The Patriots Superbowl Loses Ranked by Pain Level

Giants, Hubris, Rout

Giants, Hubris, Offensive Drought

      I’ll say it again, after saying it on social media, that Superbowl loss sucked. Watching your team lose the Superbowl is never fun. And as a Patriots fan old enough, I have now watched my team lose the big game more than any other team has. So I have thoughts and feelings about all of this.

      While losing blows, that loss was not nearly as painful as the others. Not at all as painful. This was in fact the least painful Superbowl loss I have witnessed. They won 4 games last year. They won 4 games the year before. They were legitimately on both the QB and Coaching carousels. Having had a different starting QB and different Head Coach for three straight seasons. Next season will be the first time they brought back the same Head Coach and same starting QB since Brady left in 2019. That is Jets and Dolphins level of disfunction. This run was an amazing underdog run even if Massholes like me thought we were going to win.

      Let’s start the countdown, with the most recent one being the least painful.

      ‘25 SB 60 This one did not hurt that much. When placed in context it won’t hurt at all if they can get back in the next coupe years. This game was much closer than the monday morning QB’s will admit. The team had been struggling for years, and the Pats are built for the long haul more so than the NFL is ready for. These made this loss sting less. I can’t be too mad or upset about this loss.

      This loss also leaves me hopeful. We all saw the issues. A young QB who lost his touch for a bit and a young OL that could not handle one of the best four man rushes in the game. A defense that was good, but that could not get the job done. They came close to sacking Darnold so often. They came close to picking him off so often. They came close to forcing a punt so often. But those four FG’s added up and was just too much to overcome. The points not only allowed the Seahawks to relax a bit and play with the lead, but it also meant that their offense was making some headway. This wore the Patriots down and lead right to the SB MVP running all over them in the 4th quarter.

      The Patriots D was close in the first half. One sack, one INT, one 3rd down stop, or one blocked FG and this game changes. Their D, which had made game changing plays all season, was not able to do so when needed to in the first half. Their D needed one more play. We’ll hear that line again soon.

      ‘17 SB 52 The Sad Malcom Butler game. In a game where the difference was the Pats needing one more stop on defense, maybe having Malcom Butler in there would have helped. This loss was on coaching Hubris. This one really was the beginning of Belichick’s fall from grace. This is where even the most die-hard fans were left wondering what happened and why did it happen. The fact that BB still refuses to discuss it is part of why some Pats fans are gladly shitting on his legacy. This Bill Parcells level of arrogance was always a part of BB, but it had never manifested itself to a point where it cost us on the biggest stage. Until this game.

      ‘11 SB 46 The Giants again?!? Fuck. This one hurts. This was a chance for redemption, to make up a little bit for the imperfect season. This could have been our Superbowl V. Where the Colts found some redemption for the huge upset loss tot he Jets in SB III. The Patriots failed to redeem themselves. Failed to avenge one of the biggest upsets in sports. This win puts Eli in the HoF. (IT BETTER. You are nuts to say otherwise.) This felt like the nadir between the two ends of the Dynasty and had me wondering if we had seen our last SuperBowl win.

      ‘85 SB20 I was ten, this felt like the end of the world. My parents were at the game and we got humiliated worse than any other team in SuperBowl history. I knew what an underdog run it was so I had no illusions of them ever making it back. My dad and a couple of his brothers had season tickets and I was lucky enough to go to a few games in the years prior. I had heard my dad and my uncles talk about how badly the team was run. I was somewhat aware of the Michael Jackson incident. One of those unbelievable stories.

      My dad swears that had Pats TE Lin Dawson not broken his leg on the first drive the Pats had a chance to win. The game had started exactly as they wanted it to. Walter Payton had fumble and the PAts were moving the ball down the field. Dawson breaks his leg and they got a fg. But if Dawson stays healthy, they got up 7-0 and the Bears don’t get an early chance to tee off on Eason. The Pats can stick to their running game, a massive strength of theirs and wait for their Defense or Special Teams to get another turnover. This is how they ran through the AFC playoffs that year and how they went on the seven game win streak that got them to SuperBowl 20.

      ‘96 SB 31 Pure Hubris. Fuck Bill Parcels. This guy threw a Superbowl because he was butthurt. He was already off to his next job. The Pats lost on basically two good kick returns. Ask yourself if special teams lapses are something Bill Parcels was known for as a HC. They weren’t. One of his strengths was treating ST like an equal part of the game. Losing a game on special teams performance is all the sign I need that Parcells was not 100% in on the game. I have not and will not forgive him for this. Even if Kraft has. (aside: I am glad Kraft swallowed his pride and it still did not get him into Canton. I hate Pqrcells that much.)

      What makes this loss suck more is how much it validated Brett Favre’s career. This is lower on the list because without this loss, we don’t get the Dynasty. Kraft and Belichick learned a lot from the Parcells fiasco. Alignment between the Owner, the Front Office, and Head Coach is a key ingredient to winning. It was instrumental to the dynasty era. Kraft and Belichick were on the same page from the go and everything else flowed from that.

      I hate the people that give credit to Parcels for the dynasty roster. They forget how 96 happened. Parcels wanted to shop for some of the groceries. He was mad about how little roster control he had. So why are we giving him credit for something he was mad about not having? This is how Belichick got full control. Kraft realized that the there needed to be better coordination between the front office and the Head Coach, so he let BB be the HC and made his have a guy under him that was in charge of player/personnel. Kind of like having the GM be at the OC/DC level of the org tree. And as long as that guy pushed back no BB and BB respected him then the setup worked great.

      ‘07 SB 42 Not many loses are going to hurt more than this. The Red Sox in 86 was brutal. The Celt’s losing in 85 was a lost ring, but somehow this was the worst of the worst. Spygate, the 11th hour Randy Moss news, the BS non-holding call on that ridiculous catch. Everything leading up to that game and that game was pain.

      Kudos again to the Giant’s, they did what the Seahawks did this past Superbowl, used a very effective 4 man rush to stifle an otherwise very good offense. There really is not much you can do when the other team can pressure the QB with only a 4 man rush. It leaves too many people in coverage, it allows them to keep a spy on a mobile QB, it lets the linebackers and safeties to play free. It is almost a cheat and the Pats have lost ¼ of all the SB’s they played in to this type of defense. IT is hard to copy, or everyone would do it, but come playoff time, if you have the personnel, it is lethal.

      The worst part about this was seeing Mercury Morris on TV every week on ESPN. Letting his loud mouth of the hook is something I’ll never be able to forget. I know, don’t speak ill of the dead, but if isn’t trash talking. This was also where I fell in love with the Puppy Bowl. It was a part of my life before this, but after this game, those silly puppies helped me cry myself to sleep that night.

      Like Brett Favre holding the record for the most INT’s thrown, the Pats hold the record for most SB loses. I say this to keep my fellow Pats fans humble, and to assure the haters that things aren’t are awful as they may feel they are with the Pat’s being back.

      But know they are back, and let that bother you, because you should not have everything come together that fast. The coach, the QB, the competition falling apart. Everything has fallen into their lap and yu better hope they don’t get back to that game soon.