Robert Kraft doesn’t have many regrets for the New England Patriots, but he does have one from this past season.
The Patriots turned in another 12-4 record and made their fifth straight AFC Championship Game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl 50 champions, the Denver Broncos. And the Patriots owner thinks New England would have had a shot at another ring if the title game hadn’t been played in Denver.
“This team had a lot of distractions, a lot of physical injuries, and that whole next man up and mental toughness was amazing, and I think if I have any regret, it’s that the conference championship game wasn’t played here in our hometown,” Kraft told WCVB-TV’s Maria Stephanos in an interview Wednesday.
Still, Kraft obviously doesn’t think the whole season was a wash. He’s proud of what the team’s been able to do since he purchased it in 1994. Kraft believes he has “the greatest coach and quarterback of all time” in Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, and he wants to make sure they retire in New England.
“I sure hope so,” Kraft said. “That’s my plan. I’ve learned to take one year at a time and root for the best, but we’ve had the consistency of having Bill and Tom for 16 years.
“I was thinking about it, we finished 22 seasons, and I’ve had two quarterbacks in 22 years to start the season, Drew (Bledsoe) and Tom. You just look at the teams in our division and see how many quarterbacks they’ve had since we’ve been in. So we’re pretty lucky. Part of our philosophy is to have stability and consistency.”
The Patriots obviously can’t win the Super Bowl every year, but fans have to admit that Kraft is right about them being pretty darn lucky.
Thumbnail photo via Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports Images
