far as they did. We probably tend to consider that team to be better than they really were simply because they made it to the Super Bowl.

1964 team was very good. Just didn't get the job done against the Bills at Fenway.

'79 team was powerful on both sides of the ball but lost the close ones. If Sullivan hadn't traded Gray things might have been different. They responded with character to Fairbanks' departure. But I hated those ridiculous red pajama pants.

Steelers were vulnerable that year.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Elway was undefeated vs Patriots in his career.

Thanks to Raymond Berry.

Starting Eason over Grogan in the playoffs and then over Flutie two years later sealed it.

 

[Chevy]

I would put 1976 first (over 2007) for one reason - 1976 was decided by the refs, 2007 wasn't.

Yes, 2007 had the no-call sack and the freak catch, but that is much better than the bad call for roughing coupled with the no-call PI on Francis.

2007 was an honest loss. The Giants were able to carry out the base defensive game plan that has been the most successful vs the Brady era Pats - consistent pressure up the middle with only your front four.

1976 had a fairly dominant Pats team being robbed by the officials.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I would put 1976 first (over 2007) for one reason - 1976 was decided by the refs, 2007 wasn't.

Yes, 2007 had the no-call sack and the freak catch, but that is much better than the bad call for roughing coupled with the no-call PI on Francis.

2007 was an honest loss. The Giants were able to carry out the base defensive game plan that has been the most successful vs the Brady era Pats - consistent pressure up the middle with only your front four.

1976 had a fairly dominant Pats team being robbed by the officials.

The NFL, along with the media, was not ready for the Patriots to be World Champions.

And it only continues today. They've got all kinds of bogus qualifiers and fake reasons to denigrate all six Super Bowl wins.

Praise for the team this century, like that in the 70's, is forced, qualified and disingenuous.

Get it straight:

If Dreith referees the Snow Game, and Troy Brown is paralyzed for life from a cheap shot two preseasons later...we're still sitting on zero titles.

 

[FCB02062]

You don’t remember how Denver beat them down the two previous times in ‘96 and ‘97 regular season? And they beat them again in ‘98.

Denver owned their ***!

Oh, I know they did... But Miami owned the Patriots leading up the the AFC championship game in Miami on 1985 too .. What happened that night in the orange bowl?

 

[Caretaker]

2017 should be ahead of 2010 imo. Don't know about 1976 or 1996, way before my time. 2006, 2012, 2015 all good picks; '07 is no brainer

 

[NuckyDuck]

2007 for sure...I still remember...Thanks...