The finish line

By Mike Batista

Steelahs.com

February 8, 2008

Who did the Patriots think they were, anyway?

I received permission from myself to take this quote from my previous column:

“The Patriots are the unquestioned Team of the Decade. But that’s not good enough for Belichick and the Boys. They want to be perfect. The 1972 Dolphins were perfect, but that was before the 16-game schedule. It was before the era of parity that has made the NFL the most popular sports league in the history of our culture. Every Super Bowl winner of the last 35 years has had to deal with at least one loss. It builds character. It also shows that the checks and balances of that precious parity are in proper working order.”

Before losing to the Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots thought they were above the law of “Any Given Sunday.” Yes, they were seconds away from finishing a perfect 19-0. But they also came within a hair of losing during the regular season. It might have been the best thing for them if they had lost. The challenge of winning the Super Bowl combined with the burden of perfection proved too much for the Patriots. In this day and age, trying to get through an NFL season without a loss is like a boxer trying to get through a 12-round fight without a scratch.

It’s also like a runner trying to win the Boston Marathon by leading from start to finish. You’re not a sports fan if you haven’t heard the words “It’s a marathon, not a sprint” as a metaphor for a professional sports season. But it’s more than just a tired cliché. It’s true. A marathon course is too demanding, and there are too many elite runners for a competitor to be able to win without seeing someone in front of him at some point. The best strategy to win a marathon is to hang back, draft off the other runners, break your stride to get some water once in a while, then make your move. It’s grueling, just like the NFL season. Every team that has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy has had a day of reckoning, a time during the season when winning the Super Bowl didn’t seem likely.

Let’s take a look at all of the Super Bowl champions since the Patriots won their first one in 2001.

Giants, Super Bowl XLII: They started out 0-2, with the defense giving up a combined 80 points in the first two games. How do you like that defense now? Nobody believed in Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning. There were ugly home losses to the Vikings and Redskins later in the season. Then they decided to actually challenge the Patriots’ perfection in Week 17. They lost, but it turned out to be a springboard to success in the playoffs. Nobody’s doubting Coughlin and Manning now.

Colts, Super Bowl, XLI: They learned the hazards of flirting with perfection in 2005, when they started out 13-0. Like the Patriots this year, they were the obvious frontrunners in the Super Bowl chase that year. Nobody caught up with them until the Steelers upset them in the playoffs, and there’s no such thing as recovering from a playoff loss. In 2006, however, the Colts emerged from the pack to win the Super Bowl. Late in the season, they lost 44-17 at Jacksonville and 27-24 at Houston. Because of those defeats, they lost out on a first-round bye. But then they beat the Chiefs at home in the wild-card game, Adam Vinatieri kicked five field goals in a 15-6 win at Baltimore, then they had their memorable comeback against the Patriots in the AFC championship game, winning 38-34. Quick! Who did they beat in the Super Bowl? C'mon, admit it. I bet some of you forgot for a minute who the Colts beat in the Super Bowl last year. Cue the Joepardy music. ... OK, it was the Bears.

Steelers, Super Bowl XL: I think everyone on this site knows the story. The Steelers lost three games in a row to fall to 7-5 in early December. But they didn’t lose again. They had to win their last four regular-season games to get into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed. Then like the Giants this season, they won three straight on the road in the playoffs. Their 21-18 upset of the Colts in the divisional playoffs put the NFL on alert that they were a Super Bowl-caliber team. They rode that momentum to a rout of the Broncos at Denver in the AFC championship game, then beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl to get that long-awaited One for the Thumb. (Click here to see why I think it might be a while before the Steelers win another Super Bowl.)

Patriots, Super Bowl XXXIX: They were 14-2, but their regular season wasn’t without some adversity, including a 34-20 loss in Pittsburgh that ended their 21-game winning streak. Then late in the season, they were upset 29-28 by the lowly Dolphins on a Monday night. But it was the Steelers who peaked too early in 2004. Perfection wasn’t a possibility because they lost to the Ravens in Week 2. That’s when Ben Roethlisberger replaced Tommy Maddox and led them to 15 straight wins. But the Patriots had an answer for the rookie quarterback and the Steelers in the AFC championship game before beating the Eagles in the Super Bowl.

Patriots, Super Bowl XXXVIII: The hardship came early in the season for the Patriots in 2003. They cut former Pro Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy days before the season started. The Bills scooped up Milloy and pounded the Patriots 31-0 in the season opener. The Patriots lost to the Redskins in Week 4 to drop to 2-2. But they didn’t lose again. The Panthers were their Super Bowl victims.

Buccaneers, Super Bowl XXXVII: They got their punch in the mouth from the Steelers in the second-to-last week of the regular season. At the time, the Steelers and Buccaneers had about as heated a rivalry as two interconference teams could have. Lee Flowers, a Steelers safety, publicly referred to the Bucs as “paper champions.” He and the Steelers backed it up on a Monday night in Tampa, beating them 17-7. They certainly made them look like paper champions. But the very next week, the Bucs overcame their storied cold-weather curse, closing out the regular season with the franchise’s first win in sub-40 degree weather, 15-0 at Chicago. Then they did it again in the NFC championship game, winning 27-10 at Philadelphia before going on to beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl.

Patriots, Super Bowl XXXVI: They faced all kinds of hurdles on the way to winning their first Super Bowl. They started out 0-2. The Jets’ Mo Lewis hit Drew Bledsoe so hard he sheared one of the quarterback’s blood vessels. Sixth-round draft pick Tom Brady took over. After falling 24-17 to the Rams at home to drop to 5-5, the Patriots didn’t lose again. They had their asses saved by the Tuck Rule in the divisional playoffs against the Raiders. Then Vinatieri sent that game into overtime with a line-drive, 45-yard field goal in the snow, a play almost as breathtaking as Eli Manning’s escape and David Tyree’s catch six years later (The Slip & Grip?). Vinatieri kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime. From there, the Patriots exploited the Steelers’ Stonehenge special teams units in the AFC championship game, videotaped the Rams’ final walkthrough the day before the Super Bowl, and a dynasty was born.

Now, that dynasty might be over. Three different teams have won Super Bowls since the Patriots won their last one. That’s what I call parity.