Why the Super Bowl loss isn't as bad as everyone thinks...

[richpats]

I don't see too many teams capable of "running up the score" on the Patriots. Do you think the Pats have taken a great fall or something? FYI...they haven't.

To your point, I will say the Patriots have lost that "clutch" ability & reputation. In all honesty, the Patriots SHOULD HAVE blown-out at least one of the teams in their 4 super bowls. Actually, they should have convincingly won 2 of them.

They were much, much better than both the Eagles & the Panthers. I've never been able to figure out why they weren't able to do so.

Our D is at the "wait and see" point. Only a couple of starters to replace but the depth is unproven. That's why I fear a "run up" game on us.

The Pats were a bad throw from putting away the Panthers early in the 4th. They were one hold away from blowing away the Rams. But it has been discussed on this board how the D breaks down in the 4th quarter of SB's.

 

[BadMoFo]

Here's what I see happening: We start the year ranked No. 1 in all the polls, but when we drop our first contest talk of the Patriots being finished will surface, much to the pleasure of all the other teams.

 

[PatriotsReign]

Our D is at the "wait and see" point. Only a couple of starters to replace but the depth is unproven. That's why I fear a "run up" game on us.

The Pats were a bad throw from putting away the Panthers early in the 4th. They were one hold away from blowing away the Rams. But it has been discussed on this board how the D breaks down in the 4th quarter of SB's.

I agree with all your points here...absolutely. I wish we'd go to more of an "attack" defense rather than the bend, don't break philosophy we've had. Then again, our defenses were very dominating from 2000 - 2005. If you think about it, our defense dominated the regular season and all the playoff rounds until the super bowl.

 

[richpats]

I agree with all your points here...absolutely. I wish we'd go to more of an "attack" defense rather than the bend, don't break philosophy we've had. Then again, our defenses were very dominating from 2000 - 2005. If you think about it, our defense dominated the regular season and all the playoff rounds until the super bowl.

The D has had some bad spells (2002, 2005). Some cracks were starting to show in the Philly game last year. In each playoff game (incl. SB) the D let the opposing team into the redzone 4 times. Out of 12 chances, opposing offenses had 4 TD passes, 7 FG's and 1 INT. It was obvious towards the end of the year that the best way to score on us in the RZ was to pass, and that's what killed us.

 

[jbb9s]

Look. The best team in any given league in any given year probably wins the championship less than 50% of the time. It was inevitable that the Patriots would be on the wrong side of the equation this year (08). Of course, they were on the other side in 02 when the Rams were far superior.

 

[coltsfan09]

Last night here in Jacksonville, I went to a minor league hockey game, while waiting in line for beer, the person in front of me made a comment to the person behind me as they were wearing a Pats shirt, he was a pats fan, and here in Florida, there we were, 3 pats fans in a row, and we just talked and reminsed about the super bowl wins... WE chatted about the loss for the first minute, but instantly talked about the awesomeness of the other championships!

That's whats awesome, in 20 years, we will always have the 3 wins to talk about, what you did, where you were, how you watched it, the stories... ect...

If your still upset about the loss, think about the sweetness that was the 3 champiosnhips. Especially having the chance to GO to the first win was awesome and will always trump a loss in the SB.

yea, but you could have added a 19-0 undefeated season with those 3 championships, and made the 2nd biggest upset in sports history behind the Buffalo Bills losing 4 straight SB's. I think anyone who is a Bill's fan is a true fan.