Good to NOT be undefeated at this point?

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Just a question though. Do you think being 18-0 instead of 17-1 is why they lost the SB?

Thy lost because they didn't play as well as they could have and because the Giants played exceptionally well.

Why didn't they play well enough? Poor game plan? Extra pressure from being 18-0? Extra distractions from Tomase-gate and from spygate? Bill's red hoodie? Who knows, but (except for the hoodie) I wouldn't throw out the possibility that any of those did play a role.

We also can't forget the extra focus of the Giants. They were extra fired up to face an unbeaten team that they had competed very well with in game 16. Sure you're focused to win a Super Bowl anyway but when you feel that the whole world discounts your chances, it does help. The Giants would not have been so widely ignored by everybody if we had been 17-1. The "us against the world" mentality sure helped the Patriots in 2001, so it isn't crazy to think that it helped the Giants in 2007, and that mentality was aided by our undefeated status.

 

[Bruins29]

That is an interesting spin off question. What's your take on that?

Not sure actually. It would be one of those "Belichickian" long answers about my theories and I am just too tired to do it right now.

 

[Ring 6]

quotes published the morning of the game:

“I think it’s the biggest game of all of our lives — my life, the entire team, our coaches,” said Tom Brady, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and the Patriots’ poster boy for perfection. “We’re going to be remembering this game for as long as we live, win or lose. We’re going to have great memories of this experience, or we’re going to look at it truly as a missed opportunity. There’s not too many teams in the history of the NFL — none, in fact — that have been 18-0 going into this game.”

"As far as the Super Bowl goes, yeah, this is the Super Bowl, but this is a special Super Bowl,” Junior Seau said. “We can hide from the fact that there’s going to be another Super Bowl, but this special day, this special week, we can do something that can be here forever.”

Moss was more stoic: “It’s the biggest game of my life because it’s the Super Bowl”

Pats playing for history | Picayune Item

As I remember, Seau was wearing a microphone on the field and made pregame comments about how they were "going to make history".

So... you can say that it was just another championship game. Some players maybe took it that way, and Belichick likely wanted all of them to take it that way, but there is some pretty direct evidence that some players were feeling at least a a little extra pressure due to being 18-0. Some people respond better to extra pressure and some do not.

Remember, the phony walk-through Tomase-gate was yet another distraction that day.

On balance I'd think the extra distractions and pressure hurt us a little, but there is no way to know.

I believe they say the very same things if they are 17-1.

 

[supafly]

Need a few of these guys back to think about pulling that off


Nate Solder LT 29 NE TBD $10,031,000 UFA -
Malcolm Butler CB 27 NE TBD $3,910,000 UFA
Rex Burkhead RB 27 NE TBD $3,150,000 UFA -
Johnson Bademosi CB 27 NE TBD $2,250,000 UFA -
Matthew Slater WR 32 NE TBD $1,800,000 UFA -
Cameron Fleming T 25 NE TBD $1,797,000 UFA -
Danny Amendola WR 32 NE TBD $1,700,000 UFA -
Dion Lewis RB 27 NE TBD $1,300,000 UFA -
Nate Ebner FS 27 NE TBD $1,200,000 UFA -
LaAdrian Waddle RT 26 NE TBD $1,200,000 UFA -
Brandon Bolden RB 27 NE TBD $775,000 UFA -
Jonathan Freeny OLB 28 NE TBD $775,000 UFA -
Marquis Flowers OLB 25 NE TBD $574,670 UFA -

2018 NFL Free Agents Tracker

Most of those are reasonable signings, at least in terms of cost. Between carrying over about 4m, the increase of the salary cap, and basic cuts to guys like Dwayne Allen (5m savings), I expect us to be fine.

The RBs are pretty much the main priority, assuming that most of us consider Butler to go elsewhere in FA. It will be interesting to see what happens with Solder. The last I had heard was that both sides were open to another 1-2 year deal, despite the opinion of many here that he will definitely retire.

At one point we were discussing ways to keep Garoppolo and Butler, so removing both of them from the equation should make things easier. I will say that I expected another 5m or so of cap space to be carried over, but obviously Belichick disagreed.

 

[lancerman]

What? Of course it is. The 2007 Patriots even said as much.

Was that why they lost? No, but it certainly took a toll on people......the pressure to be perfect.

Did it really? They killed everyone, fell into a few trap games where they almost lost but one, continued to decisively defeat people, then the Giants were a really bad match up and we were banged up and it stayed close until the end and then anything can happen.

 

[brdmaverick]

Did it really? They killed everyone,

Yes

I suppose 'killing everyone' is open to interpretation but I imagine at the very least it would have to be represent at least a two touchdown margin of victory. With that criteria, in their last 9 games they 'killed' their opponent 1 time. I don't think we can qualify those other 8 games as trap games (especially when you are chasing history).

Yes, they did kill everyone OUT OF THE GATE, 'killing' 9 of their first 10 opponents. There are probably a number of factors for why the margin of victory dropped significantly during the second half of the year, and even if pressure and mental fatigue wasn't the biggest factor it certainly was a factor.

 

[supafly]

Yes

I suppose 'killing everyone' is open to interpretation but I imagine at the very least it would have to be represent at least a two touchdown margin of victory. With that criteria, in their last 9 games they 'killed' their opponent 1 time. I don't think we can qualify those other 8 games as trap games (especially when you are chasing history).

Yes, they did kill everyone OUT OF THE GATE, 'killing' 9 of their first 10 opponents. There are probably a number of factors for why the margin of victory dropped significantly during the second half of the year, and even if pressure and mental fatigue wasn't the biggest factor it certainly was a factor.

The pressure down the stretch that year was real, as seen in the games. I’m with you, here.