Written by: O

Last year was either super or horrible for the New England Patriots and what was even more spectacular was that there was never any in between. No team in the history of the league had gone 18-0 in one season before. No team in the history of the league had scored as many points as the Patriots had scored. No team had thoroughly dominated the first half of a season like the Patriots had. Even with all of that, the Patriots were not given any credit because they were caught illegally “spying” on the New York Jets at the beginning of the season. The thought was that their success was based on their “spying” instead of their preparation and skill. The only way to get their just due, in the Patriots’ mind, was to win the Super Bowl.

The Patriots’ offense last year was the best the NFL has ever seen. They did not score under 34 points until November and their lowest point total all season long was 20. Tom Brady threw a NFL record 50 touchdowns last year while newcomer Randy Moss caught a NFL record 23 touchdowns. Wes Welker set a team record 112 catches and the offensive line featured 3 Pro Bowls in Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins, and Matt Light. Patriot running back Lawrence Maroney, who was forgotten by most in the first half of the season, rushed for over 100 yards in four of the last six games, including the playoffs. The offense was so awesome that people forgot about the cornerstone of the franchise since they became a championship team under Bill Belichick.

When Belichick became the coach of the Patriots, his defenses again confused and dominated opponents. Nothing changed, even with the offense scoring dizzying amounts of points. The defense still excelled as they always have and the defense quietly gave up the fewest amount of points until the last game of the season. Mike Vrabel led the team in sacks with 12.5 and was third in tackles. Asante Samuel led the team in interceptions with 6 and Tedy Bruschi led the team in tackles with 92. It was business as normal for the Patriots defensively, which as always, meant bad news to the rest of the league.

The Patriot defense, being as good as normal, combined with the offense – playing at a record-breaking level – led to an 18-0 record and made them huge favorites in Super Bowl XLII. The only problem was the Giants played as though they were the favorites and pulled off the tremendous upset, beating the Patriots 17-14 in a thrilling victory. Not only did the Patriots lose the Super Bowl, but core players, like Asante Samuel (Philadelphia) and Eugene Wilson (Tampa Bay), on their defense left New England to play elsewhere. The Patriots will still be the favorites to go back to the Super Bowl this season, but one has to wonder how much of an effect last year’s loss in the Super Bowl (which ruined their “perfect” season) will have on the Patriots this season.

Tags: football, Sports

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Random Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.