Thank You 2007 New England Patriots

[Rocky Mountain Stampede]

Congratulations Patriots fans on an AFC Championship season and a 18-0 thrill ride.

Despite the loss in the Super Bowl, I still consider your team in the conversation amongst the greatest of all-time. Don't get too down, there's 30 other teams that would love to trade places with you.

 

[Disco Volante]

It's a shame that an amazing 18 weeks and 57 minutes is ruined by 3 points.

Ride of a lifetime, but I want to quickly divorce myself from this season as soon as possible, whenever being looked back on, all I will feel is heartbreak.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

Great thread idea.

As tough as the loss to the Giants was to see, it was significantly cushioned by the fact that this team still has had success that no NFL fan in his or her mind could rightly expect from his or her favorite team.

 

[Snake]

Congratulations Patriots fans on an AFC Championship season and a 18-0 thrill ride.

Despite the loss in the Super Bowl, I still consider your team in the conversation amongst the greatest of all-time. Don't get too down, there's 30 other teams that would love to trade places with you.

Thanks, RMS. We all appreciate nice things being said.

 

[marty]

My thanks as well!!! What a wonderful team we had this year. Despite the final loss, I couldn't be prouder of our team, what a great collection of football players!

 

[stcjones]

What a ride the Patriots gave us this season. It started late in April when the team announced they had signed Randy Moss. It sped through Spygate, and it went through 18 consecutive football teams before becoming offensively derailed against an incredible Giant defense that did exactly what it had to do to confound Tom Brady and his runaway freight train offense.

Thank you New England Patriots for giving the fans and the nation one of the most exciting runs in the history of the game.

Today, most of us are still pretty numb, but I'm still wearing my SB XXXVIII baseball cap that is fraying a little on the brim. Have a great vacation and do some intelligent drafting. Heal, mend, and move on with pride toward next fall and another shot at the big prize.

We all still love you guys, and we stallwort fans will be there for you when you snap the first ball in the 2008 season.

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!

I agree with you......Congrats Pats on a great run and providing us, the fans, with a tremendous and exciting season filled with breaking so many records and being the first team EVER TO GO 16-0 in regular season......and then the first team EVER TO GO 18-0.........the SB loss will always burn a hole inside of me however, because we were so damned close to making it happen (36 seconds away to be exact)....That memory will never go away.....unless we someday go 19-0...........Here's to the NE Patriots AFC Champs 2007.........Let's close the book on 2007 and look forward to 2008......Go PATS!

 

[stcjones]

I'm with Snake, it was a hell of a season. The burden that this team had to carry for the last couple of months was immense....they weren't only trying to make the playoffs but they had the enormous weight of the expectation of having a perfect season. The pressure on the players and coaches had to have been tremendous. As a fan I'd have to say that even the pressure on us was something that I've never experienced before. Every single play was dissected and critiqued and each "mistake" resulted in endless discussion on sports radio and TV 24/7.

I'm not so sure that I even really enjoyed the last few weeks, it didn't seem real at times. From the losers at ESPN to the losers at the Herald and everyone in between it became not about football but about trashing what I will forever consider to be the greatest football team ever.

In the end I think we may have been a victim of our own success, there's no doubt in my mind that game 16 inspired the Giants and even though they lost that game they really put on a masterful performance last night and deserved to win. Having said that, our team did not deserve to lose. We played tough but in the end fell a mere 3 points short.

I'm not going to criticize any players or coaches, this season already went beyond anything we could have expected. Am I disappointed? You bet! I'll get over it though and in 6 months it's back to training camp.

My thanks go out to the team, the coaches, the Krafts and to the real fans.

You are right....the burden that they carried from week 10 on I would say has been UNBELIEVABLE........all the games moved to night games to put the spotlight and pressure on them.....all the doubters pounding them every day....in the end it finally became too much to bear......

 

[stcjones]

The season would obviously have been better had they won it all, but it was an exciting and entertaining year. One team's fanbase can say their team had a better year. Thirty can't.

Part of me is just glad to see it over. I'm sick of seeing the Patriots dragged through the mud. I'm sick of the hate. A nice long offseason will hopefully make me look forward to football again.

another good point....I do not ever want to see the Pats or we fans subjected to this kind of pressure again....I would rather go 13-3 or 12-4 going into the playoffs and hanging below the radar....then be pounded in the spotlight day after day, week after week etc........The media sucks bloody a##!!!!

 

[stcjones]

The great tragedy of it all is that the team that was clearly better than everyone else all season was upset by a team that didn't resemble a good team until Week 16, by a QB that led the league in turnovers.

You are completely correct here,.....we were by far the BETTER team,.,..just not on Sunday....The Patriots offensive line should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves...they were weak and pathetic (I would hope that we would bring in some other players to challenge Matt Light and Kaczur this offseason......These two flunkies always kill the team when the BIG game is on the line......(Matt the turnstile and Nick the doorknob)..........and no adjustments were made by the boy blunder to stop the assault or at least make the defense THINK once in awhile........Alot of people disliked Weis but at least he MADE ADJUSTMENTS....the quick outs and quick slants that Grogan talked about......the RB dump offs......not abandoning the run.......etc.....BB missed challenge after challenge.......The fumble that was ripped away AFTER OUR GUY WAS DOWN IN POSSESSION....what the F**K was that???? where was the flag bill?.........And leaving Hobbs alone on an island against Burress .....when EVERYONE IN THE WORLD KNEW that was who HAD to get the ball in order for them to win.....BB's defensive calling during that 83 yrd drive was pretty poor....especially on the deciding play.....THE SAME PLAY the Gints pulled on Hobbs in week 16......unreal......I feel your pain man.....This is a game that WE SHOULD have been able to hold onto......

 

[Lansdowne]

Amen. I loved them when they were just the Patsies, and I love them even when they're the most hated team in sports. This loss, as devastating as it was, changes none of that one iota. I feel extremely blessed to be a fan of an organization that puts a premium on the fans and brings forth a quality team every year with a chance to win it all. Fans of every other team would trade their last 7 seasons for ours without question.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Last night's game would have elevated the Patriots into this:

Best franchises of all-time:

1. Patriots
1a. 49ers
1b. Steelers

But now we're:

1. 49ers
1a. Steelers
3. Packers
3a. Cowboys
5. Patriots

I'm not sure how you did your ranking, but i do note that you are ranking "franchises" and not "teams" (e.g., the Cowboys Franchise has made eight SB appearances, but those appearances were made by different teams and in different eras). also, you leave out franchises that made a good part of their name before the SB era (e.g., Browns and Giants), so i assume you are talking about performance in the SB era.

So, if we are ranking "franchises" "in the SB era," it seems to me that the only objective way to do this is by SB appearances and wins. If we limit the candidates to those franchises who are fortunate enought to breathe the rarefied air of five or more SB appearances, we get this list:

Cowboys: eight appearances, five wins
Steelers: six appearances, five wins
Patriots: six appearances, three wins
Broncos: six appearances, two wins
49ers: five appearances, five wins
Raiders: five appearances, three wins
Redskins: five appearances, three wins
Dolphins: five appearances, two wins

If we limit ourselves to franchises that have won three or more SB's, then we get:

49ers: five wins
Cowboys: five wins
Steelers: five wins
Giants: three wins
Packers: three wins
Patriots: three wins
Raiders: three wins
Redskins: three wins

Both lists are elite and we belong on each.

What this says to me is that, if you are ranking "franchises," getting that fourth SB win was probably the biggest thing we lost on Sunday in terms of breaking away from the pack. Bigger even than losing the Perfect Season.

The question of which "team" is the best is a debate that has been going on in the media for the last few weeks and to which I have nothing to add at this time. You can make that argument in so many different ways by era, cap, free agency, etc. With 19--0, the pats would have been able to lay legitimate claim to that title.

 

[Tommysgirl]

I don't think we'll ever see another season like this. Thanks to the team for all the memories. They are better people than me, I would have snapped with all the negativity that they embraced. They are a special group of guys.



Please don't break my heart like that again. Thanks.

 

[pats1yes]

Me too.

I am a Pats fan for life. I respect the New England tradition and lifestyle. It is hard to put this into words, but, I am pleased to be part of our history. I am pleased to consider myself a New Englander even though I live in Florida. My heart is still there. I hope to return home soon.

I guess the hard part of this season has been listening to all the nonsense. It is a reflection of the lack of education in our country. Sad, very sad. Mouths flapping without a clue. All you have to do is sit on a computer and say whatever you want. Education, a thought process that is intelligent, anything beyond dumb and dumber. Guess it is just not this world right now. But very sad.

So, to our team. Thanks. Thanks a lot actually. Proud to be a NE Patriot fan. Not much else to say.

 

[Hamtown]

I couldn't agree more. Thank you 2007 PATRIOTS! You guys have rocked and given me alot of pride, bragging rights, and above all pure joy! Tom Brady, you my friend are the man, the single greatest QB in history. Tedy Bruschi, you inspire each of us everyday and your the heart of our defense. Randy Moss thanks for fitting in and breaking the mold that the media set you in, we love you in the PATRIOT NATION! To the O-Line, one game does not define the amazing beastly machine that you are, regardless if itwas the SUPERBOWL or not! Wes Welker, 3 words,.... You DA MAN! Coach Belichick, we all bow down to your mind and amazing plan. Mr. Kraft, Thank You for being a true Fan/Owner! As for the rest of the roster, office, and staff, you all have given us a year that will be remembered both as amazing and heartstopping! I for one say, THE PATRIOT NATION Loves you! Thanks for the great year! GO PATS!!!! 19-0 in 2009!!!!!

 

[bluepatriot]

it's soooooo close...yet so far for a greatest season in history...

am i disappointed on how it ended? yes...(come on, it's still hard to see a brady loss in superbowl, to see him running for his life for virtually every single snap on the biggest game is just aweful)

do i enjoy this 2007 season? hell yeah!! this superbowl loss sucks real bad, but still this 2007 season had been a joyful ride for pats fan...

life goes on, we just have to suck it up (hey, do we have other choice?) and look forward to 2008 season...

 

[BradyToMoss]

This was extremely hard, this was brutally tough on my inner soul to swallow. I literally got all of 1 hour and 45 minutes sleep Sunday night and had to force myself out of bed to get to work. What an empty feeling I had the entire day on Monday sitting there staring at my computer in a complete fog. Clips of the game running through my head the entire day:

What if Asante just caught that ball ?

Why didn't Eli just go down when 3 guys had him, most other QB's would have went down ?

If you were going to pick off one of the 5 balls that went into your hands this season Brandon, why couldn't it be the one that could have gave us our perfect season and claim to greatness ?

Rodney, you are one of the toughest safeties in football, I thought I was seeing things, a scrawny little unknown WR, managed to keep you and your hands away from jarring out that football. A ball that seemed like it was literally stitched onto his hands. How in the world did that football not get jarred loose? I still can't believe it.

How did our coach or defensive cooridinator make a decision to leave our 5'9" corner isolated on an island against the Giants favorite red zone option, 6'5" Plaxico Burress? How did our coaches not account for this after all the game tape they've watched, knowing the Giants go to Plax 95% of the time in the redzone when they need a play? I know our coach is stubborn and he doesn't switch his CBs, but are you telling me that he couldn't have switched and put his best corner over on Plax inside of 40 seconds in the redzone. Is this too much to ask?

On the Brandon Jacobs 4th down run, I saw the penetration on the right side which slowed Jacobs inside and I thought it would have allowed enough weakside penetration to stop his progress. It did. Yet why was it 6 inches too late ?

Why did Pierre Woods allow a RB to roll him over and literally rip a critical fumble out of this hands when it would have given the Pats the ball on the Giant 30-yard line, in prime position to go up 14-3? Why would our LB allow that to happen?

I'll be honest, I sat and cried. It's Tuesday night and I'm a still a mess. This is hard, I just want each day to go by as quick as it can.

I was so confident given the fast track and warm climate that we were going to streamroll this team. And we should have. This just doesn't seem like it's real.

Yet with all this said, we're the favorites again next year, I can't wait for FA to begin and ofcourse the draft and ou #7 overall pick. Believe it or not, we are in prime position to make this great team even greater. So that's what will pull me thru. I guess we have to look at the last 3 years this way

Lost to Denver in divisional round
Lost to Indy in AFCCG
Lost to NYG in SB

Next year, we hit the top of the stairs.

 

[SavioKid]

so many good views / points in this thread .... this is to mine and other true fans' NE PATRIOTS who withstood with utmost dignity & professionalism the hounding press / 'exaggerated' cameragate truth / everyone against you willing to give 2 cents without much thought & still not losing a game to get to the SB!: f*ckin hey!
Love this team despite dropped INT (Samuel) / lost defensive fumble (Woods) / not ripping Eli to shreds (Jarvis & Seymor) .....Argggh said Charlie Brown!

LET'S GO PATS IN 2008!!!

 

[marty]

Bump to keep the postive healing going. Starting to look toward a great 08!!

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Posted this elsewhere, but its applicable here too.

---------------

Actually, I've come to a pretty good peace with it now. I was devistated by last years loss, and all day Mon-Tues, I walked around in a stupor and just didn't care about much.

Last night, after about 4-5 beers, I came to the sudden realization.......... You know what? Last' years AFCCC gave me fits, and so did this year's SB.................. but for the ENTIRE YEAR (plus a couple weeks), The Patriots brought me nothing but joy and happiness. From the great offseason, minicamps, through all the wins. No other team can say that. An entire year, without my team making pull out my hair. It was fun. It was even fun embracing all the hater crap to. Laughed it all off.

Hell, even the Giants would have set both Coach and QB on fire on multiple occasions this past year. We had a year of wins, happiness and good football. As fans, how can we ask much more.

As for the SB, yeah, sucks we didn't win it, but we have in the recent past and something tells me we'll probably be in the hunt for a few more years too.

I feel MUCH better today.