Sports: December 2008 Archives
Twice since the Patriots won their first Super Bowl, they have missed the playoffs.
Both times, it's because the Patriots were in a tie for the best record in the AFC East, but lost the tiebreaker when Brett Favre lost to Chad Pennington on the final day of the season, giving Pennington's team the division title instead.
On December 29, 2002, Favre's Packers made too many mistakes and wound up losing to Pennington's Jets. The Pats and Dolphins and Jets tied for first, but Pennington and the Jets won the tiebreakers, and won the AFC East title. The Patriots and Dolphins stayed home.
On December 28, 2008, Favre's Jets made too many mistakes and wound up losing to Pennington's Dolphins. The Pats and Dolphins tied for first, but Pennington and the Dolphins won the tiebreakers, and won the AFC East title. The Patriots stayed home.
So Patriots fans forever will hate Brett Favre. And it's not because he beat the Pats in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997. No, he won that one straight up, with a little help from Desmond Howard. It's because he let Chadley Pennington win twice, and in doing so kept us out of the playoffs twice.
In 2002, the 12-3 Packers had no business losing to the 8-7 Jets, but on the other hand, the 9-7 Patriots, with a battered defense that couldn't stop the run, didn't have much to complain about in not going to the playoffs.
In 2008, the Jets were rolling, but they just ... stopped. They couldn't even beat the Niners or Seahawks. But playing for a potential playoff spot, I figured they would finally pull it together and win the last game. They didn't. And the Patriots became only the second 11-5 team in history to not make the playoffs.
I don't know what can, or should, be done about it. It's terrible to have an 11-5 team sit home for the playoffs. It's not good for the league. But I can think of no solution to the problem.
So I'll just hate Pennington and Favre instead. 
The currently playing three pro Boston teams (Celtics, Bruins, Patriots) are a combined 21-1 in December. Going back to November, 47-7 (each team with two losses in the month, counting an NHL "overtime loss" as a loss for purposes here).
The last three losses are the Bruins at Washington on December 10, Patriots vs. Pittsburgh on November 30, and Bruins at Buffalo on November 26.
The three losses before that happened to all three teams in three consecutive days: the Patriots lost to the Jets on a Thursday night at home on November 13; the next night the Celtics fell at home to Denver; and the next day the Bruins lost in overtime to the Rangers.
Since that horrible weekend, the Bruins have been 14-2, the Patriots 4-1, and the Celtics 18-0, for a combined 36-3.
It's a good time to be a Boston fan. Merry Christmas!
Bonus trivia: if the Patriots and Dolphins win next week, the Patriots will become only the second 11-5 team in NFL history to not make the playoffs.
Also, as good as 11-5 is, after a 16-0 season in 2007, who woulda guessed that the Red Sox (second best team in the AL), Celtics (best team in the NBA), and Bruins (second best team in the NHL) would all be better than the Patriots?
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
