Kicking off
The Patriots fairytale season ended with a thud.
They were no match for the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60.
They were outplayed, out-coached and picked the worst possible time to turn into a pumpkin.
But losing in the Super Bowl, getting blown out by the Seahawks, while disappointing, shouldn't diminish what the Patriots accomplished.
After spending a few years as bottom feeders, and losing relevance in NFL circles, Mike Vrabel's team prompted this refrain outside of New England with their remarkable turnaround: 'Not them again!'
And, looking past their improbable run, the future looks bright. That's the biggest takeaway.
With Vrabel and Drake Maye, and a a few other cornerstone pieces (Milton Williams, Christian Gonzalez) in-house, with more to be added, they’ll be a contending team for many years to come.
After the loss, the players were optimistic about the future. They insisted they’d be back. They should be a playoff team next year, even with a tougher schedule, but this game was proof they need more to win a championship.
“This is our first year here. No one thought we’d be here,” Carlton Davis III said. “We put the league on notice. Obviously, we didn’t get the job done. We have a bright future. We have a lot of great young players coming in and taking the league by storm in the first year ... I have a feeling we’ll be back.”
Here's some clips from the week:
