The Gr8est
"It's time to shut up, Fat Boy!"
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I know Tom Curran isn't universally held in high regard, but this bittersweet article is worth reading.
Won't make the loss any easier to take, but you may feel a bit better about the Pats now, and going forward.
http://www.csnne.com/blog/patriots-...ompletely-miss-the?blockID=647212&feedID=3352
"I understand. It sucks. I cried when the first sports team I ever followed closely – the 1976 Patriots – were beaten by the Raiders in the Divisional Playoffs. And I’ve never trusted the Red Sox nor been a bloodthirsty fan of them since the twin traumas of 1977 and ’78 (my 10-year-old ass got dismissed early from Hobomock Elementary to attend the one-game playoff).
But I’m not sure these Patriots deserve the level of bile being directed at them."
"I think Tom Brady is the best quarterback that’s ever played. He’s played in five Super Bowls in 10 seasons and won three. In the two he lost, he led a go-ahead drive in the closing minutes and – in the other – he was a very good catch away from being in a position to salt away the win. I believe he’s personally done enough to be 5-0 in Super Bowls.
Those details, combined with the ones I will list now, convince me I am still right in my analysis. He’s won two league MVPs – one unanimously and the other when he threw a single-season record 50 touchdowns and just eight picks and led his team to the first 16-0 regular season. He’s been the Super Bowl MVP twice. He’s 140-41 as an NFL starter including playoffs and has never been surrounded by Hall of Fame teammates as the others in the “greatest ever” conversation were."
"Brady’s interception was a poor throw but a good decision. Watching the game again Monday night, I saw the angle that showed Gronkowski behind Chase Blackburn by a step. And I saw Gronkowski raise his hand and take off. Lumbering though he was, he remained behind Blackburn and – hence – open. Brady HAD to make that throw. Gronk 1-on-1 with an even more lumbering linebacker behind the defense with no help over the top? If Brady had simply thrown it away, people would have been screaming that Brady missed Gronk behind the defense with a stiff on him.
The problem with the throw was that it didn’t come out of Brady’s hand cleanly. A tight spiral and the ball was either Gronk’s or incomplete. It wasn’t Brady’s left shoulder that caused the ball to wobble, it was simply that he had to hurry the throw and didn’t get time to set as he normally would. The wobbling pass Brady threw probably cost him 5 yards. Enough for Blackburn to be in position. And Blackburn still had to make a “winning” play, which he did."
" The biggest coaching failure in the game was the 12-men-on-the-field penalty that gave the Giants a first down. It was a third-and-3 play and – while you couldn’t see it on television, Antwaun Molden was lost in the secondary for about three seconds before the ball was snapped. Whoever sent Molden in screwed up. Any player who saw Molden’s confusion before a key third-down in the red zone and failed to call timeout screwed up."
"Brandon Spikes, Sterling Moore, Patrick Chung and Mark Anderson made winning plays. Spikes had an outstanding game while Moore and Chung played with the kind of physicality the Patriots needed in the secondary. That the New England defense allowed 13 points – just 13 points with no turnovers – before the game-winning touchdown against a powerful offense was overachieving. And if Welker made his “winning” play, the “winning” play by Manningham along the sideline would never have occurred.
I’ve never seen a sadder moment of video than Robert Kraft standing by himself as the owner’s box emptied out, hands in his pockets, resignation on his face and a look to the sky. His team came so close to authoring the most incredible ending in American sports history. Gronk was a foot away from getting his hands under the Hail Mary pass Brady threw as time expired. To get it there in time and accurate was, again, an amazing play by Brady, much as the 70-yard throw to Moss near the very end of Super Bowl 42 was an astounding play overlooked.
But the blustering “did you win or did you not” bottom-liners who don’t see sports as a game of nuance and context and believe the Patriots failed and blemished themselves Sunday miss the point. And, at this point, trying to make them see the point is a lost cause. "
There is more to the article, this is just some excerpts.
Won't make the loss any easier to take, but you may feel a bit better about the Pats now, and going forward.
http://www.csnne.com/blog/patriots-...ompletely-miss-the?blockID=647212&feedID=3352
"I understand. It sucks. I cried when the first sports team I ever followed closely – the 1976 Patriots – were beaten by the Raiders in the Divisional Playoffs. And I’ve never trusted the Red Sox nor been a bloodthirsty fan of them since the twin traumas of 1977 and ’78 (my 10-year-old ass got dismissed early from Hobomock Elementary to attend the one-game playoff).
But I’m not sure these Patriots deserve the level of bile being directed at them."
"I think Tom Brady is the best quarterback that’s ever played. He’s played in five Super Bowls in 10 seasons and won three. In the two he lost, he led a go-ahead drive in the closing minutes and – in the other – he was a very good catch away from being in a position to salt away the win. I believe he’s personally done enough to be 5-0 in Super Bowls.
Those details, combined with the ones I will list now, convince me I am still right in my analysis. He’s won two league MVPs – one unanimously and the other when he threw a single-season record 50 touchdowns and just eight picks and led his team to the first 16-0 regular season. He’s been the Super Bowl MVP twice. He’s 140-41 as an NFL starter including playoffs and has never been surrounded by Hall of Fame teammates as the others in the “greatest ever” conversation were."
"Brady’s interception was a poor throw but a good decision. Watching the game again Monday night, I saw the angle that showed Gronkowski behind Chase Blackburn by a step. And I saw Gronkowski raise his hand and take off. Lumbering though he was, he remained behind Blackburn and – hence – open. Brady HAD to make that throw. Gronk 1-on-1 with an even more lumbering linebacker behind the defense with no help over the top? If Brady had simply thrown it away, people would have been screaming that Brady missed Gronk behind the defense with a stiff on him.
The problem with the throw was that it didn’t come out of Brady’s hand cleanly. A tight spiral and the ball was either Gronk’s or incomplete. It wasn’t Brady’s left shoulder that caused the ball to wobble, it was simply that he had to hurry the throw and didn’t get time to set as he normally would. The wobbling pass Brady threw probably cost him 5 yards. Enough for Blackburn to be in position. And Blackburn still had to make a “winning” play, which he did."
" The biggest coaching failure in the game was the 12-men-on-the-field penalty that gave the Giants a first down. It was a third-and-3 play and – while you couldn’t see it on television, Antwaun Molden was lost in the secondary for about three seconds before the ball was snapped. Whoever sent Molden in screwed up. Any player who saw Molden’s confusion before a key third-down in the red zone and failed to call timeout screwed up."
"Brandon Spikes, Sterling Moore, Patrick Chung and Mark Anderson made winning plays. Spikes had an outstanding game while Moore and Chung played with the kind of physicality the Patriots needed in the secondary. That the New England defense allowed 13 points – just 13 points with no turnovers – before the game-winning touchdown against a powerful offense was overachieving. And if Welker made his “winning” play, the “winning” play by Manningham along the sideline would never have occurred.
I’ve never seen a sadder moment of video than Robert Kraft standing by himself as the owner’s box emptied out, hands in his pockets, resignation on his face and a look to the sky. His team came so close to authoring the most incredible ending in American sports history. Gronk was a foot away from getting his hands under the Hail Mary pass Brady threw as time expired. To get it there in time and accurate was, again, an amazing play by Brady, much as the 70-yard throw to Moss near the very end of Super Bowl 42 was an astounding play overlooked.
But the blustering “did you win or did you not” bottom-liners who don’t see sports as a game of nuance and context and believe the Patriots failed and blemished themselves Sunday miss the point. And, at this point, trying to make them see the point is a lost cause. "
There is more to the article, this is just some excerpts.
atriots! 
