DEFEAT AND DISAPOINTMENT: THE 2007 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday’s AFC Championship 38-34 loss to the Colts has taken a place atop the mountain of Boston sports misery and it will shine down upon us for some time to come.
The Patriots losing a playoff game is disappointing but not really all that unbelievable or earth shattering, no matter how good previous efforts have been. The NFL playoffs are a one and done situation. “Any Given Sunday” any NFL team can defeat another, no matter how dominant one appears to be over the other. On top of that the Patriots were 3 point underdogs coming off a mentally and physically draining game in San Diego, going into Indianapolis where the Colts were undefeated. In that respect the loss shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than last year’s defeat in Denver was or the fact that they missed the playoffs all together in 2002. Sure this was the AFC Championship, but the loss should have been seen as a disappointing ending to a season amidst the Golden Age of New England football. Instead the near miss and appearance of a blown opportunity at the Super Bowl leaves an everlasting imprint in the history of Boston sports.
The 2006-07 Patriots were really over-achievers. As were the 2001-02 version. Only this time it was coming down from 3 Super Bowls in 5 years, rather than the march of an underdog. Age and intercepted players took their toll on the roster, and while fans were screaming about the departed Deion Branch and Adam Vinatieri, these Patriots were making due with wide receivers from the Island of Misfit Toys and a rookie kicker who had a harder name to spell than our previous one: Gostkowski. But they still made it work.
Had the Patriots defeated the Colts Sunday and defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI, they would have tied the Pittsburgh Steelers mark of 4 titles in 6 years. Although they didn’t achieve that, hasn’t the Patriots four AFC Championship game appearances and 3 Super Bowl wins already reached above and beyond that Steelers mark? Those Steelers teams of the ‘70s stayed intact from top to bottom, for the most part, during that entire run. Where as the only constants during the Patriots run have been Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Troy Brown, Teddy Bruschi, Matt Light, Mike Vrabel, Richard Seymour and that’s about it. The Patriots have lost coaches, players, would-be Hall of Famers, record holders and team leaders, and through it all they’ve plugged the holes, preached teamwork and were the only team in the NFL to have at least one playoff win the last 4 seasons. For my money what the Patriots have done in the Salary Cap Era makes the accomplishment that much more impressive.
Yet Sunday’s loss rests atop the mountain of Boston sports misery. It wasn’t an understandable blow out 4-0 series sweep by an far better team like the 1988 or 1990 Bruins experienced. It was a similar lost opportunity at Championship greatness to be sure, but the 21-6 lead at half, the 3 point lead with under 4 minutes and only a 3rd and 4 standing between them and Miami, is what really cuts deep. This patchwork team and its genius coach were just about to pull of what truly would have been the NFL version of the Impossible Dream. Instead, because of the manner in which it happened, the 2007 AFC Championship game now ranks with the 1978 Playoff that featured Bucky “F-ing” Dent; Game 6 of the 1986 World Series and Billy Buck’s boner; Magic Johnson’s “baby-hook” in Game 5 of the 1987 NBA Finals; Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s Middleweight title loss to “Sugar” Ray Leonard, also in 1987; and more recently Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS loss to the Yankees for all time “slipped through their fingers and left a hole in your heart” disappointment.
For now it sits at the top of the mountain and it will stay there…Until next season, when they pull some magic out of the helmet, and make a run at it again.