| One loss has never loomed so large. It turns out, The | | | | the season. In the playoffs it was more of the same, |
| New England Patriots are not The Greatest Team of | | | | as they comfortably beat Jacksonville, but slithered by |
| All Time, as they were being hailed. And even though | | | | an injury-depleted San Diego team that shockingly |
| they are going down in history, they'll be there for all | | | | outplayed them through three quarters. Despite all that, |
| the wrong reasons. They will forever be considered | | | | they made the Super Bowl. |
| one of sports' greatest disappointments, grouped with | | | | They reminded me of the '95-96 Bulls, who were so |
| the likes of the 1991 UNLV men's basketball team, | | | | dominant in getting off to a 41-3 start to the season, |
| another group that didn't lose until it mattered most. It's | | | | and kept winning, but less decisively, after Scottie |
| possible for one loss to overshadow eighteen victories, | | | | Pippen aggravated a back injury and the pressure of |
| and we saw it last night. And while I hate to look at a | | | | winning 70 games became more intense. Those Bulls |
| game from the loser's perspective, the historical | | | | managed to pull through, and even though they |
| aspect of this loss is too hard to ignore. | | | | stumbled twice in the finals, their championship was |
| Lost in all of the talk about perfection is the fact that | | | | never in doubt. There are no best-of-seven series in |
| New England has looked very mortal since late | | | | football, however, and the Pats stumbled at the worst |
| November. Since week 12, when The Pats defeated | | | | possible time. And, unfortunately for them, this loss |
| The Eagles by three, the previously perfect team has | | | | becomes as much a part of their legacy as their three |
| only been dominant in one and a half games - on | | | | wins in four seasons. All year long, they were primed |
| December 9th, when they decimated Pittsburgh, and in | | | | to do the unthinkable, and then yesterday, they did just |
| the first half of their week 16 game against the | | | | that, just not in the way that we were expecting. |
| hapless Dolphins. The warning signs were there, and | | | | One game can change so much. Bill Belichick was |
| we chose to ignore them, likely because their story | | | | considered by some to be the greatest coach ever, |
| was so compelling. | | | | based on his remarkable success during the salary |
| Or maybe because Mercury Morris and the '72 | | | | cap era. Now, after getting outcoached on the |
| Dolphins are so annoying. Whatever the reason, we | | | | grandest stage (going for it on fourth and 13 instead of |
| dismissed the fact that this was a different Pats team | | | | kicking a long field goal?!), and suffering through a new |
| than the one that ran roughshod over their opponents | | | | round of Spygate allegations, he'll be sure to face |
| in the first half of the season. We ignored the impact | | | | more scrutiny than ever before. Tom Brady got |
| of the loss of Roosevelt Colvin, which caused them to | | | | outplayed by Eli Manning, and his historic season now |
| rely too heavily on the aging Junior Seau and Tedy | | | | carries the same baggage that Peyton Manning's did in |
| Bruschi. We also passed over the loss of Sammy | | | | 2004 - remarkable, but incomplete. Randy Moss |
| Morris, who was the team's best running back when | | | | disappeared throughout the playoffs, and the most |
| he went down with injury. This team made so many | | | | prolific offense ever was overwhelmed by the Giants' |
| adjustments that they didn't skip a beat in the middle of | | | | pass rush. In our haste to coronate these three, and |
| the season, even with these losses. But something | | | | their team, we missed the obvious - they were the |
| changed along the way. Whether it was fatigue, the | | | | second best team in the league during the playoffs, |
| impact of injury, or the weight of expectations, New | | | | when true greatness is defined. |
| England was no longer invincible in the latter stages of | | | | |