Why the Patriots Lost the Super Bowl

My years in high school were spent doing precisely three things: playing Halo, streaking, and trying (and subsequently failing) to attract a girlfriend. My failure with the latter could most likely be attributed to the two former activities listed. I often thought that my investment in playing Halo was a considerable waste of time until I recently caught myself reflecting on the Super Bowl. At this point you might be asking what in the world does playing Halo have to do with the Super Bowl? Well let me do my best to explain...

I, like every teenage Halo nerd of my generation, sought to be the best of all of my friends at Halo. Hours, nights (yes even Friday nights), and weekends were spent honing my skills and playing against online competitors and friends. It was a tremendous waste of time but I noticed one thing. My extreme desire to be the best, over time in fact made me one of the best. I consistently won matches and became the envy of many fellow Halo nerds. Even though my skills were probably only above average, it was my desire coupled with my skills that actually made me great. Sans desire, I probably would have been just an above average Halo player.

That leads us to the Patriots. The Patriots have been one of the premier teams in the NFL for over 10 years. Watching them win game after game, Super Bowl after Super Bowl, for nearly 4 years from 2002-2005 made you realize one thing about them...they wanted, more than any other team, to WIN. In fact, not just win, but DESTROY teams. That desire, coupled with their core of very talented players, made them one of the funnest teams to watch because they won and pulled off miraculous victories. Sure some games were too close for comfort, but you could still see that they WANTED to win and they did. This was the case, it seems, for EVERY Patriot player and coach.

The Patriots of the past 4 years, meanwhile, have been definitely above average. Two Super Bowl appearances (2008, 2012) is nothing to be modest about. What seems to have been different however, is that their killer instinct, win or die, F-You attitude has almost all but disappeared. It has been replaced by a coach and a star player who seem content to rely on past victories to remain relevant. Players choose to party after a Super Bowl loss as if they had just participated in a Super Bowl win (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/02/rob-gronkowski-dacing-patriots-post-game-party/1?csp=hf).

Is my view on these Patriots too harsh? Perhaps, but in the end I don't feel that people will mention an almost undefeated season and two Super Bowl losses in the annals of NFL greatness. Championships are what define greatness nowadays. Tom Brady and Wes Welker were notably remorse after the game which shows that maybe not all players on the Patriots squad shook off the big loss like a preseason game. One thing I know though, is that the Patriots of 2002-2005 would have not gone out like the Patriots of 2012.