Rank Your In-Laws: Which BB Era SB Failure Hurts the Most After '07

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
There is literally 1 season in the entire BB/TB12 run where there's no way we could have won it all.
I think this maybe overstates things a bit. But I've been thinking about this. If the imaginary line is, say, as close as the Chiefs thought they got this year, how many of these seasons really slipped away? If we are being honest with ourselves, it is probably only four:

2017, 2011, 2007 (All SB losses that all could have easily been won)
2006 (The two best teams in football playing for coronation rites two weeks later. Blown game, etc.)

The rest, for one reason or another, are just seasons. It is these four that stick with me.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,428
This thread has me fuming mad. They all sucked, especially the ones that the officials fucked up. There is literally 1 season in the entire BB/TB12 run where there's no way we could have won it all. We are so fucking spoiled. The 6 rings are awesome, but we have been legit perennial Super Bowl contenders for 18 fucking years (not counting 2008 for obvious reasons).
Sorry Bergs!

P.S. We could have won 2008 too.
 

Old Fart Tree

the maven of meat
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2001
14,024
Boulder, CO
2006 for me. I was there in Indy. A cute Colts fan next to me asked me where we were celebrating after. {Sigh}
 
Apr 7, 2006
2,503
No matter how Butler may have looked, especially late in the season, I will never be convinced that, if BB had pulled a Parcells and sent Malcom out for the second half or even just the 4th quarter, Butler wouldn't have run out onto the field with his fucking hair on fire and stopped the bleeding. There were several 3rd and 4th downs the Eagles converted, the defeat of any one of which I'm convinced would've made the difference in the game.

I will never, ever, EVER get over that loss because it seemed/seems super preventable and fucking stupid. 2006 was shitty, too.
 

Devizier

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 3, 2000
19,463
Somewhere
Shit guys, how could any of them hurt anymore? I'm serious. At this point, the interregnum only made the win against the Seahawks sweeter.
 

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,095
My ranking, with the worst at the top, with the note that all of these pale when compared to 2007:

2010 loss to NYJ: This was hurts the most because it was a true lost opportunity to get back to the Super Bowl. The Jets were admittedly a decent team, but one that the Pats dominated just a few weeks earlier. The game as excruciating as the Pats simply executed poorly across the board. The one issue that season was the Pats defense was uneven; Green Bay made a game of it in Foxboro in a game the Pats won because Rodgers missed the game and backup Matt Flynn did not have experience with their 2 minute offense. And when the Pats finally scored a TD and 2 point conversion against the Jets to make a game of it at 14-11, the defense promptly gave up a 58 yard catch-and-run to Jerricho Cotchery to start the 4th quarter, missing tackles all over the place; the Jets would score a killer TD later on the series. What also hurts is that the Pats loss essentially assured the Steelers of making the Super Bowl.

2017 (2018 Super Bowl) loss to Philly: In many ways, this season was the inverse of this past season. After their typical 2-2 start, the Pats started to click once again. However, the injuries were like a slow drip that occurred throughout the year: they lost Edelman, Cyrus Jones, and Derek Rivers in training camp. Super Bowl hero Malcolm Mitchell never recovered. Martellus Bennett was brought in and promptly got hurt. Marcus Cannon and Donta Hightower were lost mid-season. Hogan had a bad concussion mid season and never really returned to form until the Super Bowl. Burkhead was in and out all season. Jonathan Jones got hurt in the playoffs. Gronk probably shouldn't have played in the Super Bowl to be honest. But the worst had to be the constant second guessing that happened in the aftermath. The other reason this one ranked high is that it was a chance to repeat.

2011 (2012 Super Bowl): In normal situations, this loss would not be ranked that highly. The AFC was weak that year; the Steelers lost in the playoffs to Tim Tebow. The unstoppable combination of Brady, Gronk, Hernandez, and Welker and a soft schedule helped mask both a weak running game and an atrocious defense. The Ravens outplayed the Patriots during the AFCCG and probably would have won had they not fell victim to some curious play calls by the Ravens offense during the final 2 drives and missed chip shot FG by Cundiff. The Giants team was in some ways similar to this season's Pats team: after tough mid-season stretch where they lost 4 in a row and 5 of 6, they turned it around and won 2 to close out the season, and then ran through the playoffs, beating Alex Smith and the 49'ers in OT to earn their trip. But what hurt is that this game was against the Giants and Eli f-ing Manning. And they way they loss was painful; first there was that bizarre intentional grounding call in the end zone against Brady. Still, the Pats had a 17-9 lead early in the 2nd half. Then the D lets the Giants march down the field for two FG's (albeit one of those drives was on a short field). Then the Pats have a promising drive get cut short with an awful Brady INT. Then the Welker drop on a play that would have likely iced the game. Then the circus catch by Manningham, which was followed by the Pats D showing their ugly side by allowing Manning to easily complete 2 more big passes against the cushion of doom.

Anyway, those are the top 3. In case you're wondering, the 2006 loss in the AFCCG would get an honorable mention. However, that one has eased up over time. The Pats were playing over their heads to some extent, and may have had a more difficult time in the Super Bowl then most people here would expect. IIRC, the Pats lost Richard Seymour that game, and then Troy Brown hurt his knee while trying to catch a pass that would have iced the game for New England. Maroney had gotten hurt late that season and never seemed to return to his earlier season form, and Dillon was clearly cooked.

The other remaining losses, while they sting, were simply cases where the Pats got beat plain and simple. The 2015 Pats defense was nowhere near as good as the 2015 Broncos D. Maybe if the game was in Foxboro, the result would have been different, but good teams can once in a while win in Foxboro as well, so who really knows. Teams with good defense can win tough playoff games on the road (like the Pats just did in KC). And the other Pats teams simply were not as good as the teams that beat them.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
The other thing about 2006, especially in retrospect, is that winning that game blocks Indy from getting a ring at all and it likely dooms Peyton to permanent loserville. Talk about a missed opportunity.
 

Bellhorn

Lumiere
SoSH Member
Aug 22, 2006
2,328
Brighton, MA
Great post. I agree with your suckage factor ratings almost exactly. I am also in awe of your recall of details from these games. I cannot bring myself to rewatch any of this.

Edit: The only place I really disagree with you is 2011. The Giants were not that good and any time you come that close to winning it hurts. It hurts a lot less in retrospect but at the time we didn’t know if they were ever going to win #4 so I was crushed by this loss at the time.
Thanks....and I hear you regarding XLVI. It's probably the hardest one to evaluate objectively, since it so hard to remove the contextual background of 2007. But you're right, I am probably discounting the sheer impact of securing #4, now that we have #s 4, 5, and 6. :fonz:
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
For me, it was the Jets game. I was at the 45-3 shellacking. Which was glorious. I expected more of the same in the divisional round. At the very least, I expected a win.

That game was hideous on so many levels. The Wes Welker thing before the game was so unPatriots-like, and it cast a bit of a pall on me, if not the team. Then to see Bill bench Welker for a series and that terrible Brady pick early on. Losing to Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez was so ridiculous. The later Denver losses were of course bad, but at least that was to a good team.

On a personal note, I live in Northern NJ and had to go to a wedding with a lot of people who know I'm a serious Patriots fan immediately after the game ended. I had no option to blow it off. I didn't give anyone the satisfaction of showing that I was upset but at the same time, all of those happy, schadenfreude faces at my expense were hard to take. Grinning and bearing it and gagging inside....

All that said, any amount of personal stake logically should pale in comparison to the 2006 debacle. That game should have been in the bag and the combo platter of that terrible Offensive PI call on Troy and the flu/heat thing in the second half turned it sour. And with the crappy Bears team waiting to be destroyed, it was doubly galling. That it rained hard at the SB that year was a slight salve (very slight), inasmuch as I was planning to go if the Pats made it.

Going back to the Jets game, another personal note is that one of my closest friends is a die hard Steelers fan and we travelled from NY to Pittsburgh for the AFCCG. For one day of my life, I was as passionate about the Steelers (and in truth, against the Jets) as anyone at Heinz. Given the massive amount of Jets fans who made the trip, it was more than a little bit enjoyable to see the Steelers hang on. A particularly vile Jets fan was sitting behind us and spewing extreme profanity during the entire game. Steelers fans, despite all of their on line bravado, were pretty tame and said nothing to him. I was ready to let him have it after the game was over, turned around to launch and saw before me a grown man hunched over and completely blubbering. Not crying, mind you, but utterly balling. I couldn't compound this poor schlub's misery. It was sweet enough as is.

This thread reminds me of how I now view the 2003 Grady Boner game. On some level, it still hurts, but mostly with all the success it's like a dull pain. We are so damned lucky.
That is the one time I rooted for the Jets but barely. I did not want to see that sleazeball Big Ben win another title and I live in the Philly area and there are too many arrogant "Stillers" fans around here that look down on you in the sports bars because they have won 6 titles. Like MFY fans they live in the past.
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
That’s fair but it kind of undercuts 2006 a bit. The Chargers were by any metric a better team than the Pats that year, and IMO outplayed them in that divisional game and would have won if Marlon Mcree wasn’t an idiot. That’s why 2006 bothers me a bit less than others, the Pats were at best the 3rd best team in the AFC that year and should have lost in the divisional round, and were clearly playing with house money in the AFC title game.
Agree. Chargers were the best team in football that year and handed the game to us. No way the Colts go to San Diego and beat them. That should have been their year.
 
Last edited:

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,991
Newton
Tweak on this for me:

If you could change history, which game (barring the Scottish game probably) would you most wish we could win in retrospect?

Put that way, I'm thinking it's probably last year's SB -- because then we win three in a row.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
Tweak on this for me:

If you could change history, which game (barring the Scottish game probably) would you most wish we could win in retrospect?

Put that way, I'm thinking it's probably last year's SB -- because then we win three in a row.
I think it is 2006 or 2015 mainly because of Manning. Or maybe 2011, also because of the other Manning.

I'm spiteful.
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,991
Newton
Right, 2015 also gives them The Irsay Title (assuming they beat Carolina). And has the bonus effect of sending Manning into retirement a loser.

It’s crazy how close this team has actually come to five Super Bowls (and maybe titles) in a row. A missed XP and a strip sack. Wow.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
Tweak on this for me:

If you could change history, which game (barring the Scottish game probably) would you most wish we could win in retrospect?

Put that way, I'm thinking it's probably last year's SB -- because then we win three in a row.
It has to be 2011 or 2017 because then you win a Super Bowl. I know its popular to say "Of course we would have beaten Chicago in 2006" or the same for Carolina in 2015 but the reality is that those were good teams (both 4th in total DVOA in their respective seasons) and, although probably underdogs, could easily have beaten us had a few bounces gone their way.

I'm torn between the threepeat and a 2011 win that scuttles the "Giants are Patriot kryptonite" narrative.
 

Leskanic's Thread

lost underscore
Silver Supporter
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
2,774
Los Angeles
It has to be 2011 or 2017 because then you win a Super Bowl. I know its popular to say "Of course we would have beaten Chicago in 2006" or the same for Carolina in 2015 but the reality is that those were good teams (both 4th in total DVOA in their respective seasons) and, although probably underdogs, could easily have beaten us had a few bounces gone their way.

I'm torn between the threepeat and a 2011 win that scuttles the "Giants are Patriot kryptonite" narrative.
Agreed on the bolded. While I love the idea of keeping the Colts from ever winning, and will always believe the Patriots would have rolled over the Bears...there are no guarantees. (Also, would that 2007 team have happened if 2006 didn't?)

As for the last question, I'm very comfortable not having to celebrate a banner associated with Aaron Hernandez. I'll take the three-peat.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
Shit guys, how could any of them hurt anymore? I'm serious. At this point, the interregnum only made the win against the Seahawks sweeter.
It’s kind of where I’m at. Yeah losing is never fun but honestly.... winning so many....only 42 still stings but not even that much anymore.
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
As spoiled as we have been had they won Super Bowl 42 over Giants I would have been satisfied had they never won another one. An undefeated team can do that. But I still would have rooted for them in other ones of course and contend every year.