On Sunday, the New England Patriots will play in their ninth Super Bowl since the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era began. The two G.O.A.T.s have won five championships together, including three titles in four years during the early 2000s, the fourth Lombardi was won in dramatic fashion against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX and the fifth came after an epic comeback in Super Bowl LI.
Even their Super Bowl-losing teams were great. The 2007 Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season before falling to the Giantsin Super Bowl XLII. The Giants again bested New England in Super Bowl XLVI, and the Patriots' third Super Bowl loss came at the hands of Nick Foles' Eagles a year ago.
With so many great teams to choose from, which PatriotsSuper Bowl team is the best of the Belichick-Brady era?
It is the only 16-0 team in the history of the NFL. When you look at the Pats' teams early on, they were stronger on defense. As time went on, they became stronger on offense ... but weaker on defense. I thought the 2007 team was the most balanced, when you look at the breakdown of personnel on both sides of the ball.
On offense, they had QB Tom Brady, WR Randy Moss, WR Wes Welker, OG Logan Mankins and OT Matt Light. On defense, they had NT Vince Wilfork, DE Richard Seymour, LB Mike Vrabel, LB Tedy Bruschi and DB Rodney Harrison.
They lost the Super Bowl on an incredible catch by Giants WR David Tyree, but I looked at the whole season -- not one game.
Tell me: If you absolutely needed to win one football game, which of these nine squads would you want? That's what I thought.