2001 - Team got the outcome it deserved, but it definitely overachieved. Very fortunate that Walter Coleman remembered the Tuck Rule. Most refs would have left it as is as a fumble. Definitely that bozo Jeff Triplette. But yeah that Pats team earned it.
2002 - Horrible year not just for Pats, but the NFL in general. Raiders top seed in AFC at 11-5. Raiders and Titans were better teams so even if Jets weren't gift wrapped that Week 17 game by that idiot Favre and his Packers, the Patriots would've been likely taken out one and done in the wild card round.
2003 - One of the greatest defenses in NFL history, along with an offense that did little but was juuuuust good enough. This was the best team in the NFL that season without question.
2004 - Arguably the most well rounded team of the Belicheck era. Never doubted them, and it was so satisfying, especially the rematch in Pittsburgh in the AFCCG.
2005 - Didn't feel like a team that was going to go the distance, but I feel that Triplette robbed the Pats of an AFCCG berth. I will go to my grave contending that Ben Watson's amazing hustle play resulted in what should have been a touchback and Patriots ball. That was the magic moment that would have turned the game around and I think the Pats would have won. The Steelers were hot though and I'm not convinced the Pats would've stopped the Jerome Bettis "He's from Detroit" retirement tour.
2006 - The Rodney Harrison injury makes me sick to my stomach just remembering it. The Pats overachieved in this playoff run, and it was very emotional for me when they came back to beat the Chargers (who I hated so much, thanks in large part to the contingent of Chargers trolls that flooded this forum for those of us who remember). Pats should have closed the deal in Indy, and I have no doubt they would have beat a Rex Grossman led Bears team in the SB. This was one that got away.
2007 - Near perfection aside, this was a flawed team. Maroney still wasn't good enough to make the run attack viable. Pats lived and died by the passing game. It was a respectable defense but one that wasn't too intimidating. But I still believe this should have been 19-0. It was a major opportunity squandered.
2008 - This one is tricky because almost the entire season was spent without Brady. I still feel like they would have made some noise in the playoffs with Cassel, as the Pats were clicking on all cylinders late that season. Cruel that the loss to Pittsburgh was the difference between having the #2 seed and missing the playoffs entirely. This would have been weird if Cassel led them to a SB title, because you couldn't credit Brady for it, and you never know if it would have led to Brady ending his Patriots career the same way Bledsoe did. Now if Brady hadn't gotten injured in the first place, the Pats probably would've won the SB that year. Or maybe Warner gets his revenge in the SB, who knows.
2009 - Bad team, just bad. Losing Welker in Week 17 certainly didn't help, but they weren't going to make it far in that playoffs. BTW I still think Faulk converted that 4th down play in Indy.
2010 - Another Pats team that overachieved IMO, but I also think they should have won it all. The Moss/Branch swap galvanized the team, and I thought we were going to get a Pats/Packers rematch in the SB. Still can not believe how flat they were in that Jets playoff defeat.
2011 - The defense was suspect, but this Pats team had some of the residual magic the 2010 team had. The AFCCG was the first and only Pats playoff game I've attended and I'll never forget how epic that game was. Still screw the Ravens for getting Gronk injured, which to me was the difference in not getting revenge on the Giants in the SB.
2012 - This felt sort of like a mix between the 2008 and 2010 team for me in terms of confidence. In that it was understandable that the absence of a star player (Gronk) stopped them from reaching their potential, but at least until their final possession in the first half of that AFCCG, it wasn't impossible for me to imagine them overcoming it. That final possession and the entire second half, was a whole damn mess. As if the power just went out. But I do think the 49ers were better and would have beaten the Pats, so it's hard to say on this one.
2013 - This is what it would have felt like if the 2005 or 2009 team made it past the divisional round. Still believe this was a deserved outcome, although screw Welker for purposely taking out Talib early and changing the entire complexion of the game. The two best teams in the NFL met in the Super Bowl, and the Pats weren't one of them.
2014 - What a special year. And to think, it usually took a special play to beat the Pats in the SB, and then the Kearse catch happened and thought it was deja vu, and then the Pats counter with a special play of their own at the last second. Most thrilling SB I've ever seen, most gratifying Pats win of my lifetime, and the only championship that comes close in my heart to matching the 2004 Red Sox. The Pats deserved this.
The Pats have 4 SB titles ('01, '03, '04, '14) but it feels to me like they could just as easily have won 8 ('06, '07, '10, '11).
