They Suffered the Second-Worst Superbowl Loss of All Time
The Pats 2008 failure was painful, but that loss ranks No. 2 when it comes to New England's Superbowl heartbreaks. Indeed, the 1985 Patriots' run to the Superbowl is the stuff of silver screen underdog tales — only they subbed out the last pages of the screenplay for a harsh dose of gridiron reality. The squad played the role of the red carpet for the most dominant Chicago Bears team of all time, losing Superbowl XX by 36 points in a laugher of a game. After dropping three of their first five games, the Patriots rallied behind backup quarterback Steve Grogan to close out the regular season with six straight wins. Led on the ground by halfback and current U.S. Senate candidate Craig James, the Pats made an improbable march through the playoffs, including an AFC title game victory over the Miami Dolphins in the Orange Bowl — their first there since 1966. The Cinderella squad looked poised to live out the dream when they took the quickest lead in the big game's history, going up 3-0 only 1:19 into the first quarter. But when the Patriots looked up at the scoreboard at halftime, they trailed 23-3 and the dream was all but dead. The Patriots managed a little less futility in the second half, getting into the endzone against the vaunted Monsters of the Midway. The game ended with a rather unwelcome place in the ESPN Almanac, but at least Patriots fans could take solace that they weren't shut out (unlike Chicago's two previous stepping stones en route to football immortality).