PATRIOTS MORNING AFTER TOUCHDOWNS (PATS MATS) - Week 4

 

Okay, a weird week with Cam Newton’s positive test and another “good loss” (which is a bit like calling something a “positive positive test”).  Not really much to say about this one.  The idea of going into KC and coming out with a win when fully healthy would have been a surprise, so going in and coming out with a very competitive loss when missing your starting QB is supposed to not feel that bad.  Really.

Of course, it doesn’t feel that good either – but the idea behind these sorts of losses is that there is something about them that gives hope for the future.  That means that very often you don’t really know that it was a “good loss” until that future plays itself out.  Here are some examples of previous Patriots’ “good losses”.

December 16, 1985 – Week 15 - Patriots 27 Dolphins 30

I remember this one so clearly.  It was essentially for the division championship, both teams coming in at 10-4, but the key element was the Orange Bowl.  The Patriots had been going there for years and hadn’t won since 1966. This was going to be the year.  This was going to be our chance.  We had beaten Miami in Foxboro earlier in the season, had a healthy Tony Eason, had been on a roll with Steve Grogan filling in admirably earlier in the season, had the strongest running game in the conference, a defense led by Hall of Famer Andre Tippet, a special teams squad that absolutely tortured opponents – this had to be our opportunity to get an away victory.

When we managed to score 14 unanswered points late in the 4^th quarter to tie the Dolphins, the last touchdown coming on yet another special teams’ fumble return – the momentum seemed completely our way.  Just one stop and we would get a shot in OT or even regulation. We had outgained Miami on both the ground and air and had possessed the ball longer.  This was going to be it.  Who cared if Miami had history on their side, who cared if this was the only team to beat the Chicago Bears that year.  Who cares if they had…

Dan Marino.

Marino calmly took the Dolphins down the field and gave Miami a shot at a go-ahead field goal, which was duly converted.  Despite that, there was plenty of time left for the Pats to respond – which they did.  The Pats moved relentlessly down the field. The ball was already in range of kicker Tony Franklin’s foot, at about the 35 yard line, when the Patriots, having backs like Tony Collins, Craig James, and Mosi Tatupu, inexplicably threw two passes well down the field.  The first was mercifully incomplete after nearly being intercepted.  The second, with less than a minute to go – was intercepted.  We were snakebit in Miami once again. 

The thing was – in that fourth quarter the Patriots had kind of kicked the snot out of the Dolphins.  Other than the inexplicable play calling at the end – the shortcomings of the opposition had been fully exposed.  It didn’t seem likely to ever happen – but if we ever did get a chance at Miami in the Orange Bowl again that season – the smart money would be on the Patriots.

Of course, that’s exactly what happened.  After two improbable road wins as a wildcard team the Patriots returned to the Orange Bowl and clobbered Miami to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl.

Which we will not discuss.

 

January 26, 1997 – Packers 35 Patriots 21 (Super Bowl 31)

How the hell can a Super Bowl constitute a “good loss”?  It’s the last game of the year, the only way to really take a positive feeling out of it is to have more points on the board at the end of the game – right?

Well, ordinarily that would be a yes.  However – I have two points to make about this game – first of all, it was closer than the score indicates.  The Packers won by two touchdowns – but the Patriots were within a score, with the ball, fairly late in the game.  The real difference in this one was big plays.  Bret Favre was held in check for most of the contest, but threw touchdown passes of 54 and 81 yards.  Those plays, and Desmond Howard’s returns (including one touchdown) were the real difference.  You just can’t give those up – but for them, the Patriots win handily. Granted this is a bit like saying “Other than the “incident” it was a hell of a play Mrs. Lincoln”, but still.

More important was what happened after the game.  On the flight back Bill Parcells was not present.  In his absence owner Bob Kraft spent time talking to assistant coach Bill Belichick (who he very nearly ended up hiring as Parcell’s replacement).  On the basis of the discussion they had he would hire Belichick a few years later.  All in all Super Bowl XXXI gets a bad rap in Patriots land.  It was a definite case of “what might have been” and “what was to become” joining together to make it a “good loss”.

 

2001 – Week 10  - Rams 24 Pats 17

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200111180nwe.htm

Probably the grandaddy of all the “good losses” – this game is often pointed to as the turning point of the initial Brady/Belichick Super Bowl season – a week where, although they lost, the Patriots came out of the game realizing they had just gone head to head with the best in the league and damn near won the thing. It’s also supposed to be the game that cemented Bill Belichick’s decision to make Tom Brady the permanent starter for the rest of the season.  That’s the way it is written down in “Dynasty”, Jeff Benedict’s new book which was reviewed last week and that’s the way it has been remembered.

The question that arises when you look at the game’s box score is “why”?  Why is this game remembered that way?  I agree that the final score indicates that things were close – but the stat sheet tells a somewhat different story.  You wouldn’t expect that a game where the home team throws two interceptions, turns the ball over three times, gives up over 400 yards passing and allows the winning team to close out the game with about an 8 minute drive to be a “good loss”.  However – there is still a strong case to be made that the conventional wisdom concerning this game is true.

First – people forget just how dominant the Rams were perceived to be.  The fact that Kurt Warner threw for 400 yards was not exceptional.  The fact he was picked off twice was.  Tom Brady throwing for less than 200 yards was not exceptional (he was strictly controlled in what he was allowed to do that season), but his marching the Patriots down the field to come within a touchdown in the 4^th quarter was.  Finally, yes, the Rams did hold the ball for the last 8 minutes of the game – but there was a feeling that they were lucky they did – that there was no way they wanted to give the ball back to that team, that quarterback.  It was hard to say “why” – just that it felt dangerous.

Then, of course, there ended up being exactly that type scenario playing out in the Super Bowl, when the teams next met.  There is no doubt that the serendipitous meeting of the two combatants in Super Bowl 36 had much to do with the way this earlier game is remembered – but given the enormity of what was to go on over the rest of that season and the dynasty to follow – this contest probably deserves its spot as the most important of the “good losses” in franchise history.