That was then: Celebrating what was

djbayko

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
25,897
Los Angeles, CA
Patriots Twitter just posted this video reliving the 2001 season. I just started watching but it seems to be great. I've watched many videos of that season, and this has some great footage I've never seen before along with interviews with a lot of the guys.

I think every team has come out to the field together as a group ever since, right? It took that moment for everyone in a league full of big personalities to realize, "Oh, right. It's a team sport, and that's how it should to be done."
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,994
Newton
That is, like, the greatest thing ever. In addition to the outstanding analysis, there’s some really fun stuff with Manning referencing all these old school fullbacks and pulling guards. So awesome.
 

BlackJack

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 11, 2007
3,456
I think every team has come out to the field together as a group ever since, right? It took that moment for everyone in a league full of big personalities to realize, "Oh, right. It's a team sport, and that's how it should to be done."
I've occasionally wondered how much the Pats winning that game influenced the change. If they'd been blown out like most people were expecting, I think the individual introductions might still be a thing.

It was definitely powerful in the moment. I remember being optimistic going into the game that if the Pats could keep it close that they had a chance, but that basically everything needed to break their way to win.

Watching them come in as a team, after the individual intros from the Rams, I was pumped up and went from 'maybe they can pull it out' to 'THEY ARE WINNING THIS GAME!'
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,994
Newton
Yeah, I rewatched that Super Bowl twice this week and honestly, the Pats’ defense fucking destroyed the Greatest Show on Turf. Warner spends the entire game running for his life. Had that been Brady with more than a dozen or so games under his belt that game wouldn’t have been close.
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,300
deep inside Guido territory
Interesting nugget: LaDanian Tomlinson just said to the media that Charlie Weis told him if he fell to the Pats at #6 that they were going to take him. He went #5 to SD so the Pats too Seymour. Imagine Brady with in-his-prime Tomlinson.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,853
Why did the man coverage, rush five, double Hill defense fail so spectualary in the second half?
I guess I have to wait for Part 2.
Short field, individual excellence by Mahomes? The guys we wanted to take away (Hill and Kelce) we still did a good job on. We made them adjust to using other guys. It worked, but not enough.
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,827
Needham, MA
In terms of the 2001 Pats "come out as a team" decision, I seem to remember that was actually something they had been doing all year. In a game earlier in the year, may have even been the opener to the Bengals, the PA announcer forgot to introduce the Pats individually so they basically just said fuck it, let's run out as a team. I believe they did it for every game after that. Am I inventing that?

Then the League tried to get them to change for the Super Bowl and the refused. Milloy told BB they wanted to be introduced as a team and BB told the league that was what they were going to do.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
In terms of the 2001 Pats "come out as a team" decision, I seem to remember that was actually something they had been doing all year. In a game earlier in the year, may have even been the opener to the Bengals, the PA announcer forgot to introduce the Pats individually so they basically just said fuck it, let's run out as a team. I believe they did it for every game after that. Am I inventing that?

Then the League tried to get them to change for the Super Bowl and the refused. Milloy told BB they wanted to be introduced as a team and BB told the league that was what they were going to do.
Nope, that is almost completely accurate. I think what happened against the Bengals was that the PA announcer started announcing the Pats defensive starters before they were in the tunnel and ready to run out, so they ended up just running out all together.
 

Beale13

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 2, 2006
395
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2019-super-bowl-ranking-all-52-super-bowls-with-eagles-patriots-near-top-patriots-rams-i-just-misses-top-10/

Here's one of those rankings of the best super bowls that usually come out this time of year. I think this is the first one I've seen that is this Patriots heavy, with all 8 of Brady's SB's in the top 20 and 4 of them holding the 1-4 spots. (I disagree with the order though - definite team and recenty bias, but Atlanta at 1 and Seattle at 2 seems obvious to me.) Not a new point here, but their excellence aside, the sheer amount of Super Bowl entertainment this team has produced is mind-boggling.

I've always wondered why their Super Bowls are always so close and have never been able to put a satisfying explanation to it. I can attribute it to their excellence to explain why they haven't been blown out, but why haven't they been able to blow anyone out? Does Belichik/Brady just bring out the absolute best and most focused coaching and playing from their opponent every time in these games?
 

Hendu for Kutch

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 7, 2006
6,920
Nashua, NH
I'm not sure if this is the place to put it or not, but any open mocking of Roger Goodell is worth celebrating, in my mind.

Here's Sean Payton at today's press conference:



Guess what that is under his polo?
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,094
I'm not sure if this is the place to put it or not, but any open mocking of Roger Goodell is worth celebrating, in my mind.

Here's Sean Payton at today's press conference:



Guess what that is under his polo?
Is that the Goodell clown shirt? That would be hilarious.
 

djbayko

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
25,897
Los Angeles, CA
I've occasionally wondered how much the Pats winning that game influenced the change. If they'd been blown out like most people were expecting, I think the individual introductions might still be a thing.

It was definitely powerful in the moment. I remember being optimistic going into the game that if the Pats could keep it close that they had a chance, but that basically everything needed to break their way to win.

Watching them come in as a team, after the individual intros from the Rams, I was pumped up and went from 'maybe they can pull it out' to 'THEY ARE WINNING THIS GAME!'
Oh, for sure, you're probably right that it would have died a quick death had they not won. But they did win, so in that sense, they heavily influenced the change. It didn't hurt that they won a couple more a few years later to cement the tradition.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
I've always wondered why their Super Bowls are always so close and have never been able to put a satisfying explanation to it. I can attribute it to their excellence to explain why they haven't been blown out, but why haven't they been able to blow anyone out? Does Belichik/Brady just bring out the absolute best and most focused coaching and playing from their opponent every time in these games?
I've wondered this too. Almost every Super Bowl they have played since 2004 I have had the same thought - maybe this will be the blowout!! (Seattle was the lone exception). I am too smart to hope for it to happen this year. But is an extremely interesting trend that the biggest spread in a game they have had was 8, which was 5 before the strip sack on the second-to-final drive.
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 25, 2002
90,032
Oregon
Jeebus, Malcolm Mitchell has had 10 surgeries.

So many thanks for being healthy n(enough) against Atlanta.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,770
Pittsburgh, PA
Yeah thanks for posting those clips Brandon. I saw the special on ESPN.com but I'm not an E+ subscriber so this is really great to see. If you have the time, might want to download them, concatenate them, and do your password-protected-on-vimeo thing, as I imagine it'll get taken down soon.
 

dynomite

Member
SoSH Member
Nope, that is almost completely accurate. I think what happened against the Bengals was that the PA announcer started announcing the Pats defensive starters before they were in the tunnel and ready to run out, so they ended up just running out all together.
Yes, Milloy tells this story in the 2001 America’s Game recap.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2019-super-bowl-ranking-all-52-super-bowls-with-eagles-patriots-near-top-patriots-rams-i-just-misses-top-10/

Here's one of those rankings of the best super bowls that usually come out this time of year. I think this is the first one I've seen that is this Patriots heavy, with all 8 of Brady's SB's in the top 20 and 4 of them holding the 1-4 spots. (I disagree with the order though - definite team and recenty bias, but Atlanta at 1 and Seattle at 2 seems obvious to me.) Not a new point here, but their excellence aside, the sheer amount of Super Bowl entertainment this team has produced is mind-boggling.
Agreed. Top 10 lists are meant to be controversial and generally clickbait. Especially for something like this that’s all in the eye of the beholder. If you’re a Steeler fan I bet you rank this list differently than if you’re a Giants fan.

But I have to agree with you.

Their Top 10 is:
10. Steelers vs Cardinals (2008)
9. Jets vs. Colts (1968)
8. Rams vs. Titans (1999)
7. 49ers vs. Bengals (1988, Montana to Taylor)
6. Giants vs. Bills (1990, wide left)
5. Steelers vs. Cowboys (1978)
4. Pats vs. Falcons (2016)
3. Pats vs. Eagles (2017)
2. Scottish Game (2007)
1. Pats vs. Seahawks (2014)

1) To begin with, that Steelers/Cowboys ‘78 SB being in the top 10 is laughable. Yes, that was an incredible matchup of dynasties, but the Steelers were up 35-17 with 2 minutes left, and 35-24 with 30 seconds left. I wasn’t alive, and I’m sure the hype was huge for this one, but as a game I think it’s silly to rank this above, say, Steelers/Cardinals.

2) Pats/Panthers being #11 is too low. That 4th quarter was as wild as any in Super Bowl history. Do people sleep on this one because it lacks a signature moment? Or Delhomme turned into a pumpkin? Edit: I believe 37 total points in this 4th quarter are the most in any single quarter in a Super Bowl?

3) Steelers/Cardinals at #9 is too low. That Holmes catch is one of the great plays in the history of the league.

4) Pats/Eagles at #3 is too high. This could very well be my Patriots bias, but that game was filled with terrible defense, the Butler benching was an uncomfortable distraction, and the game was basically decided on a strip sack with 2:16 left, instead of in OT or on the last snap.

5) God, Super Bowls in the 80s sucked.

Edit: 6) The crazy Ravens vs. 49ers Super Bowl (2012) is ranked at #15, behind games like Steelers vs. Rams (1979), which doesn’t seem right.
 
Last edited:

brandonchristensen

Loves Aaron Judge
SoSH Member
Feb 4, 2012
38,187
Yeah thanks for posting those clips Brandon. I saw the special on ESPN.com but I'm not an E+ subscriber so this is really great to see. If you have the time, might want to download them, concatenate them, and do your password-protected-on-vimeo thing, as I imagine it'll get taken down soon.
I've downloaded them. If the Pats win the SB, I'll host them. :)
 

mwonow

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 4, 2005
7,095
Ahem, the Colts have a banner hanging from the rafters, somewhere, that disagrees with this assessment.
In fairness, who can pick out one flag hanging in the Indy rafters? It's like looking for a needle in a needlestack.
 

Bergs

funky and cold
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2005
21,627
A laugher. Just once, a goddamned victory lap laugher.
I'd love this. But I'm not expecting it. The Rams are a damn good team, and - absent the NEP's annual record - parity does work to the extent that no single team (especially in the last 2 weeks of the playoffs) is THAT much better than the others. That said, I feel like we almost always have a bunch of fluky plays/bad calls go against us. If we play well AND get lucky, it could be a lot of fun.
 

sheamonu

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 11, 2004
1,342
Dublin, Ireland
Amazing that there are three plays that can be entirely justified as "the Steal". (Four if you count Gerald Henderson). Counting the heartbreakers there's probably at least six that could be "the Catch" and so need a different descriptor. (Tyree, Manningham, Dewey, BenTen, Edelman, Brunansky and I'm probably missing some). Then there's probably at least four that could go as "the Comeback". (Celts against Lakers, LI, Bruins/Leafs and , of course, 2004). Hell, there's even two "Big Threes".
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
Moderator
SoSH Member
May 20, 2003
35,734
Deep inside Muppet Labs
A laugher. Just once, a goddamned victory lap laugher.
It would be nice, but the Rams are too good for that. It's going to be a tight game.

Besides if there was a blowout win, then the Pats would get dinged for facing a "shitty" opponent. Instead if they win a close game they'll get dinged for not blowing a team out. This is the way it goes, we have to accept it.
 

Mystic Merlin

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 21, 2007
46,775
Hartford, CT
It would be nice, but the Rams are too good for that. It's going to be a tight game.

Besides if there was a blowout win, then the Pats would get dinged for facing a "shitty" opponent. Instead if they win a close game they'll get dinged for not blowing a team out. This is the way it goes, we have to accept it.
I don’t think anyone will call LAR ‘shitty’. What they’ll say is the Rams weren’t ‘ready for prime time’.

But agreed that this scenario is academic.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
Who cares what everyone says. I’d fucking love a blowout.

But it ain’t happening. We’ve seen this movie 8 times before. It would be foolish to think this will be different, despite BB’s insistence that the past has no bearing on this game.
 

TheoShmeo

Skrub's sympathy case
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
12,890
Boston, NY
It would be nice, but the Rams are too good for that. It's going to be a tight game.

Besides if there was a blowout win, then the Pats would get dinged for facing a "shitty" opponent. Instead if they win a close game they'll get dinged for not blowing a team out. This is the way it goes, we have to accept it.
Did you expect the Pats to blow out the Chargers? I did not. That the opponent is good -- and they are -- doesn't mean the Pats (or the Rams for that matter) can't or wont win big. I also note that of the SBs that have been laughers, I don't believe many, or any, featured bigger spreads that the plus 14 for NE in SB 36. The point is that good teams have been bombed in SBs and that the Rams are one of them hardly precludes that.

I see a comfortable Pats win this Sunday. I know I could be wrong and know that the Pats play tight SBs. And I surely could be wishcasting, I know. But the combo platter of the Pats peaking, Brady being on a mission and looking so locked in, the Pats OL just having handled two very solid DLs, the Pats D playing better and better, the experience edge, that the HC of the NEP is BB and the overall sense that this is Our Year leaves me more confident than I have ever been heading into a SB. The closest was the first Eagles game.
 

JohnnyTheBone

Member
SoSH Member
May 28, 2007
36,344
Nobody Cares
Peyton Manning breaks down Tom against the Chiefs
These were excellent. The all-22 camera angles really help you see the game better. The interception at the goal line in the Chiefs game, you can see why Tom thought he could jam it in to Gronk. On TV, it was "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??", but after seeing that breakdown, I totally get it. Good stuff.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
When was the last time a team won the Super Bowl after losing it the previous year? If the Pats win Sunday, in a way it might be the most impressive thing they have accomplished over the last 18 years. And that's saying something. Simply put, teams fall apart after losing Super Bowls.
 

BernieRicoBoomer

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2007
805
Bound Brook, NJ
When was the last time a team won the Super Bowl after losing it the previous year? If the Pats win Sunday, in a way it might be the most impressive thing they have accomplished over the last 18 years. And that's saying something. Simply put, teams fall apart after losing Super Bowls.
I'm gonna say it was Miami in Super Bowl VII