Welcome to the Other Side

BY IAN TASSO
EDITORIAL. PHOTOS BY AP IMAGES

Take yourself back nine years.

The date is February 2, 2002. The place is the Louisiana Superdome.

Outside, it’s quiet. Warm. Damp. Humid.

Inside, it’s equally as quiet. Warmer. Damper. Sweatier. 73,000 fans collectively holding their breath as fabled kicker Adam Vinatieri lines up to cement his name in the NFL history books.

Kurt Warner meanwhile, sat on the bench, bloodied, looking on helplessly. Marshall Faulk sat there too, just as his quarterback, every bone in his body aching. Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, there all the same, mimicking their general -- their quarterback -- who had been knocked around and smacked in the face more than those kids at the end of Step Brothers.

Seconds later, Vinatieri’s arms shot through the air like red and blue fireworks, igniting a Patriot celebration. They had toppled the Goliath. They had beaten the giant.

The Greatest Show on Turf however, was over. They had hit the wall, and were upset by a team that had no business being there, and no business winning. The most powerful team in the NFL -- the Super Bowl favorite -- a team that had all the marbles, all the cards, and all the tricks, had come up short.

It’s a tale as old as time. It’s a tragic storyline. And it’s also the way sports are.

Because nine years later, the Patriots are on that sideline. Wounded. Bullied. Beaten. And Braylon Edwards and the Jets are doing backflips on the field.

I’m not saying it’s a direct parallel, but it’s pretty damn close. One year you’re writing the history and ten years later you’re drowning in it, unable to get out of your own way. Three straight playoff losses will do that to you as a fan, and suddenly, you don’t feel so high and mighty anymore.

As a Patriot faithful it can get pretty damn tough to not keep putting yourself on that field, with all the promising talent, and countless double-digit winning seasons. But somehow, like right now, we keep finding ourselves on the sidelines, packing up for next season. Three times in a row, to be exact.

I’m not saying the Patriots are cooked in the long run, or even in trouble. I’m not saying they’re done. In fact, I can guarantee they’re anything but.

They are mortal though. Perhaps more than that. All that Brady-Belichick magic is gone. I don’t know where it went, but it’s obvious it’s not there anymore. That doesn’t mean they can’t recreate it. Or at least come close. But right now, it’s clearly not in the confines of Gillette Stadium. At least when the calendar turns to January that is.

The first slip-up, if you can call it that, was the 2007 Super Bowl. But you can’t compare that loss to this most recent one. It’s not even close. Not even Jesus defeating Moses in some fictional Mortal Kombat game atop Mount Everest could top that.

But this year; this year we had it all again. This year we had the record setting offense. This year we had the genius coach making all the right calls. This year we had the young defense peaking at the right time. This year we had the team playing their best ball when it mattered most.

But this year, we ended up right back on that sideline.

Welcome to the other side, New England. It’s no doubt a weird place for Patriots fans to be. But it’s a place that nonetheless has been inhabited by plenty of other teams, at plenty of other times.

Ten years ago it was us against the world. Now it’s the world against us.

Ten years ago, it was our hardened, mouth-punching, defensive-minded, ruthless squad of scrappers knocking out the Greatest Show on Turf. Now, it’s the exact opposite. Our record-breaking offense getting strong-armed by teams we thought we could beat. Teams we should have beat.

This stings. This stings bad. I don’t want to hear about how it was only a Divisional Round exit. I don’t want to hear it. This hurts just as much as a Super Bowl exit, an AFC Championship exit, an exit out of a moving vehicle, an exit from a bar at 1am after they say you’ve had too many drinks, or any other exit you can think of.

Why does it hurt so much? Two reasons. One, because it’s the Jets. Those filthy, rotten, trash-yapping, loudmouthed Jets.

They finally backed up their talk and it stings like hell. Let’s face it: they won. They won fair, square, and it sucks. It sucks because they’re everything the Patriots arent -- everything the Patriots refuse to be. They are the exact opposite of everything the Patriot Way is founded upon. And they beat us.

Not only that, but they beat us by playing like us. They took a page right out of the Pats’ Super Bowl book and punched New England in the mouth every chance they got. The result? The Patriots didn’t look like the Patriots. They looked like a one seed caught in the headlights -- a high and mighty that didn’t know what to do when someone came at them hard and fast.

It sucks because the Jets finally got over the hump. Last year didn’t count. They backed into the playoffs, and the Patriots got shellacked out of it. It was like a round where both boxers just hug each other and sweat all over one another and nobody gets any points.

This year? No excuses from Patriots fans. We don’t have any. Try to think of one. You can’t. They won, we lost. They came to play, we didn’t. They’re still playing, we aren’t. The team that was specifically designed to beat the Patriots -- a team of big-mouthed grunts from around the NFL, each with Cromartie sized hatred for the Patriots, finally did what they were constructed to do.

And now we get to hear all winter long how they’re the big dog in the East, and the Pats are second best.

And you know what? They might be right. We deserve the crap we’re going to get. That’s the worst part of it. How do we come back to a Jets fan who says “we knocked you out.” By saying we won three Super Bowls five years ago? No thanks. After years of despising the Yankee Defense, I’m not about to use it myself.

The second reason this loss stings so hard might be the worst. It’s not so much about what happened, but more what didn’t happen.

This year, the Patriots really had a shot to bring home their fourth ring. They honestly, positively, had the best shot in the NFL to do it. All they had to do was beat a team they already thrashed 45-3, take down a Pittsburgh squad they already hammered on the road, and claim one final victory over either a Bears or Packers team on the big stage, both of whom they had already beaten in the regular season.

The road was paved with gold. And we crapped all over it. Chipotle-away style.

But with every storm cloud comes some silver lining, right? At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. So here’s what I got for you Patriots fans.

One, at least you don’t live in a one sport town like New Orleans, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis or the hundreds of other cities that fall into that category. And no, I’m not talking about an actual one sport town like Seattle (wait, do we count the Mariners?). I’m talking about a city where if one team falls, the whole calendar year is a failure -- not just the season. 

Think the Saints of N’arlans. Think the Wings of Motor City. Think the Colts of Indianapolis. And (maybe not so much anymore) the Cavaliers of Cleveland.

Flipside, check out Boston -- sure, the Patriots may have stumbled hard, but at least New Englanders have the Celtics, Bruins, and newly reloaded Sox to fall back on. Literally three first place teams. Not a bad safety net at all.

Not convinced? Ask a Steeler fan what happens this weekend if New York takes the AFC crown. Aside from rivers drying up all across the country and locusts falling from the sky, the answer is probably “nothing.” I mean sure, they’ve got the Penguins...but what after that? Go Pirates?

Consider yourself lucky Bostonians. Not many cities get dumped by a Victoria’s Secret girlfriend and have a Perfect 10 Model to fall back on. Here in Boston, we’ve got three of them. Losing happens, and we’ve got a trio of first place teams to console us through the bad weather. Meanwhile, Ravens fans have...the Orioles? Gulp.

Secondly, you know the Patriots will be in the exact same position come next playoffs. This year sucks, but they’ll be right back next year.

You know it, I know it, your mother knows it, her boss knows it, and even his daughter who doesn’t watch sports know it. I can’t guarantee another number one seed, but if you think this core group won’t be right back near the top of the AFC next year, with all the returning young talent they have, you’re out of your mind.

The young guys will only get better. Sure, Gronk and Hernandez were phenomenal in their rookie seasons, but how do you think they’ll do with an entire off-season to prep with Brady? What about Mccourty, Chung, Meriweather and the rest of the secondary with another season under their belt? Try Mayo, Spikes and Cunningham with another year to gel in the middle of that defense.

And what about the whole lot of them now sporting their first playoff scar -- finally finding out that there’s more to “The Patriot Way” then just putting on the blue uniform and finishing 14-2. Not to mention the seven new draft picks that will be joining them in April.

Bottom line is, sure, Sunday sucked. I’m not trying to say it didn’t. But in the end, things are looking up for Patriot Nation. Not too bad when you consider exactly a year ago, the sporting world left them for dead. They were a “crumbling dynasty.” And just a few months after that, Randy Moss was traded, and the rest of the free world jumped on with them.

Now? Now they’re back, and arguably as prepared for the future as ever.

Sure, this loss sucks. Really bad.

Nothing will ever come close to 2007, but if there ever was one that did, this would be it. They had a real shot to go to Dallas, and thanks to their bitter, disgusting, loud-mouthed rivals, are stuck snowed in at Foxborough -- and not because next weekend’s game is at home.

But to appreciate the sun you’ve got to know what rain is. And here in Boston, we’re no stranger to bad weather.

So put NHL.com in your favorites, get out your Celtics jersey, sit back, crack open a "Budweisah," and enjoy the Laser Show. Don’t worry about the boys in blue. They’ll be back for more next year.

And consider this loss a little fuel to the rivalry fire. Because remember, Yankees fans always said it wouldn’t be a true rivalry until we beat them. Beating up on a team for a decade does not a rivalry make. And they were right..

But then 2004 happened.

Consider this Rexy’s 2004. 


Game on fat man. Let’s do this.

Oh, and one more thing. Go Packers.