The Patriots season ended on Sunday in a less than impressive showing from the beloved New England team. The Pats were not the favorite going into the AFC Title Game against the Denver Broncos, who held the best record in the conference (now 15-3). Most of the hype leading up to the game was not necessarily focused on the two teams facing each other. Manning vs. Brady caught the attention of sports fans everywhere. These two talented quarterbacks came together yet again for a post-season battle.
I would probably cry if I recapped the entire game play by play, but I will give some of the highlights. This is basically what you would need to know (and more) in order to hold a conversation with your crush who is totally NFL-obsessed.
Manning threw for more than 400 yards. I don’t really know what the Patriots’ defense was up to, but clearly stopping the Broncos offense was not on their agenda for the day. It all started when Denver scored a field goal in the first quarter that put the Pats in a hole. Following the less than ideal start, Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib was injured by none other than former Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker. Normally, I would be worried with a 10-3 lead from the Broncos going into halftime, but after the comeback the Pats pulled during the regular season, I had high hopes.
I will gladly recap that game. For those of you who aren’t football fans, the Pats played the Broncos on November 24th at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. New England fell anxious as the game started off with the Patriots trailing the Broncos 24-0 at halftime. However, Tom Brady turned on the fire that fueled the Patriots into an overtime drive against Peyton Manning. Gostkowski kicked the winning field goal that sent the Broncos home with a loss. The final score of the game was 34-31, and will forever be remembered as an unbelievable comeback by the Patriots. Essentially, this game was a “tale of two halves” and once again, us New Englanders were hoping for a repeat.
To say the least, we did not get it. In fact, the Patriots did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. The Broncos strategy of keeping Tom Brady on the sideline for the majority of the game seemed to be working. That is until the three time Super Bowl Champ pulled through with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. But sadly, it wasn’t enough. The Broncos were up by a two-score lead, and the Pats missed a two-point conversion, and an on-side kick, which inevitably led to their defeat.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, February 2nd, but don’t expect to see Tom Brady’s beautiful face on camera. The Broncos will take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in New York.
Sadly, this is the second year in a row that the Pats fell one game short of the Super Bowl. But don’t worry, Tom Brady still looked way better than Peyton Manning, so we still win right?
So what does this all mean? It means that Boston sports teams cannot win everything. We’re lucky enough to live in Beantown where we have the Red Sox, Pats, Celtics, and Bruins. Let’s recap the past year – Bruins in the Cup, Red Sox win the World Series, so to have the Pats win yet another Super Bowl is kind of aggressive.
Finally, the best thing about Boston sports teams is that it is only a short time until it’s baseball season again. How about them Sox??
Sources
All Photos courtesy of New England Patriots – AP
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/gameflash/2014/01/19/5834/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/gameflash/2013/11/24/5587/