One of the epic battles / fights mentioned in the previous memorable boxing trilogies post. The phrase they don’t make em like this anymore comes to mind, as Muhammad Ali takes on Joe Frazier for a third time, in a boxing trilogy for the ages!
In the rich tapestry of NFL history, certain teams stand out as legends, leaving an indelible mark on the league with their remarkable achievements. The latest of those is the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Arrowhead outfit has become the gridiron’s latest dynasty in recent times, reaching four Super Bowls in the last five seasons, reigning supreme in three of them, including the last two on the spin. In 2024, they will aim to become the greatest dynasty the sport has ever seen by completing a three-peat of Lombardi Trophies, becoming the first team in history to achieve such a feat.
However, before the Chiefs came the New England Patriots. Between 2011 and 2018, all-time great quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick reached the AFC Championship game in eight straight seasons, converting five of those appearances into trips to the Super Bowl and emerging successful in three of those Big Games. But before that, the Pats had one of their greatest-ever seasons.
The State of the Patriots in 2024
Before we take a look back at the Foxborough-based outfit’s finest hour, we have to fast forward to today, and heading into the 2024 campaign, the most successful side in the history of the NFL finds itself at a crossroads. For over two decades, Bill Belichick was the man calling the shots, however, after a dismal campaign in 2023 in which his side picked up just four victories – the second lowest in the entire league – the most successful coach in football history was removed from his position.
Jerod Mayo is the man who has been chosen to replace the outgoing Belichick, and he has a brand new quarterback to work with in the form of Drake Maye. The former North Carolina Tar Heel was selected as the third overall draft pick earlier this year, and he is now tasked with replacing Tom Brady, with the GOAT still having not been replaced since his departure some five years ago.
With the rebuilding well underway, the Patriots aren’t expected to pull up any trees next season. They have one of the toughest starts of anybody in 2024, facing the Cincinnati Bengals in their season opener before facing the San Francisco 49ers in week four.
The Niners made it to the Super Bowl last season and were downed at the very end of overtime by the Kansas City Chiefs. While the week 4 NFL betting odds haven’t yet been published, you can expect the Patriots to be huge underdogs for that clash, just as they are when it comes to the Lombardi, with the bookies pricing them as long as +20000, the second longest in the entire league.
But there was a time when the Pats weren’t the underdogs. No, they were the odds-on favorites.
The Perfect Storm
The 2007 NFL season dawned with a sense of anticipation at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots had claimed three Lombardis in four seasons between 2001 and 2004, and while they hadn’t claimed the mountaintop again in the two years following that most recent triumph, they had certainly left an impression. With a potent offense, a suffocating defense, and a laser-focused mindset, the Foxborough outfit was about to storm through everything in their path.
Three home games in the opening four saw lopsided victories against the Jets, Chargers, and Bills. But as the weeks rolled on, things picked up. With Brady firing on all cylinders, the Patriots scored 40+ points in three consecutive games, with the pick being a 52-7 drubbing of the Washington Redskins.
Week after week, they dismantled rival after rival, leaving a trail of defeated teams in their wake. And as the wins piled up, the whispers of a first perfect season since the Miami Dolphins 35 years prior grew louder.
Perfect Regular Season Ends in Tears
As the regular season drew to a close, the Patriots found themselves on the cusp of history, standing on the brink of accomplishing what no team had achieved before finishing the grueling 16-game schedule undefeated. Admittedly, the Dolphins went undefeated, but that was during the 14-game era. Adding another two victories on top of that was unheard of.
However, on the final day of the season, the warning signs were there. The New York Giants headed to Gillette Stadium as huge underdogs, but they very nearly ended the perfect season at the final hurdle. They led by a score of 28-23 heading into the fourth quarter, only for the Pats to come out firing and eventually emerge victorious, but that wouldn’t be the end of the story.
The Patriots blazed through the postseason just as they had the regular one, reeling off victories against the Jaguars and the Chargers to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. As luck would have it, the Giants defied their lowly fifth-seed status to knock off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the top-seed Dallas Cowboys, and the heavily favored Green Bay Packers to secure their spot in the Big Game.
Eli Manning’s team headed into Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix as the biggest underdogs in history. Tom Brady was coming off the back of a record-breaking 50 touchdown year, and he was expected to add further scores to his already overflowing tally. But on this occasion, the Giants held their own, neutralized the GOAT, and bagged a last-gasp touchdown to secure the 17-14 victory and the biggest upset in history.
There are a few contenders for what was arguably the worst leg in the history of professional darts and, weirdly, all of them involve an Australian. New South Walean Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock has twice staked his claim at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship at Alexandra Palace, London. In December, 2018, he and opponent Martin Schindler missed 22 darts at a double between them in the third leg of their first round match, although Whitlock did average 87.42 and eventually won the match 3-1. In December, 2022, Whitlock and Christian Perez again missed nine darts apiece at a double in the third leg of the deciding set in their first round match, which Whitlock won on double 1 after 30 darts.
However, the player generally considered to be responsible for worst leg in the history of professional darts was Australian former professional Anthony ‘Fleety’ Fleet, who did so on his one and only appearance at the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Championship at Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. Drawn against former BDO World Champion Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams in the first round, Fleet was clearly overcome by nerves, to the extent that he not only had problems throwing his darts accurately, but also passing them from hand to hand and, at one point, even standing steadily at the oche.
His first twelve darts yielded 26, 41, 60 and 60, followed by an excrutiating passage of play in which he hit single 1, single 1, dropped his third dart on the floor and, having taken a moment to compose himself, hit treble 1 for a total of 5. At that point, commentator David Croft remarked, ‘A long way to go yet, but one of the worst starts I’ve ever seen a player make to a match here’. He wasn’t kidding; Fleet threw his next dart into double one.
Further haphazard throws of 22, 80 and 11 followed, before Adams finally put him out of his misery, although he needed 26 darts to do so, having missed three darts at double 12 and another at double 6. Fleet never recovered, losing the match 3-0 without winning a leg and recording a paltry three-dart average of 65.34.
Sport plays a big part in all of our lives. You don’t have to be on the pitch, racecourse or inside the ring or octagon to have ‘skin in the game’. Big events like the World Cup (and the currently playing out Euros) and fights like Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk both add to our social calendar, and allow us to vicariously live out of sporting dreams. Aside from that, these events also bring us together and capture the nature, and competitive aspects of who we are. Of course some of us like to take that further than others by having a flutter.
With so many variations of bet open to us, there’s huge scope for really getting into an event or match. From, in football, the number of corners , total goals scored, HT/FT odds, to boxing with its round betting and so on, there’s so many angles to opt for when making a prediction for a sporting event. As you’d expect there are amateur and professional punters, some bet for a living and even get their bookmaker accounts closed due to their betting successes. That’s why the likes of PS3838 (available exclusively through bet brokers) are popular with those looking to ‘lump on’ without concerns about the implications of doing so.
Sports betting is littered with examples of people either displaying expert judgement and winning big, getting lucky, or being the the bad side of things. That’s the nature of the game. There are many ways in which big wins come about too. One you’ll often read about is accumulators (also known as accas or multiple bets) . These involve stacking together more than one bet with winnings from one going onto the next selection. In 2011 for instance one lucky punter placed £2.50 on a nine match accumulator bet largely consisting of underdog choices. They all came in, winning a total of £272,000. Not bad for a days work!
Some punters instead prefer to opt for outsiders that they feels are significantly undervalued by betting markets. Who can forget Leicesters dream run in the premier league in 2015/16 when they managed to win the league at odds of 5000-1? One punter who bet £100 on them a few games into the season (while still at odds of 2000-1) certainly still remembers. He pocketed a cool £200,000 as result.
Of course these are pretty extreme examples and many bet on shorter odds selections that they’ve followed and analysed, resulting in a more measured and informed approach to betting. There’s the ‘more money than sense’ camp too that, especially a lot of sports pros themselves fall into. Take NBA Legend Michael Jordan for instance, he played for up to $100,000 a hole against his golf buddies. Being gungho to that level will never end well (the ‘Drake Curse’ is another good and somewhat amusing example). For most though, clever analysis of sport comes from the desire to make millions rather than already having it and aimlessly blowing it for fun. As with anything in life, a cool head and strategic approach beats most others, so that’s the way to go!