Anger. Rage. Dejection. Trying to describe how I felt after Patriots lost the Super Bowl last night to the Giants (again) is futile. There are no words to describe it. It is very difficult to not sound like a whining baby when I say this, but it just wasn’t fair.
Not only that, but it also just doesn’t make sense. By rights, the best team is supposed to win the Super Bowl. Maybe I was naive to believe that. Because the Giants were not that. Not this year, and not in 2007 either. They got lucky. And they have the Patriots to thank for that. I cannot even count on one hand the missed opportunities from unrecovered fumbles to intentional grounding in the end zone to dropped passes, all of which caused the Patriots yet another Super Bowl at the hands of one Eli Manning. I can’t believe we live in a world where Eli Manning has more Super Bowl rings than Peyton. I’m sorry, but Eli Manning’s story still seems like a fluke to me. Super Bowl rings are not the only measure of quarterback greatness. Look at Dan Marino. Nobody doubts his elite status (the way people doubt E. Manning’s) and yet Marino never won a Super Bowl.
But I’m not here simply to bash Eli Manning. He infuriates me. That is all.
All I want is to see Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the entire Patriots team on top at least once more. Because quite frankly, they deserve it. For all the shit that Tom Brady gets. For all the haters. They deserve it. I only wish everyone could see Brady the way I see him, the way I’ve seen his fight, struggle, determination, competitiveness for eleven years. I thought this time was different because I didn’t cry after the loss. But now that’s shot to hell, after reading this. I hope one day everyone will be able to see Brady and the entire Patriots organization as I see them: classy, team-oriented, and the hardest working. But I’m not naive enough to think that will ever happen.
That being said, no one should go pointing fingers to blame one play, or one person, or one position for the Patriots’ loss. Brady said it best when he said “you win as a team, and you lose as a team.” Yes, Wes Welker had a chance to seal the game in the fourth quarter, and he thinks he “let the team down.” I thought the pass was a bit high. But that doesn’t mean I blame Brady either. That’s football. It’s precise, and it comes down to a few plays. But it is also an accumulation of four quarters. Is it fair that the Eli and the Giants picked up their play in the final minutes of the fourth quarter? Probably not. But life isn’t fair.
Time will only tell if Brady and the Patriots can get back to the Super Bowl and hopefully win another one before all is said and done. I can only hope that they will. I know the fight will never leave this team. And either way, they have already made their mark in the National Football League, and no one can take that away from them.
Aside from all the disappointment, I wanted to say that I feel so incredibly lucky to have friends around the country who think of me when the Patriots lose. It actually means a lot to me because it is, in a way, a personal validation for the type of fan that I am and have been for more than a decade. So thanks, friends.
