Be proud

[RocketsDWM]

It was a hell of a season. Just to get to the AFC championship game was a great accomplishment. They had marginal talent but Brady and company made the most of it. People said they had no WR corp yet Brady made them into NFL wideouts. The D was supposed to be washed up and done. Then Asante comes through.

Should be an interesting off-season. I hear Bruschi and Brown are retiring and Asante will not be re-signed.

[Dr. Duran Duran]

I don't think there is anything at all to hang your head over if your a Pats fan. I'll be the first person to tell you, I didn't think the Pats would make it this far. To continue losing key players on both sides of the ball and yet, continue to play as well as they do is a true testament to just how incredible the Pats are. A lot of you guys know I have the utmost respect for your franchise and I think this game just shows how great a team the Pats are. Win or lose, they make you earn it, big time. You guys will be around for a long, long time and I'm sure there will be many more opportunities as long as B & B are still in town.

[Warhawk]

I didn't think either of our teams would make it this far.

If I told you at the end of last year that one AFCCG team would have Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell as starting WRs, and the other would have the seventh worst run defense in the history of the NFL, y'all would have thought I was on crack.

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

i'm trying to be happy about this season, but i cant right now. if they had gone to the RCA dome and lost by 40 pts, it would be better than this, cuz i no that they were up 21-3 and should have won the game.

[teddy ballgame]

It's hard to be happy about it, because they should have won yesterday. As Fleshner said, if they lost by 40 then maybe you can appreciate how far we got, but the fact is, we could have won it all.

It's just disappointing to me that the team may have lost the opportunity to be regarded as possibly the best all time. 4 in 6 would have tied the Steelers of the 70's, and 4 SB's for Brady and Belichick put them even higher than they are now, if you can imagine that. Now because they couldn't get 1 first down or score 4 more points that's all going away. Hopefully we come back strong again in the next few years and could maybe be regarded as one of the longest living dynasties.

I think one thing that comes from this is that we can't just rely on Brady and Belichick anymore to get us through the playoffs. We need to get younger on defense, and get the man a few WR's. I'm not saying we should have resigned Branch, but something needs to be done.

With that said, I hope Manning gets his ring. I respect the man and am tired of all the crap about him being a choker when I don't think that's a fair criticism.

[madaslives911]

Yeah, let's just be proud that the Pats were able to have gone this far considering the many setbacks that they went through like losing Vinatieri, Branch, Givens and some other good players. Too bad that Rodney wasn't there and that their defense must have just ran out of gas in the end. Moreover, some Pats players were suffering from the flu. No alibis really. Team wins, team lose.... the Colts really did a great job and showed a fighting heart.

Here's hoping that the Pats could have a better season and another trip to the Superbowl!