Thank you Patriots

dhappy42

Straw Man
Oct 27, 2013
15,725
Michigan
Tough loss for a gutsy team. Came down to two missed extra points, first quarter and last. Both defenses played great.
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
29,053
Alamogordo
Guess I should have posted this here, instead of the goat thread:

Man, this one stung.

But someday, probably sooner than later, the season is going to end after a game in Week 17, with the Pats out of the playoff race and down by 3 scores as the final whistle blows. This is something that has happened for fans of nearly every other team, not just in the NFL but in all of sports, very, very recently.

There are certainly players, units, coaches that deserve a goat for this one, but right now, I just want to sit back an appreciate the fact that, once again, the Patriots were there right to the bitter end, in a game in which they seemed to get outplayed for 60 minutes and yet somehow, someway, found it in themselves to make it seem doable in the end.

I love this team. And I am sad that this season is over.
 

dcmissle

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I don't know that there has been a more resilient bunch almost impossible to kill. Even the preposterous philly game. Never came close to giving up. Extraordinarily mentally tough. No wonder BB loves this edition.
 

Three10toLeft

New Member
Oct 2, 2008
1,560
Asheville, NC
Stating the obvious; this loss sucked. The biggest reason being that we let another chance at a Brady/BB ring slip away.

But I can already feel myself getting over it much quicker than I thought I would. This Patriots team is well poised for one more run, you gotta expect Brady to fall off a cliff soon. Probably not next year, but who knows.

Thank God for Butler and the team last year. I spent the afternoon watching the 3 Games to Glory 4 before the game today. What an incredible ride that was and makes what that team accomplished that much sweeter because of the outcome today.

On to next season.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
22,670
I'm more upset that I will have to sit through annoying press coverage of Manning and the SB than I really am about the loss. Denver came out and beat us soundly. We had some injuries, players didn't play well, but at the end of the team the superior team won, no complaints.

Brady is getting some flak for loss, dropping a duel to Peyton Manning. Outside of the terrible pick that put the defense up against the wall in the second quarter, I thought he played pretty well. That dude is so fucking tough, considering the hits he took and although he is a wonder, he isn't a young guy anymore, and he just kept hanging in there and made some really awesome throws in the 4th quarter. I never, ever, want anyone else to lead this team. Tom Brady is a fucking national treasure.
 

djbayko

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Jul 18, 2005
25,895
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Guess I should have posted this here, instead of the goat thread:

Man, this one stung.

But someday, probably sooner than later, the season is going to end after a game in Week 17, with the Pats out of the playoff race and down by 3 scores as the final whistle blows. This is something that has happened for fans of nearly every other team, not just in the NFL but in all of sports, very, very recently.

There are certainly players, units, coaches that deserve a goat for this one, but right now, I just want to sit back an appreciate the fact that, once again, the Patriots were there right to the bitter end, in a game in which they seemed to get outplayed for 60 minutes and yet somehow, someway, found it in themselves to make it seem doable in the end.

I love this team. And I am sad that this season is over.
I saw this in the other thread and meant to reply. Great post. Great season. Great team.
 

m0ckduck

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Jul 20, 2005
1,714
I've never enjoyed watching a team play football more than I enjoyed the first 7.5 games of this season (I've lived in Europe since 2006, so I didn't get to follow the 2007 squad so closely). Then Dion Lewis got hurt, the injures just cascaded (our top four pass-catching threats injured in sequential games, for god's sake) and the season took on an entirely different, more grim tone. But I'm left with an appreciation for the grind in this team, their mental toughness. 2015 Pats get a spot next to the 87 Celtics and 08 Red Sox as teams that showed real guts in defending the title.
 

TheoShmeo

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Jul 19, 2005
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My most overwhelming feeling about this team is gratitude. You can nitpick individual decisions and presume you might be more right than the greatest coach in professional sports. But in the end, this head coach and this collection of coaches and players have consistently allowed us to root for our team until the end or near end. And really, what more can we ask for?
 

MarcSullivaFan

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Aug 21, 2005
3,412
Hoo-hoo-hoo hoosier land.
This team was resilient as hell and almost pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. I'm bummed but overall will have positive memories of this season. After last year's win I can be philosophical about this; without it, this would be a very bitter loss. But every time we watch that okay for the rest of our lives, Butler will still make the interception.

Just hope that this team has one or two more deep runs left. Not ready for it to be over yet.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Jun 27, 2012
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It's a tough pill to swallow for reasons stated many times on this forum. But I just can't feel anything but gratitude towards Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and so many other of the players and coaches.

The team has played so many super-meaningful football games (32 playoff games or something, not even counting the key regular season games) over the last 15 years. And they almost never get blown out, especially in important games. As a result, we have a whole string of super-painful losses to accompany the incredible wins. But thank God for the incredible wins.
 

grimshaw

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May 16, 2007
4,220
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They just keep trolling the league.
No Revis or Browner? The secondary doesn't miss a beat.
No Vereen complementing Blount? Deon Lewis for a fraction of the cost and even more effectiveness from the position.

Denver was the better team, but this was a Super Bowl caliber product through and through with a healthy roster and just as good as any they have put out there over the past 15 seasons. It is mind boggling how the organization does it year after year with rosters as good as or less talented than this one with no rebuilding, unfavorable draft positioning, and (now) a commissioner and network out to get them.

I hope the loss of the #1 draft pick isn't the beginning of the end with Brady approaching 40, but we will never see this regional run of dominance again in our lifetime for any sport.
 
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nivek

New Member
Dec 20, 2015
15
You guys are spot on with so many of the comments. I remembered vividly the Victor Kiam days. As fans it is good to hear the appreciation towards the organization.
 

MillarTime

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Oct 31, 2013
1,338
A-fucking-men. They fought for 60 minutes and showed a ton of guts on a day when they played terribly. Love this team.

Congrats to Broncos - they were certainly the better team yesterday.
 

Mooch

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Jul 15, 2005
4,494
This defense has the potential to be really special in the next couple of seasons. That performance in the second half was nothing short of dominant, holding the Broncos to under 100 yards and eating Manning's lunch. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Brady get to another Super Bowl carried by the defense in the next 2-3 years.
 

lexrageorge

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Jul 31, 2007
18,096
Agree with the spirit and premise of this thread. The loss hurts because a win would have put Brady into a 7th SB appearance; instead, Manning gets to play in his 4th.

But, the team has a lot to be proud of. Despite all the problems on the offense, they fought all the way to the bitter end and gave a very good defense all they could handle on their home turf. When Manning loses, he blames it on the "idiot kicker"; when Brady loses, he blames it on himself. This season is an example of how hard it is to consistently win in the NFL season after season. Consider that New England was the only team from last year's Final Four that even played in this season's penultimate weekend.

I remember when the 2009 team came to an inglorious end in a debacle of a playoff game against the Ravens. I hated that team; or more accurately, some of the players (and coaches) on that team. The defense was in a very clear decline, and it wasn't at all clear if it would get fixed by the time Brady's run ended. Offensively, they had no running game and their best receiver had suffered what could had been a career ending knee injury, and their 2nd best receiver had started to sulk. Since then, there's been five trips to the AFCCG, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Malcolm Butler inspired Lombardi. Fans of most teams would take that.
 

Al Zarilla

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Dec 8, 2005
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It's a tough pill to swallow for reasons stated many times on this forum. But I just can't feel anything but gratitude towards Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and so many other of the players and coaches.

The team has played so many super-meaningful football games (32 playoff games or something, not even counting the key regular season games) over the last 15 years. And they almost never get blown out, especially in important games. As a result, we have a whole string of super-painful losses to accompany the incredible wins. But thank God for the incredible wins.
Is it that when a team plays at such a really high level for so long that the losses, say season ending ones, that do occur, are really hard to take? In other words, we get to the point that we don't expect them ever not complete the whole deal?
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Dec 10, 2003
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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
This was a fun ride, but different than most Pats teams that get stronger once the weather gets colder. That late season dip, effected largely by injuries, had my optimism low, but it was rising after the Chiefs game. I love the future of this team on the defensive side of the ball. I hope Brady ages slow.

To put it in perspective, there are 11 month old kids out there that have never seen a Patriots Super Bowl. That's it. My kids have seen 4. Can't complain.
 

PayrodsFirstClutchHit

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Jun 29, 2006
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The trade-off for supporting a team that is always in contention is the gut punch feeling when the season ends. This was another year with a legit shot at winning it all. Missing out on that happy ending is tough knowing there are only a finite number of these opportunities left in the Brady/BB era.

I do not expect sympathy from fans of teams that struggle, but there is a emotional toll when the end comes so abruptly when the team is so close to achieving the ultimate goal.

I am ready for the 2016 Pats edition. Let's roll.
 
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gingerbreadmann

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Mar 11, 2008
750
Good stuff in this thread. I haven't even opened the Game Goat thread and I think it will take a while before that happens. The elevated stakes the Pats always find themselves in magnify every loss like this just because the opportunity cost is inevitably a Super Bowl victory. Broncos deserved it, yet it was still right within our grasp, and now the window shuts another inch. That's the hardest part to swallow.

Still, it's refreshing to see the perspective on display here. I've learned a lot from watching these guys for 16 years and feel more equipped than ever to cope with this kind of loss. The Patriots are resilient, prepared, talented, motivated, aware, and act with conviction at a rate approaching 100% of the time. This year especially, they were on a mission (at least in our eyes) to exact poetic justice on the rest of their world.

What I have come to appreciate in years past is that even when all of those things are true, it's very often not going to be good enough. What I think I appreciate a little more today is that even when it's not good enough, that has no reflection on the pure awesomeness of it all. We've seen a machine position itself better than anyone else in the history of the sport to achieve ultimate victory every single year, and we've learned repeatedly how futile of a task that is.

But, god damn, just step back and take a look at that machine. It's a sight to behold.
 

DourDoerr

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There's not a more misunderstood team in the league despite the nonstop coverage. The gulf between other fans' perspectives and what Pats fans see on a week to week basis is enormous. While they're viewed as cheaters elsewhere, we see a team that doesn't headhunt, doesn't make excuses, and doesn't showboat. Precisely the values that everyone pretends to covet.

The team that best represents those values - the team that I'm proud and happy to follow - is right here in New England. Go Pats in 2016/17.
 

cornwalls@6

Less observant than others
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Apr 23, 2010
6,247
from the wilds of western ma
Great thread. Perfectly encapsulates why I love this team. And it basically puts the right perspective bow on this season. Unlike the losses to Baltimore in 2012 and Denver in 2013, I feel no anger, no fear and loathing. Just admiration for how hard they fought their asses off this year, despite major distractions and challenges on a couple of fronts. They're young, other than a still playing on a very high level Brady, and I fully expect them to be competing deep into January again next year.
 

MrBoston1281

New Member
Nov 27, 2015
11
North Carolina
I don't normally like commenting on message boards like this, but I love coming here to reading the shit you guys say. When the Patriots or Sox lose this place really helps get over it. In losses like this it's important to remember that the Patriots will never have a run of success like this again, and I just want to thank
Kraft
Belichick
And finally Brady
For the greatest sports memories!!
 

54thMA

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Aug 15, 2012
10,154
Westwood MA
What a disappointment.

Had a bad feeling all week long leading up to the game, Denver is this teams house of horrors, Brady was 2-6 there prior to yesterday, 0-2 in the playoffs, now he's 2-7, 0-3.

Team just looked out of whack the whole game, yet despite everything, they sacked up and got within 2 points of forcing overtime.

If Brady had another split second, he sees Gronk open in the back of the end zone, what a nut punch.

Damn proud to be a fan of this team, been so since 1968, they were a laughing stock for a long time, one horrible season after another, but I hung in there. The past 15 years have made it all worthwhile; 13 AFC East titles, no losing seasons, 10 trips to the AFCCG, 6 trips to the Super Bowl, 4 wins. Just an incredible run in the salary cap era.

As a lifelong Boston sports fan, this is the greatest run I've ever seen and it's far from over; no doubt they'll be favored in the AFC again next year.

This team plays the game the right way; no cheap shot artists, no choreographed celebrations after touchdowns, no one running their mouths before games. As far as the Deflategate and Spygate nonsense; haters gonna hate, it's all white noise to me, used to bother me, but not anymore.

Not bad for a team with a coach who got run out of Cleveland on a rail and a 6th round draft pick for a QB.

"We're on to the off season."
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
47,090
I had that same bad feeling. Of course, most of it was ref-based and stopping the run, neither of which materialized. Was concerned with the OL but not overly so since we had been pretty good protecting Brady in recent Broncos matchups. This game was basically like SB42 to me (not in terms of my angst after the game) in that I feel we win 6 or 7 out of 10 times but that one unit just crapped the bed and submarined the whole season.

In the end, though, love watching this team and knowing that they'll be right back in the thick of things. And when the time comes for Brady to go and a few lean years arrive, I'm confident they'll draft well and get back to being a good team in relatively short order.

I will say this - it will be incredibly weird to see this team with someone else at QB and head coach.
 

Erik Hanson's Hook

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Jun 20, 2013
1,079
I'm more upset that I will have to sit through annoying press coverage of Manning and the SB than I really am about the loss.
This is pretty much were I am. I won't be able to stand the ballwashing. What gets me is that those who truly know the game, know that Manning isn't good anymore. Yet he's going to be fellated for two weeks.

But anyways, back to gratitude. I know a lot of my posts can fly off the handle (mostly alcohol-induced), but every Sunday for the past 15 years, this team has had me waking up on Sundays thinking "We're probably gonna win today". Shit, can you imagine rooting for any other team? How depressing.

The defense looks strong, and despite the shitshow on Sunday, I actually like the young interior o-line, with Jackson, Stork/Andrews, and Mason. Get a tackle to back up the corpse of Vollmer, and let's goooo.
 

kartvelo

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We have been (and still are) fortunate to be Boston sports fans during these years.

I wanted to share this somewhere, and since I'm posting,... this is just off the Middleboro rotary. I did a double-take the first time I saw it.

 

DaveRoberts'Shoes

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Nov 1, 2005
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I want to avoid any and all coverage because it still stings but I keep checking in because I really loved this team and don't want it to end.

Dammit.
 

dcmissle

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Aug 4, 2005
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I want to avoid any and all coverage because it still stings but I keep checking in because I really loved this team and don't want it to end.

Dammit.
Going into day three of almost total news blackout. Check PFT.com and come in here to read and chat.

That's it. Period. Nothing Boston based, nothing national, no NFLN and certainly no four letter.

It works.
 

djbayko

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Jul 18, 2005
25,895
Los Angeles, CA
Tom Brady: "Thank you, Patriots fans"



"...as I've learned, the road to the next one is paved by seasons like this one!"

Don't we know that all too well.
 

scotian1

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Jul 19, 2005
16,324
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In the Brady era, 12 AFC Championships including the last 7 straight, 6 Super Bowl appearances with 4 wins in the big one. Every year we fans now expect great things. We are spoiled to say the least. This team has delivered great moments for well over a decade and I thank Mr. Kraft, Jonathan, BB, Brady and all the other coaches and players for giving us so much enjoyment as fans.
 

dcmissle

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Spoiled is a truism, but we were terminally spoiled 2001 through 2004. Those playoff runs were ridiculous, at the very beginning, and created the expectation that they would do their job every time out and that this = rings.

It's so goddamn hard to win a ring. Look how long Denver has waited for another since Elway went back to back.