Patriots' Pride a Burden in Super Bowl XLII

Going into Super Bowl XLII everyone thought that New England had an easy win, but New York proved them wrong.

The 2007 draft ended with New England snagging one of the greatest trades ever in Randy Moss and signing one of the most powerful linebackers, Adalius Thomas.  The Patriots were set to break records.  

That’s when I mentioned to a fellow football lover that just two obstacles stood in their way: an aging defense and an overabundance of pride.  

Pride gets the best of us and it got to New England.  Just look who’s holding the trophy now.

Let's review the season.  

New England had one of the weakest schedules in the AFC and this helped them to rack up the wins.  When it came down to it, they were a product of the system.  

The Pats played the Jets twice, Bills twice, Dolphins twice, Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Eagles, and Redskins for a total of 11 wins just to start.  Give any ‘07-‘08 playoff team that schedule (excepting the Redskins and Ravens) and the result is a successful streak.

Now let's look at the rest of their schedule: Chargers, Cowboys, Colts, Steelers, and Giants.

The Chargers switched coaches and at that time in the season were worse off than the Dolphins, so that's an easy win (12-0).  

Next, the Cowboys’ play was just okay and with an untested QB (yet to win a real playoff game), they weren’t able to put up much of a fight (13-0).  

The Colts, on the other hand, did put up a bit of a fight, but having just won the Super Bowl they failed to focus on this season.  A little Super Bowl hangover hurt their chances and they lost to the Pats, 14-0.  

Almost a first round bye, and next the Steelers.  This matchup was never going to be fair.  Pittsburgh lacks a one-two punch in running backs and they are just getting over their Super Bowl hangover, too.

So now you have New England at 15-0 with a first round bye and the first seed in the AFC.  The stage is set for New York, in the final game of the season, to take advantage of a worn down New England.  The good news for the Patriots was that New York had yet to meet their new and improved team.  The Giants lost, but learned a lot.  They'd take these lessons to the Super Bowl

Now let's go to the first game in the playoffs, Jacksonville at New England.  This was an easy game for the Pats because Jacksonville just lost its own one-two punch and its defense had been eroded.  Just like the Steelers, Jacksonville did not stand a chance (17-0).

Next New England faced San Diego.  Their defense was okay, but their coach had just managed to set his team straight, and they really were not ready for a big game (18-0).

And finally: the Super Bowl itself.  The Pats’ heavy load of pride slowed them down just enough to give New York an edge.  New England finished the season a respectable, but imperfect, 18-1.

I could go on and on, but everyone saw what happened.  I can say this much, however.  In the end it was not the better team that won, but the team willing to approach the big game with humility.  Congrats to New York!

Just watch out for that Super Bowl hangover.  It’s a killer.

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