The 2007 New England Patriots did it all, except win the final game of the season.
The Patriots went a perfect 16-0 during the regular season and won two playoff games before suffering a stunning 17-14 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. New England’s lone defeat never will sit well with Tom Brady, but the Patriots quarterback hasn’t lost sight of that ’07 team’s talent.
The New York Daily News’ Gary Myers revealed in an article published this week that he traveled with Brady from Gillette Stadium to downtown Boston two years ago while doing research for his recently released book, “Brady vs Manning: The Untold Story of the Rivalry That Transformed the NFL.” Myers asked Brady about the Patriots’ two Super Bowl losses to the Giants, including the defeat that ruined New England’s quest to go undefeated for the entire 2007 season.
“We had such a great team. To me, the greatest team that ever played in the NFL,” Brady told Myers. “We won so many games against the toughest competition that year by big margins.
“Wes Welker and Randy Moss in the prime of their careers at the same time, along with Jabar Gaffney. We had a good running game, a great offensive line. Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Asante Samuel — we had incredible talent, and our offense was so prolific. It was an incredible year. Then to lose — we lost to a really good football team who played really well that particular day, and it took some pretty great plays to beat us.”
Brady threw for a then-NFL record 50 touchdowns that season — Moss caught 23 of them, which is a league record — and New England scored 589 points. A 19-0 record and a Super Bowl title obviously would have been icing on the cake, but there’s no denying the 2007 Patriots were stacked.
The title of “greatest team ever” isn’t too far-fetched, although the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, among a few others, probably disagree.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@NFLTotalAccess
