I came across a Jets' fan while riding public transportation today. He seemed like a decent fellow. I work with a lifelong Jets' fan and a finer person you won't find. Even if he is a former Herald guy.
The Jets' guy gave me a look as I sat waiting for my train and reading an SI issue with Mr. Kraft on the cover.
"Sucks to be a Pats' fan these days," he said with a snicker.
"Ya," I said. "Losing in the Super Bowl is tough to take." I paused. "I look forward to the years when my team can't even win its division and ends the season bickering and out of the playoffs. Those sure were the good old days."
He got my point.
Three Super Bowl titles. Three more very near misses ('06, '07, and this year) and many seasons of 12, 13, and 14 wins. Nine division titles. Five AFC titles. Records of 14-2 and 13-3 the last two years. Indeed, it sucks to be a Pats' fan these days.
Brady and Belichick are now 3-2 in Super Bowls together. If they had won their first, then lost two, then won two ... or some other combination that doesn't include losing the last two -- people would not be questioning "their legacy." The fact that the Pats lost guys like Bruschi, Harrison, Vrabel, Johnson, Seymour, McGinnest, Law, Samuel, Brown, Dillon, etc. since '07 and have remade the team while remaining a contender is amazing. Did I say contender? They were one play away from another Lombardi last weekend. But you really can't win 'em all. The great -- and suddenly annoying -- Joe Montana may have gone 4-0 in Super Bowls, but he was just 3-3 in the playoffs his last three seasons. Montana had seasons of 9, 8, 8, and 9 wins. Brady's worst year was 10-6. He doesn't look quite done yet. If he had just made a better throw to Welker ...
The year after the Pats lost a gut-wrencher to the Colts in the AFC title game -- where they blew a 21-0 lead -- Belichick responded by loading up with Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and others and went 16-0. The year after the Pats lost that first Super Bowl to the Giants they loaded up again. But Brady went down in the first quarter of the first game and that was that. Among the great traits of Belichick's teams is the ability to put a tough loss behind them and use that to motivate them to be better. That's why they haven't lost more than two games in a row in more than a decade. Maybe the most amazing of all the stats.
The Globe's Chris Gasper had a good column expressing the view that the window on Brady is closing and the team should go "all in" to try to win now. He's right. But that's exactly what the team has been doing every year since the '06 season ended with the team wilting in the heat of the Indy dome. The '06 season is the year when Belichick the GM truly screwed Belichick the coach. He let Branch and Givens go and provided Brady with a group of wide receivers named Caldwell and Gabriel. Not good. I thought he had learned his lesson but then I took a look at what was left of the team's secondary after he cut most of the veterans. Not good. Still, he took the team back to the title game. Impressive.
This Super Bowl loss is tougher to digest than the one that ruined 19-0. Why? Because with three minutes to go in that game the Pats only had 7 points. They were losing 10-7. Sure, Brady hit Moss to take the lead and some guy caught the ball with his head and the Giants won. But the Pats never had a chance to take control of that game. They were somewhat lucky to have a chance to win it. The game on Sunday was very different. Sure, the '07 team was much better than this year's team. One of the best ever. But this year's team actually had a better chance to win the game. 17-9 with all the momentum midway through the third quarter. Unlike '07, it was actually there for the taking. I'm guessing Brady and Belichick are having a harder time with this one too. That usually motivates them.
My train arrived and I gave the Jets' fan a nod. He just looked at me. I don't blame him. One of the five greatest NFL coaches was actually the HC of his NYJ for about 30 minutes. And then left for Foxborough. That's tougher to get over than the disappointment of just missing a fourth Super Bowl title in ten years. A bit tougher.
The Globe's Chris Gasper had a good column expressing the view that the window on Brady is closing and the team should go "all in" to try to win now. He's right. But that's exactly what the team has been doing every year since the '06 season ended with the team wilting in the heat of the Indy dome. The '06 season is the year when Belichick the GM truly screwed Belichick the coach. He let Branch and Givens go and provided Brady with a group of wide receivers named Caldwell and Gabriel. Not good. I thought he had learned his lesson but then I took a look at what was left of the team's secondary after he cut most of the veterans. Not good. Still, he took the team back to the title game. Impressive.
This Super Bowl loss is tougher to digest than the one that ruined 19-0. Why? Because with three minutes to go in that game the Pats only had 7 points. They were losing 10-7. Sure, Brady hit Moss to take the lead and some guy caught the ball with his head and the Giants won. But the Pats never had a chance to take control of that game. They were somewhat lucky to have a chance to win it. The game on Sunday was very different. Sure, the '07 team was much better than this year's team. One of the best ever. But this year's team actually had a better chance to win the game. 17-9 with all the momentum midway through the third quarter. Unlike '07, it was actually there for the taking. I'm guessing Brady and Belichick are having a harder time with this one too. That usually motivates them.
My train arrived and I gave the Jets' fan a nod. He just looked at me. I don't blame him. One of the five greatest NFL coaches was actually the HC of his NYJ for about 30 minutes. And then left for Foxborough. That's tougher to get over than the disappointment of just missing a fourth Super Bowl title in ten years. A bit tougher.
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