The Most Surprising Regular Season Loss in the BB Era Thread
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Top of my head the 2010 loss to Cleveland.
Pats 6-1 heading into it with five straight wins. Browns were 2-5 and DEMOLISHED the pats.
edit: beaten by a matter of seconds. although I'm giving myself credit for a bit more detail!
Pats 6-1 heading into it with five straight wins. Browns were 2-5 and DEMOLISHED the pats.
edit: beaten by a matter of seconds. although I'm giving myself credit for a bit more detail!
To me it was the loss to a terrible Miami team which cost them home field in the AFCCG. Not that it should ever be surprising to lose against the Dolphins, but more because it didn't seem like they were trying to win. I guess BB was sending some weird message to the team or something.
Good call to both of you.
I'll nominate the 2004 loss in Miami. While the Pats lost badly to Miami in 2001 and 2002, and finally won there (barely) in 2003, that Miami team went 2-14 and beat a 14-2 back to back Super Bowl champ. That was pretty stunning.
Edit: honorable mention to the HOME loss to end the 2019 season. The Pats needed to beat a lousy Miami team to secure home field... and they totally shit the bed. That was shocking too.
Double edit: it's not a single game, but finishing 2015 losing 4 out of their last 6 after starting 10-0 and screwing up HFA was cumulatively very stunning.
I'll nominate the 2004 loss in Miami. While the Pats lost badly to Miami in 2001 and 2002, and finally won there (barely) in 2003, that Miami team went 2-14 and beat a 14-2 back to back Super Bowl champ. That was pretty stunning.
Edit: honorable mention to the HOME loss to end the 2019 season. The Pats needed to beat a lousy Miami team to secure home field... and they totally shit the bed. That was shocking too.
Double edit: it's not a single game, but finishing 2015 losing 4 out of their last 6 after starting 10-0 and screwing up HFA was cumulatively very stunning.
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At that point Miami had become a house of horrors for the Pats. They were really banged up. That game was infuriating as hell but not super stunning.
Oh, that's a good one. I watched that game in a Browns Backers bar. No bueno.
I never am totally shocked by a loss to an AFCE team, as that shit tends to happen (especially vs the 'fins). That game Buffalo destroyed us and made Ryan Fitzpatrick a multi-millionaire would be up there otherwise.
I never am totally shocked by a loss to an AFCE team, as that shit tends to happen (especially vs the 'fins). That game Buffalo destroyed us and made Ryan Fitzpatrick a multi-millionaire would be up there otherwise.
It's recent and Miami so maybe it doesn't count as a super surprising loss, but Brady's last regular season game, 2019 week 17 against Miami. Pats were 17.5 point favorites, Miami scored the go ahead points in the final minute, and the loss knocked them into the wild card round. That fucking sucked.
yes I believe 31-0 in 2003. then they cut milloy(i think?), and ended the reg season beating buffalo 31-0
I agree with this one. The Pats should have rolled in that game but instead came out like either they were trying to lose or just didn't care. Losses in Miami happen (see the fluke loss on the crazy play a couple of seasons ago and the aforementioned 2004 loss), but this game was in NE and NE was the much better team and had everything to play for.
The 2010 loss to the Browns was surprising, but it was in Cleveland I think that for whatever reason Peyton Hillis had a career day and the Pats likely took the game for granted going in.
On the bright side, it made their eventual demise easier to stomach when it happened. That team wasn’t going the distance.
Week 3 in 2018 should be up there:
Coming off a 13-3 year, primetime game a week after a loss ( so no reason for an overconfidence hiccup).... against a terrible 0-2 Lions team and they come out and thoroughly dominate us.
Coming off a 13-3 year, primetime game a week after a loss ( so no reason for an overconfidence hiccup).... against a terrible 0-2 Lions team and they come out and thoroughly dominate us.
A couple other mentions:
2011 at Buffalo: the Pats never lost to the Bills during the Brady era. They went up 21-0 in that game and lost 34-31. Losing a road division game, even to a bad (6-10) team isn't all that surprising. But blowing a 21-0 lead against a team they historically demolished was stunning.
2012 vs. Arizona: the Pats crushed the Titans 34-13 to begin the season 1-0. Arizona was a 8-8 team in 2011 that would go 5-11 in 2012. The Pats never lost to those types of teams. That was a shocker. Gost missed a game winning FG after the Pats got the ball back after a miracle fumble
2011 at Buffalo: the Pats never lost to the Bills during the Brady era. They went up 21-0 in that game and lost 34-31. Losing a road division game, even to a bad (6-10) team isn't all that surprising. But blowing a 21-0 lead against a team they historically demolished was stunning.
2012 vs. Arizona: the Pats crushed the Titans 34-13 to begin the season 1-0. Arizona was a 8-8 team in 2011 that would go 5-11 in 2012. The Pats never lost to those types of teams. That was a shocker. Gost missed a game winning FG after the Pats got the ball back after a miracle fumble
Yeah, this one was very surprising even though the Pats were obviously not playing well at the time.
The craziest thing about this game was that the defense had been carrying the Patriots all year, Miami was a bad team offensively, and we just couldn't stop them at all in the second half. Miami had four second half drives, scored 17 points, and picked up 239 yards. We had the #1 scoring defense in the league and their game winning TD drive felt completely inevitable.
I think that he means this one:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401127909
EDIT: Or maybe not, I don''t know, but that's the regular season game that pissed me off the most.
You guys are talking about different games. He is talking about 2015 in Miami (aka the Steven Jackson game). You're talking about 2019.
Eh, that loss was a huge part of it. They stumbled big time down the stretch in 2018 (losing 3 straight before destroying a terrible Jets team in week 17) and finished just 11-5, but they had the bye and went on a run in the playoffs. At the time I don't remember thinking the 2019 team was any worse than the year before (and 12-4 is better than 11-5) and not having the bye just killed them.
Gotcha. Yes, the 2019 game was the regular season loss that pissed me off the most.
No way, it's the game in Miami where the Pats ran it like 20x in the first half and didn't appear to be trying. It cost them HFA in the AFCCG because they actually made the AFCCG. The 2019 loss cost them a bye.
Yeah I'd say the 2019 game didn't shock me so much as depress me. It felt like The End (and it was)
Yup you are correct about the game I was referring to. I still can't believe it happened.
And it was at home. Nothing that happens in Miami should ever come as a surprise.
A month before the 2015 loss to Miami they lost to the Eagles in the Ebner kick game. Still made it to the AFCCG, but that team shot themselves in the foot towards the end of the season.
Is that the 2006 loss? 21-0. Totally infuriating. Quite possibly cost them the Super Bowl.
To mention one that hasn't come up yet and has been lost to time a bit...2015 season finale vs MIA. ~10 point favorites, just needing a win to clinch HFA for the playoffs, and they come out w/ a seemingly baffling gameplan w/ run after run, end up w/ basically 1 big play all day. Offense was pretty banged up by that time (Edelman still out I think) and they had only gone 3-2 in the previous 5, but I remember feeling there was no way they were losing that game and no way Denver would win in NE a few weeks later.
edit: a few beat me to it while I was writing, maybe not as forgotten as I thought!
edit: a few beat me to it while I was writing, maybe not as forgotten as I thought!
No, I guess it was 2015. Whoever referred to it as the Stephen Jackson game had it right. (t4w)
I will forever defend the mortar kick, and I know you're not saying this but there are so many things from that game more costly then a squib kick that cost them 20 yards of field position.
Yeah the blocked punt TD and the 99 yard pick-6 kind of were a bigger deal. Oh and the 83 yard Sproles punt return TD. Oh and blowing the 21-7 4th quarter lead in Denver because what's his face decided to field that punt in the blizzard. God for all the titles we have we had so many more chances to win more
Well that one was also infuriating and also probably cost them the super bowl.
The 2018 loss in Miami did cost the HFA and looked as if would cost them the super bowl...
Amazing what Miami did over this run...
That game was bizarre. A blocked punt for a TD to end the half, followed by a 99-yard INT return and an 83 yard punt return for a TD.
It came up because I said before last night's game that it would be one of the most shocking losses of the BB era to lose to that Falcons team.
2 brutal OPI calls late as well. Obviously the run has been beyond incredible but just thinking about going to 5 straight Super Bowls boggles the mind.
Mentioned in the game thread and also up-thread, 2004 vs Miami ended up not mattering but at the time was completely inexplicable. Pats at the height of their powers with maybe the best team they’ve ever had, against a 2 win Miami team with HFA at stake.
I was at the FJax New Years game. Very frustrating.
Was they Peyton Hillis CLE game pretty much what got him on the cover of the next year's Madden, after which he faded into Bolivian?
Was they Peyton Hillis CLE game pretty much what got him on the cover of the next year's Madden, after which he faded into Bolivian?
Probably only top 10 or so but higher for me because we flew across the country to go see it was 2017 opening night. Banner night, opening night for the NFL, and Alex Smith and the Chiefs absolutely demolished them. 42-27 was actually a bit flattering for the Patriots. Brady was terrible and the defense had no answer for Hill.
Yeah he had a good season but that was his best game for sure. 184 yards, 2 TDs.
This one sticks in my memory because it was the first Pats game for my son and I. The Pats hadn't lost a regular season game at home since 2009. After Welker had a quiet game in the season opener (3 catches for 14 yards or something), he was benched to start the game, and Edelman got the start. Hernandez suffered an ankle injury early, however, and so Welker ended up playing most of the game anyway. Hernandez would battle that injury most of the season, which we had no idea would be his last.
The officiating was brutal. I think that was the season of replacement refs. I distinctly recall them blowing the whistle several times when the Pats went into their pre-snap motions, and then restarting the play clock from where it was when they allowed play. No idea why; it was never explained, but it was stupid, and probably helped the Cards.
At the end of the game, the Pats had a TD called back for a penalty, and then Ghost missed the chip shot FG. Kevin Kolb, he of 21 career starts, won his only start against Tom Brady.
While I probably wouldn't put any early season loss as a 'surprise" loss due to the Pats usually taking time to gel through the season, this game does stick out in my mind. It wasn't as much that they lost, but the fact that KC looked like they were on a completely different level. I think this game introduced KC as a legitimate power with some amazing weapons. They were fun to watch in that one game, before I started to detest them.
this is mine too, so there's maybe some recency bias here, but fitz had the game of his life and it pretty much made the end of the brady era academic.
I convinced the members of my survivor pool to go heavy on the Pats. Never heard the end of their second guessing with the benefit of hindsight.
the Steven Jackson game for sure. I've seen them come out flat before, but I never remember seeing them seem as if they just didn't want to win. That was a game it seemed like Belichick had no interest in them winning.
A distant 2nd might be the Dolphins 04 game. But that was more any given Sunday than anything else.
A distant 2nd might be the Dolphins 04 game. But that was more any given Sunday than anything else.