Ranking the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl losses by heartbreak level

1. Super Bowl XLII vs New York Giants (2007)

At last: The gold standard against which all other Patriots losses will forever be measured now.

Because of New England’s astounding run of success these past two decades, no one outside of the Northeast will ever feel sorry for this franchise when dark times befall it.

But if we’re going to objectively admit that the Patriots’ second Super Bowl victory over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII was a fairly boring game until the final quarter, then most football fans should be able to objectively agree that it’s positively gut-wrenching to go undefeated during the NFL regular season and win two more playoff games only to then lose in the Super Bowl.

It’s the classic question: Is it better to have loved and lost or to have never loved at all?

While most Patriots fans would probably choose the former and do it all over again — even knowing that David Tyree would make that catch on his helmet and the final standings would be 18-1 instead of 19-0 and history — it’s still agonizing to this day to reflect on what could have been.

I remember reading a neutral column 12 years or so ago right after this game happened. The writer said something to the effect that he was glad the Patriots lost in the championship to the Giants — not because he didn’t like the Pats or because he liked the Giants, and not even because he wanted to root for the underdog or root against the juggernaut.

Quite simply, he argued that he was glad New England lost because if they’d won and posted the first-ever perfect 19-0 season, the Patriots would have essentially beaten football.

Think about that for a second.

His point is that there’s nowhere to go from there. Obviously, you still come back the following season and try to defend your title like you normally would, but wouldn’t every other season that ever came afterwards just feel a little bit less-than?

No matter how many more championships you’d manage to win, nothing would ever come close to that 19-0 season.

Because of that, this writer argued that it was a good thing for not only the Patriots, but for all the NFL, that New England lost to New York in this game.

This way, until and unless another team posts a 19-0 season, there will always be something left for all 32 teams to strive for: The mythical idea of completing the perfect season and setting a wins mark that’s never been done before.

Whether or not you agree with him, it’s impossible to deny the greatness of this New England team. Most Pats fans will tell you that the very best incarnation of their squad was the same one that didn’t win a championship, and that it was this one.

You can stack this team up against the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, or 2018 teams, and 99.9% of Patriots Nation will choose the 2007 version all the same, even without the accompanying Lombardi Trophy.

I’m not going to go through a play-by-play of how this Super Bowl went down because it’s still too painful to relive, even 12 years later. This is the game that keeps Bostonians up at night and has them spiking their clam chowdahs at suppah with the salt of their own tears.

If you really want to learn more about how it all went down, go ask a Giants fan.