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.