Even with Tom's high ankle sprain in 2007, they had no business losing to both Giants teams.
They made the playoffs 17 of 19 years together. You could maybe argue a handful of teams that were better than the Pats going into the game or made you nervous. Removing 2001 because they were a Cinderella team, the only teams they looked inferior to going into the game were against the 2004 Colts and Steelers only due to the injuries in the secondary, 2006 Chargers, 2006 Colts and the 2013 Broncos. Losses to the Ravens (2009 and 2012), Jets (2010), Eagles (2017), Broncos (2005 and 2015), Giants (2007 and 2011), Titans (2019) were upsets to massive upsets. And there weren't just happy to be there. They were considered Super Bowl favorites almost every year they made the playoffs. There's a lot of missed opportunities there.