Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
5. 2011 New England Patriots, Super Bowl XLVI
The 2011 New England Patriots went 13-3 to win the AFC East. They sent eight players to the Pro Bowl and marched through the AFC Playoffs en route to their seventh trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history.
New England crushed the Denver Broncos, 45-10, in the Divisional round and outdueled the Baltimore Ravens in the 2011 AFC Championship, 23-20, to face a familiar foe in the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.
New England had lost a brutal game to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII four years ago (more on that in a bit) and people were beginning to question the legitimacy of New England’s three previous Super Bowl victories during the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era in Foxboro. The Patriots hadn’t won a Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXIX over the Philadelphia Eagles, only a few years before the Spygate Scandal.
Regardless of the previous outcome between these two northeastern teams, the Patriots were a 2.5-point favorite over the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. As it was in Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots would again fall to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, 21-17, in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
New England would redeem itself in Super Bowl XLIX three years later to reaffirm its 15-year dynasty in the NFL, but that second Super Bowl loss to the Giants temporarily hurt Brady and Belichick’s legacy as two of the NFL’s all-time greats, painting them as guys who were unable to close out big games – a marked difference from their earlier runs of success.
Next: 4. 1968 Baltimore Colts