Receiver Wes Welker, who tied a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions, couldn't bear to watch the final seconds tick off.
(Stephan Savoia/Associated Press)
PHOENIX - As Laurence Maroney left University of Phoenix Stadium following Super Bowl XLII, he wheeled his luggage slowly behind him. His team had just collapsed under the weight of the baggage it accumulated in the week leading up to the stunning 17-14 loss to the New York Giants.
It started with intrigue about quarterback Tom Brady's right ankle when the team arrived in Arizona Jan. 27. That was followed by four days of incessant questions about going 19-0, then the re-emergence of Spygate on Friday and new accusations surfacing Saturday that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough prior to the epic upset in Super Bowl XXXVI. Finally on Sunday, a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning to prognosticator/wide receiver Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left turned a historic season into a horrible one.
No one knows how much playing under the specter - or Specter, as in the Pennsylvania senator who wants to talk with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about his investigation into Spygate - of more cheating charges affected the Patriots, but it certainly didn't help.
The final days leading up to the game were filled with speculation, allegations, and ultimately distraction for the Patriots, and just like the bitter taste of watching a perfect season dry up in the Arizona desert, the Spygate saga isn't going away soon.
Goodell has agreed to meet with Specter to discuss why the NFL destroyed the six tapes it seized from the Patriots and also said that the league would reopen the investigation if it received additional information. Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who started the week outgoing and jovial and didn't have to answer a single Spygate question during Media Day, was dour and brusque by the end of the week.
There are other issues that the Patriots may not have been completely truthful about. Brady deftly deflected concern about his ankle injury all week, saying it wasn't going to be a problem in the game. When the injury report came out last Wednesday, Brady was on it, but it mentioned only his right shoulder. There was nothing about the high ankle sprain.
However, while his numbers were more than respectable (29 of 48 for 266 yards and a touchdown), Brady didn't look like the NFL MVP quarterback who had thrown a league-record 50 touchdown passes, save for one drive. No. 12 dipped into his reservoir of Super Bowl heroics to lead a 12-play, 80-yard march that gave the Patriots a 14-10 lead with 2:42 left, finding Randy Moss, who was left open by a fallen Corey Webster, for a 6-yard touchdown.
The Patriots, who scored an NFL-record 589 points during the season and hadn't been held to fewer than 20 all year, scored on their first possession of the game, which started with 4:52 left in the first quarter, and their penultimate possession, which started with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter.
In between, they punted four times, lost the ball on a fumble, and turned it over on downs, going for it on fourth and 13 from the Giants' 31 in the third quarter.
"I think they had a great game plan and they executed it, and I think they wanted to get after Tommy and they did do that," said Moss, who watched his quarterback get sacked a season-high five times.
The Patriots were a loose and confident bunch all week, but the burden of being 18-0 entering the Super Bowl appeared to take its toll, even if they wouldn't admit it.
"We didn't feel like there was any pressure," said safety Rodney Harrison. "We felt like it was just one game at a time. You guys really harped on it. Every time we won, we actually put that win up on the shelf and we could move forward.
"When we came in here, we felt like we could play loose and it was just a one-game season. We really didn't read into what the media was talking about and how you guys portrayed us. We just wanted to play football and came up short."
Harrison said he still thought the Patriots played loose, just not well. They certainly didn't play perfectly. But that was the maddening part for the Patriots and their fans: Despite a less-than-perfect performance, perfection was still within their grasp. With 2:39 remaining, all they had to do was keep the Giants from marching 83 yards and scoring a touchdown.
A sack here or an interception there and the Patriots had an undefeated season and their fourth Super Bowl title in seven years. Those are the type of plays that make the Patriots the Patriots. Only this time they never materialized. Asante Samuel and Brandon Meriweather muffed interceptions, and it all slipped away from New England just like Manning on that fateful third and 5 when he found David Tyree for a 32-yard gain.
"We had opportunities that we didn't capitalize on," said Harrison. "You can't make those mistakes and expect to win the Super Bowl. It's very disappointing not executing our game plan and being able to hold them down and really get off the field in critical situations."
"I never really imagined losing this game," added Harrison. "Coming into this game, we worked extremely hard and we were well-prepared and we felt like we could play football and it was just a matter of us going out there and executing plays and we didn't. We were very inconsistent, just not Patriot football."
Whatever derailed the Patriots' pursuit of perfection - karma, pressure, distractions, or all of the above - it happened at the most inopportune time.
In one hectic week, an entire season's worth of excellence was erased.
"Nothing that we accomplished was positive this year because we didn't finish up on a good note," said Moss. "Basically, we didn't do anything this season."
Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
