By Ron Borges
GLENDALE, AZ. – Nobody’s perfect, except the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
That is the sad reality the New England Patriots woke up to this morning, hours after being upset by the far from perfect New York Giants, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII. The Perfect Patriots had been beaten. Hold up that parade. Cancel that book the Boston Globe had already begun to produce for profit about perfection in pads.
For perhaps the first time since the reign of the Patriots began, everyone had gotten ahead of themselves. That included beleaguered head coach Bill Belichick, who wandered out onto the field at University of Phoenix Stadium one second too soon to exchange handshakes with his old friend, Tom Coughlin.
The game was over but one second remained on the clock. The rule states that if there is time left a final play must be run, even if it is meaningless. Bill Belichick ignored the rules, both the written and the unwritten, which is apparently not a first for him.
When he realized what he had done, as the game officials tried to restore order and get the team’s lined up for what everyone knew would simply be a kneel down by Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning, Belichick turned and stalked off the field. Maybe the officials hadn’t heard but the rules don’t apply to him and, apparently, neither do the traditions of a game he professes to love. A coach does not abandon his team before the final gun. But he did.
One of his star players, Randy Moss, was pilloried a couple of years ago from coast to coast for stalking off the field in the same fashion with seconds left on the clock rather than stay and watch a meaningless attempt at an on-side kick fail. He was ripped for being a bad teammate and a poor sport. Wonder what those same sportswriters and commentators will say about his coach, who did the same thing Sunday night.
Character, or lack of same, is often revealed most clearly by how one reacts to defeat. For the most part Bill Belichick’s players reacted as you would have expected. They showed that they were the same people they’d always been. So was their coach.
Certainly this was a bitter defeat, the depths of which cannot really be understood by anyone but the team that experienced it Sunday night. Weeks ago their owner, speaking like the fan he used to be sitting in section 120, said if they did not win the Super Bowl the year would have been a failure. If it’s a failure to go 18-1 and lose the Super Bowl in the final seconds then the word needs to be re-defined.
This season was no failure. Nor should it be considered a disappointment. It did not end as the team and its fans had hoped but what happened Sunday night was that one gallant team was beaten, barely, by another. The Giants did what Belichick had so often said his team had done in victory. They made a few more plays. Not many but enough.
As for the Patriots, all that happened to them was that they lost the last game. They didn’t lose the “ultimate game,’’ as some call the Super Bowl every year, because if they had there would be no more Super Bowls and I can assure you the bean counters and the suits who run the NFL want no part of that.
All that happened was, in stirring fashion, one of the greatest teams eve assembled had been nipped at the wire. Sure they lost the biggest game of the season but so what? They had struggled and fought and given their fans no end of thrills and excitement all year. They did it right to the end. They were not perfect but who is? Maybe, in some ways, that is a reminder we all could use. Perfect? Who is?
The young Giants (and some of the old Giants as well) played like a young Patriot team had seven years earlier, when this all began. Every role had been reversed from the time when the Patriots were the underdogs and the St. Louis Rams came into the Super Bowl with the greatest offense ever assembled. Now the Giants were the Patriots and the Patriots were the Rams.
That night in New Orleans seven years ago New England’s defense, perhaps with an assist from Kodak, derailed the finest offense ever built, wining on the final play when Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal that made them world champions for the first time.
These many years later, the Patriots were the team with the unstoppable offense. The Giants were the little defense that could, and so we all were reminded again that one of the things we love about sports is that we never know the outcome. Pundits can make bold predictions and fans can be cocksure that their team is unbeatable but no one is. Except those ’72 Dolphins, who remain the only NFL team to go through an entire Super Bowl season undefeated.
Excuses will be made for what happened by apologists and toddies. Blame will be laid here and there. Some will try to argue it was a Senator from Pennsylvania or a fired former employee who used to stand behind a video camera who caused the Patriots to become unglued. None of it will be true.
The Patriots lost because the Giants played better than they did. Not a lot better. Just good enough. That’s all that happened. It doesn’t mean New England doesn’t have a team to be proud of because it does. Give ‘em a parade any way because 18-1 is something to celebrate too. Or at least it should be.
Just because you don’t win the last game doesn’t mean all the games you did win are meaningless. It doesn’t mean your season is a failure or you are because someone else made a few critical plays. People who come to that kind of conclusion need help and not from a football team.
If you were proud of the Patriots at 6 p.m. Sunday night, as you should have been, you should have been just as proud of them at 11 p.m. They lost a game by then but they never lost heart. They lost a game by then but they didn’t defeat themselves. They lost a game by then but they came from behind and took the lead with time running out, forcing the Giants to beat them if they were going to be world champions.
The Giants did, so hats off to them. They did it because a guy caught a ball despite perfect coverage by Rodney Harrison and another guy bulled his way forward for a first down when both teams were near exhaustion and because a wide receiver who’d been shutdown all night made a play in the final seconds that answered another receiver who’d been shut down all day who had just made one himself.
So the Patriots lost the game. The Big Game, if you will. That doesn’t make them losers. It just makes them unlucky. This time, for the first time, they couldn’t quite get it done. Despite all they accomplished this season, some people will say that one defeat made their 18-0 season meaningless. They didn’t leave with the trophy so they didn’t accomplish anything in the eyes of the few who have lost sight of what athletics are supposed to be about.
Because you don’t win the last game doesn’t make you a loser. All it means is you didn’t win this particular big game.
To that, I say, so what?
The Buffalo Bills lost four straight Super Bowls once. It was one of the greatest achievements in football history. To go back again and again and again in the face of all that disappointment said much about them and everything it said was good.
Would they have rather won one Super Bowl then get to four? Sure, but that team was a great team. It didn’t need a Lombardi Trophy to prove that.
So is the 2007 New England Patriots. They didn’t have to win the last game to prove that.
Would they have rather been 17-2 and world champions? Sure, but that’s not what happened. What happened was on one Sunday in February somebody played a little better than they did.
So what?
11 responses so far ↓
1 baby armed assassin // Feb 4, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Again with the “there are no losers” stilted thinking. It’s a result oriented business, like most businesses are. The ivory tower which you worked in for several decades before leaving under what we’ll call a cloud of suspicion and controversy, doesn’t work that way. That’s partly why newspapers are going out of business.
Of course this post has back fired on me because I’ve made you 1/64 of a penny closer to becoming a successful web entrepeneur.
2 cblooz // Feb 4, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Well Ron the fact of the matter is most of us are disappointed-we all said it before the game that if they lost this game it would be an incomplete season and its totally natural to feel this way despite what you think. Maybe when the reality of it all sets in we will feel differently but since you have admitted to me in the past in an email that you don’t care whether the Pats win or lose then you have no idea how most FANS feel today.
It takes nothing away from the Giants-they beat this team fair and square and the Patriots have no one to blame but themselves-completing a couple of plays towards the end of that game and we are all talking differently today but incredible tenacity by the Giants won the game and they deserve to be champs.
And you know Ron despite what you think since you believe you are smarter than us-listen to sports radio today. Even your favorite show on EEI is giving all the credit to the Giants and for once questioning the coaching of this game which absolutely should be examined. The majority of the callers feel the same and I for one was appalled at the lack of class some Patriots showed after the go ahead TD with 3:30 left on the clock.
Its a disappointing season today and still will be 5 years from now-they achieved some incredible goals but to suggest they don’t have a bitter taste in their mouth after two consecutive years of painful playoff losses is ridiculous. Honestly Ron how many Bill fans thump their chest with pride in a crowded bar that their team went to four straight Superbowls and lost?
3 Ron Borges // Feb 4, 2008 at 4:23 pm
“Baby” is the right name for you. I didn’t say there were no losers. i said they had a great season. If the only team that can have a great season is the one who wins the final game then there’s an awful lot of disappointment and misery and not much fun in sports. As for attacking me, have a nice day. I did.
4 Ron Borges // Feb 4, 2008 at 4:32 pm
C, take a deep breath and relax. yes they got beat and actually i do understand disappointment. after all, I grew up a red sox fan. But I wonder about patriot fans. when the Pats win a close game and the other team talks about a play here or a play there and they would have won they get ridiculed. If the score goes the other way, Pats fans are STILL saying they were one play away from getting to the Super bowl a year ago. Well, the Chargers could have said the same and more with that interception that Troy Brown turned into a fumble recovery with tremendous play. So this “one or two plays” nonsense applies in damn near every game played in the NFL and thus is somewhat meaningless.
You are right about the classlessness shown by a few, including the coach running to the locker room and leaving his team on the sidelines with a second to go. “Abandon ship” came to mind but “women and children first” did not. So it goes. Maybe he had to go get some film developed. It was a great and exciting game and I hope it doesn’t truly take you five years to get over it. Pats fans need to learn that their team doesn’t have some god-given right to win every game. Although they came as close as you can this year, for which they should be applauded not looked upon as losers. If, as “Baby boy” suggests, that’s stilted thinking then they might as well just shut sports down because it’s certainly not teaching anyone the lessons it should be.
5 Geoff in NB // Feb 4, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Hey Ron,
Good article. The Pats and their fans have a lot to be proud about. Fans should heed the advice of coaches and players, and “take it one game at a time.” All those good performances and memories over the last six months aren’t negated by falling short yesterday.
We would be better off if we adopted the attitude in college hoops. Getting to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four are worthy accomplishments … because only one team in 64 can win it all.
Also, kudos to you to for the stand-up job in helping Tippett into the Hall.
GiNB
6 rational one // Feb 4, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I would like to know what the Giants did to stop the “unstoppable offense.” Yes they hit Brady a lot. But did they do things a lot different from the last game, or just better? Was our great dictator out-coached? Did they expose our offensive line?
7 cblooz // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:44 am
Well c’mon Ron one play here or there always is discussed in all sports that is the beauty of the game and you know its not limited to just Patriot fans.
Let me think do the Raiders, Chargers and oh yeah the Colts (on the goal line stand by McGinest) come to mind? Or how about the Sox in 86 and 03? You can deny all you want that one play would not have made a difference but in a tight game like this it would have decided the winner or loser and in this case the Giants made that one extra play to win-fair and square.
Why we still will be lamenting this loss is because none of us understand why the Pats didn’t make the adjustments they are so known for having done during this run. Last year we lost because we ran out of gas it made sense to a certain degree. This one didn’t make sense-and there were plenty of us questioning decisions as the game was going on not after we had 20/20 hindsight. Michael Holley is the only person I have heard so far that understood why we went for it on 4 and 13. The coaching staff for this team failed in the most important game of the year.
But Ron c’mon if they had lost their first game and then won 18 straight we would not be having this discussion-and by the way do you think that Packer fans or Cowboy fans are patting themselves on the back for the great season they had? They have been doing the same thing-questioning decisions made during their final game of the season-its not limited to Pat fans and you know better than that.
But ultimately its a game Ron-its not life and death-most of us know that. It still does not take away the sting of the loss.
8 strazzerj // Feb 5, 2008 at 8:14 am
Thanks, Ron. Good article.
I agree that the season wasn’t a failure, but you have to admit the ending is a disappointment.
I look at it this way - we just witnessed the best Patriots record ever. They have never before been 18-1, and may never be again.
Unfortunately, the 18 all came first, and the 1 came in the Super Bowl. Oh well - terrific job Giants!
Just a quick aside - if you want to talk “classlessness”, ok. But you lose some credibility in that regard when you write potshots like “Maybe he had to go get some film developed”.
9 Ron Borges // Feb 7, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Well, Rational One, probably a little of all those things but primarily the Giants did a great job of overloading their rushes to one side, forcing the linemen on that side to make a quick commitment that often left them failing to pass the rushers off to the right guy. Sometimes, however, especially in the case of Matt Light and Russ Hochstein once he came in , they were beaten man-to-man. They did try to do some schemes to slow the rush down, like use 2 TEs and keep a back in but the latter took away from their flexibility downfield and the former didn’t work that well in part because Watson isn’t much of a blocker. As you probably know, I tend to buy less into the “he got outcoached” thing than some people as I believe it’s most often the players who determine the outcome. Take, for example, the catch by Tyree. Harrison was in the right spot and he got his hand on the ball but he couldn’t get it out. Is that bad “coaching?” or a good play by Tyree? Same with the near interception by Asante. If he’d caught the ball would it have been because of the coaching? Only if dropping the ball was the fault of coaching too, which it was not. I don’t think Belichick had a great night and I do think Coughlin did but that was as much because of how their players played as anything they may have done. Dante Scarnecchia has been widely praised for several years as a top OL coach, which I think he is. I doubt he forgot what he was doing at the Super Bowl. His players simply were exposed, in some cases, as not being as good as advertised. I never felt Light was a Pro Bowl LT and Koppen has gone from underrated to overrated in about two years. They are a solid group but I think many people forgot they were facing a sure Hall of Fame pass rusher in Strahan, a sure Pro Bowl rusher in Umeniyora and a future Pro Bowler (if he isn’t already) inside in Tuck. They had the talent to overwhelm them and then were aided by some bold blitzing not unlike what the Eagles did to the Patriots. Remember Spagnuloa, the D coordinator of the Giants, learned at the feet of Eagles’ D-coordinator Jim Johnson and he used many of the same blitzes, faking a guy dropping off and then sending him after the OL has become engaged elsewhere and running the overload blitzes the Eagles used to knock Brady around earlier this season. They worked that game too but people forgot because in the end the Patriots won. It was the Giants night, although barely.
10 fisherman // Feb 11, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Ron, The Giants played harder, wanted it more and were better coached for this game. They deserved to win. It will be interesting to see what both teams do next season
11 Ron Borges // Feb 12, 2008 at 7:25 am
Not convinced they played “harder” but they certainly played better longer. Agreed that now we see who goes in what direction.
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