(Long post, sorry in advance. It’s basically me going by how I dealt with each season-ending loss. Took me a while to write it so if you end up reading it, I appreciate it! Hopefully you can relate with my experiences too.)
Sports are a big part of my life, I digest a lot of it. Whenever the Pats lose, it bothers me that day. If it’s a regular season game I’m over it by the next day. If the loss ends the Patriots’ season, it bothers me anywhere from the next day to the next week, depending on what the expectations were. I already hate myself for browsing sites like Deadspin, where they all openly bash Boston sports teams (win or lose), and I make it a special point not to visit for a long while after a Pats season ending defeat. It can be difficult for me not consuming sports media for a while but I do that to avoid the visuals. But just like every win is special to me, every loss is different.
The playoff loss to the Browns in the 1994 season is the earliest Patriots defeat I can recall, so I’ll start with that.
1994 (loss @ CLE) - I was new to football and still learning the rules and player names. I was at a family party when this game was on. Losing was disappointing but I immediately got over it and went back to playing video games with the other kids.
1995 - Pats missed the playoffs but I don’t remember much about it other than Curtis Martin being a rookie.
1996 (SB loss vs. GB) - SB party at my house. I was bummed out that they lost but was grateful that they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. I knew they were underdogs going in so my expectations were tempered and I got over it a day or two later. Parcells ruined the good feel vibe when he bolted for the Jets.
1997 (loss @ PIT) - I was home for this game, watched it by myself. Only thing I remember was the Pats were in the game almost the whole time, and I felt that Kordell stepped out of bounds on that one run he did. That play in particular bothered me all day but I was over the game the next day.
1998 (loss @ JAC) - Bledsoe was out and Zolak was starting, already had low expectations. I was watching the game from a motel TV as my family was on vacation at the time. I felt indifferent as the season was already sunk by that point.
1999 - I think this was the season when the Pats went from having the best record in the AFC to going on a losing streak and missing the playoffs at year’s end. I don’t remember the game that sealed our fate but I do remember being relieved that it was over with. I just remember the team trending in the wrong direction at the time.
2000 - It was a tough season and it caused me to drop my expectations dramatically. I’d still watch every Pats game I could but the SB seemed like only a dream. I don’t know why but I vividly remember the loss at Cleveland where Doug Pederson was their QB. Screw that guy.
(2001 - Pats win 1st SB, happy ending)
2002 - I was at the Jets/Pats game at Gillette and this was the loss that ended up being the tiebreaker in the end. I remember the Pats valiently defeating the Dolphins in the season finale, watching that game at a friend’s house, and I remember being depending on that rat bastard Brett Favre and his Packers to beat the Jets and they folded like origami, watching helplessly at home. That loss to the Jets by the Pats was rough because I had a migraine for most of the game and the one the Packers blew angered me a lot and I tried to sleep it off but I kept seeing Chad Pennington in my head. I remember coming here to Patsfans.com for the first time, and I think it was Ian who wrote a post about how proud we should feel about the team fighting to the end. And I agreed with the sentiment, and my feeling shifted over to how proud I was of them.
(2003 & 2004 - Pats win 2nd and 3rd SB, happy endings)
2005 (loss @ DEN) - I think I was at home for this game. Even though the team was mediocre that season, I felt this was still the Pats and they would find a way. Playoff Tom Brady was still undefeated at the time. That play where Ben Watson stopped Champ Bailey was incredible, and I’m going to my grave believing that should’ve been called a touchback, giving the ball back to us and changing the entire outlook of the game. Took me a few days to get over that one.
2006 (loss @ IND) - It helped that I was watching the game at home with my father, but somehow I got over this loss by the time I got to bed that night. It was a combination of things. I remember the week before being at the self-proclaimed Greatest Bar near North Station for the Chargers game, and was overwhelmed with emotion when the Pats won that game. I wanted to beat the Chargers so bad (I remember the trolls flooding PatsFans too), and I was so happy the Pats shut them up. So when the Pats blew the game against the Colts, I took a step back and decided the Pats did their best, and the outcome was deserved. I was over the loss...at least until the SB itself, then it bothered me all over again, and the Colts winning it pissed me off.
2007 (SB loss vs. NYG) - I wasn’t old enough to remember the Red Sox’s G6 collapse in 1986, but I was old enough to vividly remember G7 against the Yankees in 2003. The Sox winning it the following year helped a lot, but I couldn’t imagine a more devastating defeat. Then SB 42 happened, and that one will sting for as long as I live. I was watching at my house with my brother, my father, and my brother’s friend. I still can’t rewatch it. The whole season was exhausting, with the Defamegate witchhunt and the whole world outside New England rooting against history, which was annoying to me. I wanted the ultimate F U season, and instead it ended in the ultimate embarrassment. I couldn’t sleep at all that night, kept seeing Eli, Tyree, and Plaxico in my head, replaying over and over and over. It put me in a funk for a full week and made me re-evaluate myself as a sports fan. The only thing that could make me fully get over that loss in particular would be the Pats achieving a 19-0 season before Brady retires, the one thing that the haters were rooting hard against. That would be justice, but I have no expectation of it nor should I. That’s not the endgoal with this team, it would only be gravy.
2008 - Losing Brady for the season sucked. Watching the Pats get on a roll toward the end of the season, looking like one of the toughest outs, and then missing the playoffs on stupid tiebreakers after an 11-5 season, that pissed me off. I was in Florida on vacation watching helplessly as the Pats did their part but the Jaguars (lost to Ravens) and Jets (lost to Dolphins) didn’t do theirs. It was the second time the Pats missed the playoffs, and it was the second time a Favre-led team was to blame. Honestly, screw that guy. Anyway, I got over this one the next day.
2009 (loss vs. BAL) - One of the absolute most unpleasant seasons to watch, and it culminated in a stinker of a home performance. I got over this one right away as there was no expectation beyond hoping to advance to round two.
2010 (loss vs. NYJ) - Watched this game from my room at home, and it devastated me. I loved that 2010 season, and didn’t want it to end. The way they lost to the Jets completely betrayed the way I saw that year playing out. I didn’t see that loss coming at all. Took me almost a week to get over. I’ve never taken a playoff game for granted after this one.
2011 (SB loss vs. NYG) - Watched at my uncle’s place. This one hurt but not nearly as much as the first Giants defeat. I felt really confident going into this game too. I was over it after a couple of days.
2012 (loss vs. BAL) - Watched at a friend’s place, and the lasting visual to me was Ridley getting knocked out of the game by Pollard. Got over it the next day.
2013 (loss @ DEN) - It was a down season, and I felt like they had a chance against the Broncos but that reaching the AFC CG was their ceiling. It ended up being the case. I don’t remember where I watched this one, might’ve been at home, but I got over it a day or two later.
(2014, Pats win 4th SB, happy ending)
2015 (loss @ DEN) - This one really pissed me off. Watched this game while in Florida. The Pats were flirting with perfection during the season and then lost in infuriating fashion to the Broncos, and I dreaded the idea of them going back to Mile High. The Pats took the foot off the gas at the end of the regular season and dropped two games to the Jets and Dolphins, which cost us home field, which I felt made the difference in the end. This more than anything makes me afraid of today against the Chiefs, that sense of deja vu. If the Pats are 12-4 and hosting the AFC championship at the Razor, I feel a lot better about our chances than I currently do. Anyway, I was steaming mad about the Pats loss but got over it that night after going to the Royal Rumble PPV (yup, I’m a wrestling fan too).
(2016, Pats win 5th SB, happy ending)
2017 (SB loss vs. PHI) - Took me a couple of days to get over this one. The Malcolm Butler benching stuck with me for a long time. I was at a friend’s Super Bowl party, and it helped a bit being surrounded by friends, but the loss still sucked.
I’ve got the usual gameday jitters, and hoping for the best. But I made it a point to temper my expectations of this team as the season progressed, and I feel all things considered this season is already a success. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it ends with a 6th Lombardi trophy, after all the in-season turmoil. I’m hoping not to have another loss to add to the list, and I really don’t like these Chiefs. I felt like I would’ve been okay with it if the Chargers had advanced, as I respect that current incarnation of the team, and was shocked that the Pats blew them out. Here’s hoping the Pats have more where that came from.
