The Morning After
On the Morning after, the Phoenix Airport feels like the night after prom. I half recognize a lot of faces milling about; The NFL Network crew walks by; Everyone is talking about the crazy events of the night before. Just like the postgame festivities Sunday night, you can tell which side a person was on by looking at their face.
That was as devastating a loss as possible for anyone associated with the Patriots. No one who lives in New England will blame Bill Belichick for walking in a trance in the immediate aftermath because that's exactly how they felt.
Any crush of personal disappointment was quickly relieved because I was at the stadium. Everything went by so fast, I was just doing my best to keep up. I didn't have to watch all the highlights or replays. I was experiencing something for the first time, seeing a Super Bowl winning locker room, walking among the confetti on the field, trying not to looked stunned while taping a video, and writing a pair of articles.
The loss sank in on the way home from the stadium, as we successfully searched for the biggest dive bar possible. I've already heard the argument that the spoiled Boston fan had this one coming. We had three Super Bowls, two World Series trophies, and a remarkable 18-0 Patriots run to enjoy. Sports fandom is about pain, and we were due.
I don't buy it. Everything was on the line; The chance to stamp the Patriots as the greatest team ever and the chance to get Belichick and Brady their fourth Super Bowls. We could have removed Mercury Morris from all our lives.
It would have been different if the Giants had simply stopped the Patriots in the fourth quarter. But Brady led the Patriots on his trademark winning drive, the storybook finish was written. Only the defense gave it right back, to a Manning for the second straight year.
There are no guarantees in football, and this will be a brutal defeat for the Patriots to recover from. An offseason of Spygate stories await, the linebackers are getting older, and the Patriots can only hope to be in position to make another Super Bowl.
This post was brought to you by all the VIP private planes and team flights that have delayed any tripts JFK by at least 90 minutes.
Comments
Is it really appropriate to blame the loss on the defense? The Patriots gave up 17 points many times this year, but it was the offense scoring 35 every game that helped them to stay undefeated.
Posted by: Eric | February 4, 2008 01:49 PM
Do we have a winner in your impropmtu "Help Me, Help you" SuperBowl question challenge?
Who gets the free draft kit?
Posted by: CdnFan | February 4, 2008 02:01 PM
I can understand your dismay, but as a fan, you simply have to accept defeat just as you do victory. The truth is this Patriots team isn't the greatest team of all time and I would feel the same way had they won last night. I've personally watched teams that I believe would have trounced them in the Super Bowl ('85 Bears, '89 49ers, '94 49ers).
As I said in my previous post, this was a team that peaked way too early and slowly deteriorated as the season went on. It's a credit to their roster that even as a shadow of their earlier success they were almost able to win the Super Bowl. But ultimately you have to be at your best when it counts and they weren't. End of story.
As far as Mercury Morris goes, he and his band of Dolphins are certainly annoying, but they aren't even in my top 5 all time single season teams. And the Dolphins also don't lay claim to the team of any decade. Your Patriots have now joined the Packers of the 60's, the Steelers of the 70's, the 49ers of the 80's and the Cowboys of the 90's in that category. Pretty good company I think.
Posted by: Dan Jens | February 4, 2008 02:24 PM
Let's also end the dynasty talk about the Patriots.
The simple fact is dynasties don't lose Super Bowls.
Posted by: KY | February 4, 2008 05:04 PM
The air here is LA is a little cleaner. The grass is definitely greener, and the sun is shining a little brighter. Justice has been served.
I'm a Cowboy fan and I know the crushing feeling of defeat. The Cowboys had one of their greatest seasons ever, but it didn't, and doesn't mean anything because they didn't win the Super Bowl.
The Patriots couldn't deliver when it mattered most. 14 points? Really?
"But Andres, Tom Brady had no time to throw!"
AWWWW, My name is Tom Brady and I don't look so good when I have to escape from the pocket and create! Blame my line! I only have 3 Super Bowl rings and a super model girlfriend!
Seriously, all 6'3" of Brady went down with a wayward stare from a Giant. He choked, and the Pats will forever be the worst "coulda beens" of all time. The shame of defeat stings, especially when you choke it all away.
Posted by: Andres Rodriguez | February 4, 2008 06:41 PM
As a Pats fan, I'm in mourning like the rest of New England fans.
I agree that the defense should not be blamed for the loss; the offensive game plan was less than stellar and it took the powers-that-be THREE QUARTERS to figure out that the long passes weren't working.
The Pat's had many lost opportunities to win in the last minute of the game. I swear there was devine intervention when Manning escaped a near sack and Tyree made that seriously incredible helmet catch. Like the Giants were supposed to win and 18 and 0, meant well really zero.
Maybe the Pats were supposed to lose in order to appreciate a big win. Maybe they did choke. I know I saw Brady's play detiorate over the last few games. Was he tired or nervous or did Giselle jinx him (yeah, I heard that and it's just silly!)
Seriously, the Giants only scored 10 points up until the last 35 seconds of the game. It could have gone the other way but it didn't. Both offenses struggled and the Giants came out on top.
Posted by: JMS | February 4, 2008 10:43 PM
Thanks for editing your blog. Your previous reference to the prom made you look very unintelligent and juvenile. Glad to see you actually read your comments.
Posted by: Jason | February 7, 2008 03:50 PM