In conclusion

A funny thing has happened as the Super Bowl that I thought the Pats would be playing in approaches. I'm starting to look forward to the game. Steelers vs. Packers. Should be an entertaining battle. It was the same thing last year when the Colts went up against the Saints. It's the same thing every year. No matter who is in the game, it's always fun. A couple of $10 squares don't hurt.

It's been a few years now since the Pats lost to the Giants, missing a chance at history (thanks again, Asante). The outstanding 2010 season looked like it had a chance to continue into February, but instead it ended in the worst possible way ... a home loss to the foot doctor and the Jets. It was ugly to witness in person. Much like the previous year's ending against the Ravens.

But the aftertaste of this ending is not nearly as sour as last year's. There are many more positives with this 14-2 team. Young players like Chung, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Arrington, and BenJarvis stepped up time and time again in big moments during the season. Veterans Brady, Branch, Welker, and Wilfork stayed healthy and provided the leadership that the young players followed. Mayo and Spikes (when not suspended) made a good combo in the middle of the D and Woody brought a spark to the offense. Unlike the end of 2009 when there seemed to be holes in the roster everywhere you looked, the Pats have a good mix of youth and experience that seems to be coming together.

The team overcame a series of key injuries that started before the season even started with Ty Warren and Leigh Bodden lost for the year and continued with Kevin Faulk and Stephen Gostkowski going down and not getting back up. All NFL teams have to overcome injuries, but not all do. The Pats did. That was just one of the many challenges the team faced and overcame. The regular season was one big game after another (Chargers, Steelers, Jets, Colts, Jets, Bears, Packers) and fourteen times the Pats came away on the winning side. That should not be lost in the disappointment of the playoff loss.

The post-season autopsy for the Patriots is still going strong on sports blab radio. I have caught some of it but not much. Thankfully talk is moving to the Celts run at 18 (I'd bet on it) and the reloaded Sox. But analysis of the Pats playoff loss pops up from time to time. Among the many points made there is one that is as far off base: Tom Brady and the Patriots have lost their last three playoff games. And they lost each one the same way. Not true.

The first of those three losses was that Super Bowl in the winter of '08. It was a classic game. The Pats had the title in their hands but it slipped away. After a year out of the playoffs when Brady got hurt (even though the team finished 11-5), the Pats were back but got shellacked by the Ravens. It was the low point of the past decade. The team was clearly drifting in the wrong direction. Brady got knocked all over the field and the young defense got pushed around. Expectations coming into this season were low, but Belichick and the Pats turned things back in the right direction for a great 14-2 campaign.

It ended again in disappointment. But the Pats didn't get pushed around this time. They actually took it to the Jets for most of the first half. But mistakes -- as they always do in the playoffs -- cost them the game. Yes, the Pats have lost three straight playoff games. But they are not connected at all. The Patriots should get a shot to end that playoff losing streak next year. If the trend they started in 2010 continues, I like their chances.

The month of February has arrived. Time for the Super Bowl and, since the Pats are not in the big game, time for a month off from blogging. If the owners and players don't figure out their issues it could be a lot longer than a month.