Embarrassment of Riches Pats Fan Question: Your Favorite Pats SB?

[Shaky Walton]

While watching the Turning Point Seattle SB while working out this morning, I asked myself if that game was my favorite. And I answered affirmatively to myself.

In a way, it's a surprising answer. The Falcons game comeback is The Comeback for the Ages. I was there. The ending was sooooo sweet.

But that game was torture for so long. And there are things that, for me, the Seattle game has over all of them.

Some of my factors:

- the Pats played well for a lot of that game;

- the comeback from 24-14 was nothing to sneeze at;

- Edelman was heroic;

- Gronk was a big part of it;

- while people talk about the Kearse miraculous catch, Butler broke up or helped Kearse drop a catch along the left sideline that, if he had made, might have lead to Seattle going up 31-14 or 27-14. HUGE play;

- the Butler pick, of course;

- that Bill played Jedi Mind Tricks on Poodle Pete by not calling a TO;

- that Poodle Pete was humiliated (you might infer that I don't like PC and you would be right);

- Richard Sherman's face when he realized what happened;

- the Sherman hand shake with Brady;

- Brady drawing Seattle offsides at the end;

- "Go Malcom, Go";

- That they practiced for that very play;

- Being there;

- So much more.

Now, I get it. This is not exactly a DVOA type thread. But it's fun to consider this question, and how lucky are Pats fans to get to do it?

You can say that you "can't choose, it's liking picking among or between my kids." You can say "the next one." But neither is any fun and you're not Tom Brady. And I'm not going to provide the option to vote for a loss cause, well, I started the thread and the losses blew chunks!

For me Atlanta and the first Rams game are the two contenders for number 2, and I'm not totally sure where I would rank them.

But that is not my question. My question is what's your favorite? And why?

 

[rodderick]

Seattle was the best game overall, the rebirth of the dynasty and an immediate clap back at the Deflategate bullshit, capped by the greatest defensive play in NFL history. That one.

 

[yeahlunchbox]

For me it has to be one of the first three because those were the ones my dad was alive for and he's the biggest Patriots fan I've ever met. So out of the first three I voted for the first one just for the "holy shit, they actually did it" feeling.

 

[tims4wins]

Completely agree with your OP, right down to Rams I and Atlanta. The one thing you omitted was the LOB factor and Seattle going for back to back titles, which hadn’t been done since the 03-04 Pats. That was a dynasty in the making. Whereas the Falcons were more of a one year wonder. The Pats beat an all time great defense.

 

[BaseballJones]

The Pats-Seahawks game may be the greatest SB ever played, for a long list of reasons. It’s my personal favorite.

But it’s very hard to not vote for the first one because that was monumental and made all subsequent things possible.

 

[Curt S Loew]

First one and it's not close. That was not supposed to happen. Ever. And it did. Hell, I still have this:

Spoiler

Back then, we celebrated THAT.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

I surprised myself a bit by picking the Falcons comeback. It's true that it wasn't the best-played game or the most interesting opponent. But the feeling of watching that comeback embodied to me what was so special about the Belichick/Brady teams. It was peak levels of, "if you make a mistake, or give them a glimmer of hope, they will seize it and destroy you in the most devastating way possible." The Falcons were Oberyn Martell, preparing to finish off The Mountain. And then it was over. Of course, you could apply that analogy to the Seattle game too, but the slow, methodical unraveling hits different than a single miracle play.

Something about the sheer inevitability of that comeback gets me, especially after the Hightower strip sack. It was like watching the last 40 seconds of Game 6 of the '98 NBA Finals: Bulls down 3, timeout. Ball inbounds to Jordan. Layup. Steal. Soul-crushing, buzzer beating jumper. Championship. The Pats won that game because Tom Brady was always going to win that game. It never could have gone any other way.

 

[deanx0]

It is a hard choice, but I went with the first one. I mean being a Pats fan in the 70s, 80s, and 90s was so painful. We had the first overall pick in the draft FOUR times in like 15 years. We finally make a Super Bowl, get blown out, and there's a front-page drug story about the team the next day. We finally make a second Super Bowl, and the coach is more worried about his next gig. So for me it's the first one over the Rams.

 

[Kliq]

The Seattle game--I'm too young to REALLY remember the first one and just how shocking of an upset that was, I jus knew the Patriots won the SB but I was only 7 years old.

The Seattle game was important because the Patriots hadn't won in almost a decade and had a bunch of crushing playoff exits, including the two SB losses to the Giants. And not only was it the best game, Seattle to me was EASILY the most unlikeable opponent the Patriots faced in a SB, it was extra sweet to see them melt down.

I mean, it really doesn't get much better than the Sherman face reaction--a mouthy player just getting completely devastated in real time. It's that and John Terry slipping on his PK in the UCL Final in terms of "Greatest Moment of Instant Comeuppance" in sports history.

 

[Bergs]

Seattle was the best game overall, the rebirth of the dynasty and an immediate clap back at the Deflategate bullshit, capped by the greatest defensive play in NFL history. That one.

Nailed it.

 

[Euclis20]

It's pretty hard to beat the 1st time you win a title, and some extra variables (no one saw it coming before the season, massive underdogs heading into the game itself, last second thrilling victory) just clinch it for me. Add in other recent Boston sports history, and it's actually pretty easy. I was 2 when the Celtics won their last title in 1986, which means that for nearly my entire childhood, Boston sports teams won exactly nothing. The Pats first title didn't just kick off their 6 SB dynasty, it was the prelude to a 20 year run that included 12 championships and an insane 32 trips to the semifinals (within 1 game/series of the title) for the local teams. I know the Pats success has nothing to do with the Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins doing well, but it feels like it was the start of something bigger than just the football team.

The Seattle and Atlanta super bowls were objectively better games (probably the Carolina game too), but you just can't beat that first time. Seattle would probably be #2 for me.

 

[mwonow]

The idea of "New England Patriots, Super Bowl Champions" was literally inconceivable before the first one. In fact, coming home after the game, I had to keep walking around the block because I kept repeating "the Patriots are Super Bowl champs" and laughing maniacally, and I thought that inebriated and cackling would be unpopular with the folks asleep at home.

Beyond that, sure, Seattle. But Seattle is different in degree, while the first was different in kind.

 

[Bowhemian]

It's the first one, and it's not even close. There was no way that the New England Patriots could ever win a Super Bowl based on past seasons. NO FUCKING WAY.

The icing on the cake for me was the fact that I was watching the game at a friends house in Maryland. Nothing but Ravens fans around his house. I said at halftime that if the Pats won, I would strip down to my underwear and run around the yard. I did exactly that while screaming "The Patriots won the SUPER BOWL!!" as loud as I could. It was magical-well, for me it was.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

First one and it's not close. That was not supposed to happen. Ever. And it did. Hell, I still have this:

Spoiler

View attachment 70072

Back then, we celebrated THAT.

View: https://i.imgur.com/9vMPV7h.jpeg

 

[pedro1918]

The idea of "New England Patriots, Super Bowl Champions" was literally inconceivable before the first one.

This is undeniably true. But for me, it almost makes it lower on the list. There was an element of flukiness to it. I didn't really appreciate it until after the Panthers victory.

The Seahawks victory was such a middle finger to the rest of the world that it is number 1 for me. Aside from being a great game.

 

[jmcc5400]

Seattle was the best game overall, the rebirth of the dynasty and an immediate clap back at the Deflategate bullshit, capped by the greatest defensive play in NFL history. That one.

Perfectly said. Followed closely by XXXVI for its then-unimaginable implausibility. I'd probably go Carolina, then Atlanta, then Rams II, then Eagles after that.

(That's probably not fair to Atlanta as a game. But I have found the aftermath and "28-3" being rubbed in the face of a beaten-down fanbase a little too close to "1918" for my liking. Our fanbase could stand to act like we've been there before since, you know, we have)

 

[tims4wins]

Perfectly said. Followed closely by XXXVI for its then-unimaginable implausibility. I'd probably go Carolina, then Atlanta, then Rams II, then Eagles after that.

(That's probably not fair to Atlanta as a game. But I have found the aftermath and "28-3" being rubbed in the face of a beaten-down fanbase a little too close to "1918" for my liking. Our fanbase could stand to act like we've been there before since, you know, we have)

In fairness, I think 28-3 is as much of (if not more of) a national joke as it is regional. Everyone references 28-3. Whereas only MFY fans were chanting 1918 to the Sox. It's not like the Orioles fans were chanting that.

 

[Bowhemian]

Perfectly said. Followed closely by XXXVI for its then-unimaginable implausibility. I'd probably go Carolina, then Atlanta, then Rams II, then Eagles after that.

(That's probably not fair to Atlanta as a game. But I have found the aftermath and "28-3" being rubbed in the face of a beaten-down fanbase a little too close to "1918" for my liking. Our fanbase could stand to act like we've been there before since, you know, we have)

I just saw SB recap video on YouTube. Length of the video: 28:03. That, my friend, is perfection.

 

[luckiestman]

Not a fan so didn’t vote but have a real problem with anyone choosing anything other than first one or 28-3.

Seattle is easy 3rd

 

[jmcc5400]

I just saw SB recap video on YouTube. Length of the video: 28:03. That, my friend, is perfection.

Lol. I yield the point.

 

[Mooch]

For me, it's the Seattle game. But Rams II will always be special since I was there with my son.

 

[pedro1918]

Whereas only MFY fans were chanting 1918 to the Sox. It's not like the Orioles fans were chanting that.

This is just a side note, as for the most part I agree with you, but I was at Camden Yards sometime in the 90s when some dude started yelling "1918" at me. I just smiled and he just kept yelling. When he saw that it wasn't bothering he yelled "We've been a team since the 1950s and won three times while the Red Sox have never won and they have been a team since 1918!"

So it was nice to know the guy had no idea what he was talking about.

 

[shoosh77]

Seattle for me. For everything mentioned above, but personally because it was the first one where both my oldest and my father were all together to watch. And as we all realized Butler picked it, turning and seeing my son jumping off the couch into my arms to celebrate will always be a core memory.

 

[Carbo Loading]

It's an easy one for me - I was in attendance in Houston for 28-3. An unforgettable experience.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

The first for me. If you were here for the Before Times you would understand why. It cannot be overstated how much of a joke the Patriots franchise was until then, especially in the wake of the Parcells and then Carroll eras.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

I did not grow up a Bruins or Celtics fan -- Red Sox, Whalers, and Patriots. Did not have an NBA team, though in the Boston v. Philly or LA battles, I rooted for the Celtics mostly. I just didn't care.

Connecticut beating Duke was the first time that a team that I cared about actually won. But college basketball was different -- it wasn't quite the same as having a professional team you follow win a championship.

When Troy Brown made the catch and got out of bounds, I could not believe it. I knew the Patriots were going to win. Despite 1986 and 1975 and the Patriots' mostly futility, I knew that a professional sports team that I actually cared about was going to win a championship. And I couldn't fucking believe it. Never be topped.

 

[ernieshore]

I leaned into my bias and voted the Seattle one - because a week before the game I lucked into game tickets and passes to some of the VIP stuff, and it was a great experience (and for all the reasons mentioned above).

28-3 was amazing too, but the first one is a close second. I was at a party with a group of non-Pats fans and basically ended up celebrating by spinning around on the floor in a state of glee, like Homer Simpson, and then going to a bar and buying drinks for everyone.

View: https://youtu.be/0Yzmap7My4g?si=gZdguJxIZO43uRja

 

[Jimbodandy]

The first will always be my favorite. Wasn't the best game, wasn't the biggest comeback. Wasn't even that huge of a surprise, after gutting out the snow bowl and beating Pittsburgh in their house with two QBs. Like it seemed possible, not Bears 1986 futile, regardless of the point spread. But to do it, to really do it...was gold.

This also...

The first for me. If you were here for the Before Times you would understand why. It cannot be overstated how much of a joke the Patriots franchise was until then, especially in the wake of the Parcells and then Carroll eras.

 

[tims4wins]

The first will always be my favorite. Wasn't the best game, wasn't the biggest comeback. Wasn't even that huge of a surprise, after gutting out the snow bowl and beating Pittsburgh in their house with two QBs. Like it seemed possible, not Bears 1986 futile, regardless of the point spread. But to do it, to really do it...was gold.

This also...

Wait I have to stop you right there. It didn't seem possible to me, not against the Greatest Show on Turf.

 

[lexrageorge]

This one is easy. The Patriots had been, and were always supposed to be, one of the league's laughingstocks. Team ran out of money on multiple occasions and was essentially ready to move to St Louis just a few years previously. Their first Super Bowl appearance was a total embarrassment, and in the 2nd one the entire story was about how there was no way an accomplished and future HoF head coach in Parcells would stay with the joke franchise that is the New England Patriots.

They were supposed to be destroyed by the Steelers in the AFCCG, but they won a fluky game against a team that wasn't as good as its record. Once the matchups were set, the Super Bowl was basically going nothing more than a formality in the coronation of the Greatest Show on Turf, with the Patriots role being relegated to at best respectful guests. Hell, the Pats didn't even know who was going to start against prior winner and MVP Kurt Warner.

When Adam's kick went through the uprights, everyone was like "The New England Fucking Patriots just won the Fucking Super Bowl!!!!!" Nobody in their right mind ever thought that the Pats would win one going into the 2001 season, and again especially after Bledsoe got hurt and yet again after their former 4th string QB threw for all of 86 yards against the Dolphins to fall to 1-3. Although there was one older couple that always bet $100 in Vegas to win the Super Bowl at the start of every season; my guess is they did pretty well.

So, yes, the first. You literally had to be there to appreciate it. But if you were it was simply amazing.

28-3 and "Pass .... is intercepted at the goal line by Malcom Butler!!!!!!!!" deserve honorable mentions, as both were amazing games in their own right. The most amazing comeback of all time and the most amazing play of all time.

 

[8slim]

I can't believe I'm not saying the first one... but it was Seattle.

Don't get me wrong, I lived in a state of stunned disbelief for a solid week after we won SB36. It literally took me days to fully comprehend that the PATRIOTS, my hometown team (I grew up in Foxboro), won the SUPER BOWL.

But that Seattle game was just otherworldly. Cementing the Pats as the greatest dynasty in NFL history, putting to bed all the Spygate bullshit, overcoming yet another impossible catch by an opposing receiver. When Malcom made that pick I grabbed my two kids in each arm and swung them around the living room. Maybe the greatest moment of pure, unfiltered joy I've ever experienced.

 

[8slim]

View: https://i.imgur.com/9vMPV7h.jpeg

Oh man, I remember that 2001 power ranking SO VIVIDLY.

That Sunday night loss to the Rams is when I started to really believe that the team was good. I wouldn't have predicted that we'd never lose again that season, though!

 

[luckiestman]

I can see the argument for Seattle as that was a very dramatic run up and game (maybe the best game) but the first one and the Falcons game are just absolutely mind blowing sporting events.

 

[azsoxpatsfan]

I was too young to appreciate (or fully remember) the first or second. The third I remember, but it felt like my birthright. The two losses destroyed me, and I went to the Seattle game. I will never experience the roller coaster of emotions that I did from the Kearse catch, to Marshawn running it down to what seemed like the one inch line and being so certain that he was going to score, to telling my dad that they should let the Seahawks score, to the utter disbelief and euphoria of the Butler doing it. It’s the Seahawks for me, followed closely by the Falcons

 

[Norm loves Vera]

Agree on the first one Vs Rams. The early years of this milenium were cathartic for us long sufferring Patriot/Red Sox Fans.

 

[ifmanis5]

No doubt that the first one, Malcolm Go Seattle and the comeback against Atlanta are on the top level. And I still wish we had just blown one of these teams out for a coronation win but that never happened and I'm still a bit salty on that. I went with Seattle.

 

[snowmanny]

I’m going with Seattle for all the reasons mentioned. I also think that’s the best team they ever beat in the playoffs. I’m not sure who is second. 2003 Colts? 2004 Steelers? 2001 Rams? 2018 Chiefs?

 

[Nator]

2001. It was the 1st and last Superbowl win while I resided in Massachusetts with my college buddies.

Now. 2003 was may favorite team, but nothing topped the feeling when Vinatieri won that 1st on. It also confirmed Ricky Proehl's prediction that a dynasty was starting that night.

 

[Justthetippett]

The next one!

No, it's Seattle for me, which brought with it the accumulated baggage of both NYG SBs. That was the most elated I've ever been watching sports. The Rams SB is second because it was the first Boston sports championship I can remember. (Too young for the Bird years.) The underdog nature of it also made it seem unreal until the trophy was literally in their hands.

 

[Jimbodandy]

Wait I have to stop you right there. It didn't seem possible to me, not against the Greatest Show on Turf.

I expected to lose too, but we lost to them by a touchdown in the regular season, ended with 5-6 straight wins, and beat two legitimate teams to get there. Snow bowl was weird circumstances, but beating Pitt there wasn't a miracle. I figured that we had a puncher's chance. I wasn't like coming back 0-3 in the ALCS or the Bears juggernaut of 85/86.

 

[Pxer]

28-3 made it a true embarrassment of riches for me. The roller coaster of emotions was unparalleled. The first 4 I watched with 40-50 of my friends/acquaintances, so maybe Pats-Falcons was more intimate because there were 10 of us watching together, but it gave me the most euphoric feeling and is the one I look back on most fondly.

 

[tims4wins]

I expected to lose too, but we lost to them by a touchdown in the regular season, ended with 5-6 straight wins, and beat two legitimate teams to get there. Snow bowl was weird circumstances, but beating Pitt there wasn't a miracle. I figured that we had a puncher's chance. I wasn't like coming back 0-3 in the ALCS or the Bears juggernaut of 85/86.

Pretty much exactly what the Giants probably thought going into the Scottish Game

 

[Toe Nash]

Perfectly said. Followed closely by XXXVI for its then-unimaginable implausibility. I'd probably go Carolina, then Atlanta, then Rams II, then Eagles after that.

(That's probably not fair to Atlanta as a game. But I have found the aftermath and "28-3" being rubbed in the face of a beaten-down fanbase a little too close to "1918" for my liking. Our fanbase could stand to act like we've been there before since, you know, we have)

Nah.

I don't care either way about Atlanta fans but everyone else in the country thought this was the year that they were finally through with Brady and Belichick and that they were going to beat them up and never have to lose to the Patriots again. They thought it would be a laugher and they could spend the 4th quarter taunting everyone they know from Boston or even that it was some kind of rebuttal to Trump being elected. And, it blew up in their faces. That's why that was my favorite win.

In the aftermath I more have noticed 28-3 being used as a "it ain't over till it's over" kind of thing, like holding up the signs for marathon runners at Heartbreak Hill, rather than taunting anyone from Atlanta. But YMMV.

 

[Bowhemian]

Pretty much exactly what the Giants probably thought going into the Scottish Game

TOO SOON!!

 

[cshea]

I often come back to the 2018 AFCCG at Arrowhead as my favorite game of the era. That game was fucking nuts.

 

[tims4wins]

I often come back to the 2018 AFCCG at Arrowhead as my favorite game of the era. That game was fucking nuts.

The Brady pick in the 2nd quarter is what really haunts me about this one, but it's definitely up there.

My favorite game is the 2014 divisional. Down 14-0 and then 28-14, I found myself thinking that they'd never win another title. That it just wasn't meant to be.

 

[runnels3]

Seattle - everything that you listed. I couldn't stop thinking about the game and its ending for weeks, and I'm not much of an NFL fan.

 

[Jimbodandy]

TOO SOON!!

Go Malcolm and 28-3 removed the bad dreams of the Scottish game for me, fwiw.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Seattle was the best game overall, the rebirth of the dynasty and an immediate clap back at the Deflategate bullshit, capped by the greatest defensive play in NFL history. That one.

This is where I am at as well. Though the first one is a very close second.

 

[Ale Xander]

It's the first one, and it's not even close. There was no way that the New England Patriots could ever win a Super Bowl based on past seasons. NO FUCKING WAY.

The icing on the cake for me was the fact that I was watching the game at a friends house in Maryland. Nothing but Ravens fans around his house. I said at halftime that if the Pats won, I would strip down to my underwear and run around the yard. I did exactly that while screaming "The Patriots won the SUPER BOWL!!" as loud as I could. It was magical-well, for me it was.

I agree with your vote, but BB, Bledsoe, Brown, and Law (and Coates and Martin and others) would disagree to your second sentence.