Rank Your Children: Ordering the Pats Titles By Meaning to You

Yes, this is an obnoxious premise but I see some potential for some variation in answers. The purpose of the thread is to see where everyone ranks the 6 titles based on meaning to you as a fan. I presume SB36 goes #1 on most lists but the rest could have some differences based on the personalities on the team, circumstances of winning, what you enjoyed most about the team, etc.

I'll get it started with my list and rationales:

1. SB36 (Rams): Such an underdog and the title that got it all started. Like 2004 Sox, basically impossible to top for me.

2. SB49 (Seahawks): With the subtext of Deflategate surrounding this game and going against a really good defending champ Seahawks team, I wanted this one really, REALLY badly. I also wanted #4 for Brady to get him tied with Montana and firmly into the GOAT discussion. And then it turned into a great game with the miracle finish after being 1 yard away from devastation.

3. SB51 (Falcons): The 28-3 comeback was historic and it allowed Brady to pass Montana and take control of the GOAT debate. It also came after Brady had served his suspension so there was still some animosity for me.

4. SB53 (Rams): This year's title was just so unexpected and it was a great group of guys to root for. Certainly wasn't the prettiest game but it was really fun to see the D play so well. It also got Jules into the HOF discussion, which I enjoy since he's one of my favorite players ever.

5. SB38 (Panthers): This one proved that they weren't some kind of fluke, which was meaningful since they didn't even make the playoffs in 2002. It also was a very entertaining game and one that I was fortunate enough to attend. Rodney's first title with the team.

6. SB39 (Eagles): The game that cemented the first version of the dynasty. It was a competitive game but, candidly, is one that I don't really think about much. More of a confirmation of what we all already knew.

 

Your list is perfect.

 

I’d probably flip the last two, as SB39 meant back to back and 3/4. But otherwise, I’d be shocked to see much discussion here

 

agreed

 

I like your list, but part of me wants to put SB49 at the top of the list. Thinking back to the context of that game, losing so many heartbreakers since 2005, the lingering Deflategate and Spygate controversies, Brady getting older and losing in KC, then falling behind big against the Ravens twice... then Brady leads a comeback, the ridiculous Kearse catch that brought back painful SB42/46 memories, Malcolm Go seals the deal, and the ensuing pandemonium... I never thought I would put another one above SB36, but when I'm thinking of the pure joy and exhilaration after each of these games, I think SB49 comes up number one for me.

edit:

I guess I think of it like this: SB36 was like if the 2001 Red Sox had a magical season and shocked the world with an amazing World Series run knocking off the Diamondbacks in 7. It would have been incredible and fun, but it wouldn't have been the same as the 2004 Sox coming back from the 2003 heartbreak and being down 0-3 in the ALCS. All the events leading up to SB49 just give it so much more impact for me, taking nothing away from how much fun SB36 was.

 

I also wouldn't make any changes to BSF's list.

Dawning on me that what I liked about this Super Bowl is that is was really one for Belichick. Tommy's brilliance was limited -- two absolutely perfectly placed passes to Gronk were the highlights -- but he wasn't in the conversation for MVP. This one was really about how the team was built (so much player versatility they could shift from scheme-to-scheme pretty seamlessly, on both sides of the ball), how the team was coached (no dumb mistakes. None. Think about that), and the game-day game plan. Plus kick-ass special teams. Sounds like BB to me.

 

1-3 are seemingly going to be the consensus picks. 4 and 5 could be flipped, just because that Carolina game was simply bat shit crazy and, frankly, what you wrote about the Eagles game could likely end up being what is remembered from yesterday.

So, to actually list:
1. Rams #1
2. Seahawks
3. Falcons
4. Carolina
5. Rams #2
6. Eagles (39)

 

I approve of this list.

Edit: Actully I take that back on second thought. I would swap Seahawks/Flacons and Panthers/Eagles.

 

I agree with this...nothing could beat SB 36, until the chants of Beast Mode were stopped by the most impossible play ever. There were nine years of gut punch losses leading up to SB 49, including Spygate and culminating with two weeks of Deflategate. Even though I was actually at SB 36, SB 49 is the best for me.

 

The moment of the Kearse catch is so ingrained in my memory that I know exactly (or near enough) what I posted here after it happened: "Guys, we just weren't meant to win 4." Have never felt so defeated in my life. Not after Boone, not after the Bruins blew Game 6 against Chicago, not after the Celtics blew Game 7 against LA. Brady was going to be a totally great but simultaneously pedestrian 3-3 in the big game. I 100% buy the argument. Crazy that we're now sitting on 6.

With the caveat of what I just said above, I think this is my list. Carolina over Rams 2.0 because in some ways it legitimized the first win as not a fluke, and that season as a whole represented the full arrival of the Brady/Belichick Patriots as THE dominant franchise in the league.

For some reason the Eagles win, despite sealing the "dynasty" label forever, does not hold the same place in my memory as any of the others, but I guess it was also the least iconic win in terms of what happened on the field. It's tough to compete with a GOAT upset and three absolutely batshit insane 2nd halves.

 

Hard to argue with that list.

I might flip SB51 and SB53. Obviously the 28-3 comeback was epic, but at the time I made my peace with losing that game (although I was the only person at a party I was at who kept the faith the entire game). I didn't dislike Falcons fans (unlike Seahawks fans, who I grew to loathe during the 2 week buildup to that SB) so I wasn't going to begrudge them a win. And since we already had the SB49 win Brady and Belichick had already validated the late portion of their Pats careers.

I'll admit -- and its an obnoxious first world problem for sure -- I really didn't want the Pats to be 5-4 in Super Bowls. It would have been fuel for the hawt takerz who think it's better to not get to a champ game than to lose it. And it would have set in motion an awful offseason of incessant "Felgah, the dynasty's ovahhh!!!" talk.

I'd certainly rank SB51 over last night in terms of the game itself. But I could see flipping them on the children ranking scale.

 

Hear, here. That Kearse catch is so ingrained in my memory as beyond painful. That helpless feeling of knowing another miracle catch is going to cost the Pats another chance at the title. The misery of thinking for another year, "They just can't win the big one anymore."

Which is why that Malcolm Butler play is one of the most iconic in the history of sports.

 

Agree with 1

 

SB39 in retrospect is gaining importance for me because of back-to-back. In the first 39 Super Bowls there were 8 instances of back-to-back winners...and none since.

 

1. SB49 (Seahawks): I understand why others have 36 first. But this changed everything. This puts the stamp on Brady and Belichick being the GOATs, and is overall probably the best game of the era. Also, was after a long break in Super Bowls where a lot of us wondered if it would ever happen again. The KC game, on to Cincinnati, the Baltimore game....

2. SB36 (Rams): The reason this isn't 1 for me is because it felt like a fluke at the time. I wonder if looking back on it now, if you could somehow replay that game with what we know now, if the Rams are still favored? Granted Brady wouldn't be Brady for a few more years.

3. SB51 (Falcons): Redemption for deflategate along with the comeback

4. SB39 (Eagles): A legitimately great Eagles team, and the first whispers of dynasty talk.

5. SB53 (Rams): I think it's too early to really tell with this. This may move up if 87/32 retire.

6. SB38 (Panthers): While the game was excellent, I think there are less key moments to this. But this is probably the moment Brady becomes Tom Fucking Brady

 

36 (you never forget your first)
51 (28-3)
39 (legitimized a dynasty)
49 (finally they got number 4 after a long layoff)



38
53

 

I put 53 at the top of my list because I was in attendance with my 12 year old son. Nothing will EVER top last night for me personally. That was once in a lifetime.

After that, I'd go with 36, 51, 49, 38, 39 in that order.

 

Someone told me today that he'd trade the last 3 for 2007. I wouldn't The sustained success is more impressive to me than a single season-as momentous as it would have been . All we would have heard was how it was tainted by Spygate and they wouldn't have gotten their proper due. 13 years since the last title doesn't sound too good to me either. The last 3 put the franchise, Brady and Belichick in a league of their own.

 

I wouldn't make that trade either. As painful as 2007 was, I'll take the additional ELEVEN years of sustained success and three titles that it has brought.

Just out of curiosity, are those ranking SB49 ahead of SB36 older than, say, 40? As a 45 year old who came of age watching 80s and 90s Pats football, I can't overstate just how mind boggling the '01 title was to me. It took me months to come to grips with the fact that the New England Patriots were champions. No championship has ever impacted me that way. Even for the Sox in '04, because they had come so close so many times before. I could conceptualize the Sox as champs, not so the Pats.

 

Yeah I'd generally go with the OP, but I have to flip 36 and 49 and put the Seahawks win first. Getting that fourth ring was so important and the wait was so long with so many near-misses, and the comeback and the finale were just epic.
The 36 win seemed like a bit of a fluke at the time, so while it was clear the Patriots had played three great games, it felt like a novelty. Of course now I see it very differently; hell put that 2002 team in the playoffs I'd half expect them to win it all.

1. Seahawks
2. Rams 2001
3. Falcons
4. Panthers
5. Rams 2018
6. Eagles

Pretty much enjoyed them all a whole lot though.

 

It's funny I saw an old Sports Illustrated thing they did at the end of 2009 where they did an all-decade team in every sport and named the best of the decade team in every sport (e.g. 2009 Yankees lol) and the best team of the decade for football was the 2007 Pats. That was a great team that played their best football before December. This team peaked just right.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Shula is just as pissed off by this turn of events so it's all good.

 

36
49
51
53
39
38

 

Like others, I'd put the Seahawks win over the 1st Rams one, was just so desperate and starved for a win after all that happened between 39 and 49.

 

The 04 Pats were the best team that decade. Not sure who I'd put as the team of the 2010's. Probably '13 Seahawks then 16 Pats

 

Discussed this recently with a friend. To my mind, 36, 49 and 51 are a holy trinity of SB wins— you can follow a team for forty years hoping for a title as immaculate as any of those, and the experience would immediately validate the other 39 years. The fact that we've had three of those moments in this stretch is just boggling, and I wouldn't take issue with anyone ranking any of those three as their favorite. (I do, however, slightly question the sanity of anyone ranking one of the other SBs above those three).

I would personally rank them same as @snowmanny. 49 to me is elevated by the desperate need to win another ring with the crapulence of deflategate brewing after nine ringless years... the amazing heavyweights-trading-haymakers trajectory of the game (Seahawks could really bring the battle to the Pats, which to me makes for a more entertaining type of game than 36 or 51, where the opponent played one really feeble half)... and the apeshit ending sequence. But they're three absolutely fantastic Super Bowl wins that can be reasonably ranked in any order. Then, there's a big gap until you get to 39, 53, and 38: tight games and great wins, but not nearly so essential as the other three.

 

Would you trade the the last 3 for 2007 and then roll the dice going forward from that point? Meaning you basically rewind to 2007 after a win and see how they do over the next 11 seasons. Would they be more or less likely to win more with that one in the bank?

 

I thought the deal was, if you took 2007, you lose the 3 won in the last 5 years.

If the deal is, they win in 2007 and then replay the other seasons, who wouldn't take that deal? It's a freebie, with potential for actually more wins.

 

That was the deal, I am suggesting an alternative deal. You aren't guaranteed more though...theoretically you could end up with 2 fewer titles. Kind of like giving up a made field goal to take a penalty and hopefully end up with a touchdown.

 

Correct me if i'm wrong but of all the superbowls in the BB era have been games that could have easily gone the other way with exception of yesterday and maybe the philly game. Philly made a late push on what was otherwise dominance by the Pats. So yesterdays game and Philly could be a toss up for the 2 most dominating efforts of all BB era superbowls. I"m not trying to tarnish anything just a little amazed at how many superbowls they've been involved in that were that close, and won.

 

1. Rams 2001 -- I'd been a Pats fan since 1982 (2-14) so this was sheer joy
2. Falcons -- Finally put the Cheaterzz narrative to bed. And what a comeback.
3. Eagles -- Dynasty, possibly the most talented team of the six
4. Rams 2018 -- Feels like the end of an era. What a bookend to Brady's career. Just a warm glow all around.
5. Seahawks -- Kinda fluky. Diminished (but didn't eliminate) the frustrations from 2006-2012.
6. Panthers -- The junk food of SB wins -- fun to watch but mostly empty calories.

 

1. XLIX. I was there and Butlers interception was probably the single most excited I’ve ever been in my life. I was so worried Brady would be 3-3 and there would still be a case for him to not be the GOAT. Winning his fourth and appearing in his sixth cemented his status as GOAT (at least to me).

2. XXXVI. Truth be told I don’t remember this game from when it happened because I was only 3, but having watched it several times since then, and knowing the historical context, I have to put it here.

3. LI. Greatest comeback in history and gave Brady more Super Bowls than any other qb. The fourth quarter and overtime of that game was the most well played football I’ve seen by a quarterback.

4. LIII. Gave Brady more than any other player and made him oldest qb to win. Made Belichick oldest hc to win. Obviously their legacies are already as the GOATs, but this win keeps moving them into even more untouchable territory.

5. XXXIX. Cemented the first chapter of the dynasty and capped off two consecutive 14-2 championship seasons.

6. XXXVIII. Unbelievable game, and as others have said, when Brady started his ascent to TFB. At the time, however, it was still just 2 and lacked the historical significance of some of the others.

 

I would trade this year’s win and 51 for 2007. That 2001-2007 Dynasty would have been cemented as the greatest team ever if they had capped things off with an undefeated season, and fuck Don Shula. I wouldn’t throw in the Seattle year, though. Even if they had won in 2007 I view the team from 2010 on as being completely distinct from the 2001-2009 squad (BB and TB excepted, of course). The 2010 to present team needs at least one, and instead of a 10 year drought it would have been 7 which, let’s face it, is still too long.

In terms of ranking them I agree with the OP exactly. I was at 39 with my Dad in Jacksonville and I’d still rank it last, even though I think all things considered that was the best Patriots team ever to win, and in the conversation for best NFL team of all time. 49 is close, but as 8slim notes, 36 just completely changed everything in terms of what this franchise could possibly be.

 

I love the first list except for whatever reason SB 51 is my favorite title except the 2004 WS win.

 

I know I'd trade the 2007 Red Sox WS for 2007 Pats.

 

Each Super Bowl is a chapter in my life. The best part of my life has been from 2014-now. The other factor that impacts my rankings is the more I understand something the more satisfaction I get out of it. If it is purely what it meant to me:

49, 51, 53, 36, 39, 38.

49 was 13 months post divorce. She went full-on Pats hate and was trying to get the kids to think deflate gate was legit. “Don’t cheer for cheaters” or some such shit. “Haven’t won since they cheated” we are talking lowest common denominator kind of shit. Cowboys fan FWIW. So when they won? It was like revenge sex but sports so even fucking better.
Due to our divorce decree (50/50 split) I have spent 4 straight years with them for the Super Bowl. We celebrate and stay up late together. 51 was fuck you RG, an epic comeback against my partner’s team. It was the greatest comeback ever and my kids thought Brady and Belichick were Gods.
This one was for my oldest who gets a ton of shit for liking the Pats (and the Colts, don’t ask... kids these days) and we hosted a huge party where my friends actually pulled for the Pats for once. Things are crazy in life but I’m finally in a good place.

This isn’t the order I’d rank in for organizational importance but it is my personal preference.

 

I completely agree with that list. 3 Corners Malcolm Go!

 

49 This one felt like proving the world wrong again and totally changed the conversation. It was also just an insane ending.
36
51
39
53
38

 

Agreed. I'd trade two SBs for the 2007 one. Randy Moss, Junior Seau, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth all deserved a ring. 19-0 and the greatest team ever will live in sports infamy.

Oh well. I'll just take the 6 Superbowls instead.

 

This is about right.

 

My list is heavily weighted according to the emotional experience of the game itself, particularly right at the end.

1. SB36 (Rams): The game that proved to me that it was actually possible for one of my teams to win something, and did it on the final play of the game, no less!

2. SB49 (Seahawks): The miracle finish was the greatest way to end the game, even better than a game-winning FG. The combination of shock and joy of the final play just heightened the emotional high of that game, plus the "screw you" element due to the media garbage beforehand added some delicious flavor to it. The impressive comeback throughout the entire 4th quarter ramped up the anticipation as it went on, and the relief of the drought being put to an end wrapped up a great experience that has stuck with me. It helps that it was a high quality game as well, defined by a number of great plays by both teams, with a back-and-forth to it that was different from 4 out of the other 5 wins (Panthers game was also this way). Everything since this game has had the "house money" feel to it.

3. SB51 (Falcons): The comeback and final win in OT made this almost the equal of the Seattle game. The drought relief is the tiebreaker in favor of the Seahawks game for me, along with the feel of a game that was two lopsided events stapled together, as opposed to a game that was just great and well-played from start to finish. There seemed to be more plays defined by the failure of a player (Blount fumble, Brady pick-six, playcall/blocking on the Ryan fumble, playcall on the final Ryan sack, holding call pushing ATL out of FG range) than in the Seahawks game as well. The "house money" effect put a bit of a ceiling on the highs and a floor on the lows that I felt during and immediately after this one.

BIG GAP

4. SB38 (Panthers): Proving that the Rams game was no fluke was a big deal to me at the time, and in retrospect after the 2002 letdown. It was also a well-played, back-and-forth thriller with a great finish. It's no insult to this game that 1-3 surpass it by so much in my heart, it's just a matter of those three being so mind-blowingly awesome. The last of the great finishes on the last play (or nearly last play) of the game.

5. SB39 (Eagles): The slow, seemingly inevitable finish to the 4th quarter of this game puts it near the end of my list. Despite being one of the greatest Patriots teams ever, the game itself just doesn't hold the same emotional meaning to me. The official dynasty label and back-to-back wins are more intellectually satisfying than they are emotionally meaningful to me, both at the time and in hindsight. It wasn't a poorly played game, but doesn't stand up to the previous 4 in terms of game quality.

6. SB53 (Rams): An intellectually satisfying feast with the smallest emotional impact, with the combination of very few highs to really savor, the "house money effect," and the ultimate result being pretty well set after the TD. I think this game made me realize that offensive plays have the most emotional resonance for me, outside of the Malcolm Butler play, while I really enjoy the intellectual chess match of well-executed defense. The end result is more of an academic enjoyment than a truly immersive emotional experience compared to the others. Had I been able to attend in person, this would be in a different spot on the list.