The Patriots’ 5 Super Bowl losses, ranked

The New England Patriots have won five Super Bowls, which is tied for the second-most of any NFL franchise in history. On Sunday, they set a Super Bowl record for most Super Bowl losses with five after falling to the Eagles.

A lot of people don’t really like the Patriots. For some, it’s because they’re so damn good. For others, it’s because they have a reputation as cheaters for a variety of reasons.

Regardless, this is the definitive and totally serious ranking to decide what the best Patriots Super Bowl loss is.

This one has to be high on the list. The Patriots’ dynasty was favored over the Nick Foles-led Eagles, and we got a classic. Even when it felt like we were going to get a classic Tom Brady 91-yard drive to win the game, he came up short — although it seemed like that final Hail Mary was in the air the entire time.

And Foles caught a touchdown in the game. Foles!

The one that ruined the perfect season.

Everybody expected the Patriots to go 19-0 — but David Tyree, his helmet, and the Giants had other plans.

There’s been seemingly at least one catch per Super Bowl since then that has given it competition for best Super Bowl catch. But Tyree’s helmet grab is still the pinnacle.

It kept the Giants’ drive alive, and Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress sealed the deal from there.

Giants-Patriots Part 2 was another classic, and another Super Bowl that went to Manning and the Giants. There was another spectacular Super Bowl catch, though not quite as impressive as Tyree’s helmet grab.

Mario Manningham caught a ball between two Patriots defenders that was dropped in perfectly by Manning with the Giants down two deep in their own territory:

The Giants would end up scoring on that drive, and hand the Patriots a second L.

This was the first big L that Drew Bledsoe took in his Patriots career. Brett Favre won his only Super Bowl with Mike Holmgren and the Packers.

One of the weirdest things about that Super Bowl is that almost no highlights of that game are ever shown, except Desmond Howard’s 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Otherwise, it seems the only thing we ever see from that Super Bowl is Favre running onto the field with his helmet off.

That Super Bowl loss was the end of Bill Parcells in New England. Before leaving for the Jets, he delivered his famous quote, “They want you to cook the dinner; at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries. OK?” Parcells wanted to draft Tony Brackens in 1996, and Robert Kraft insisted they draft Terry Glenn, which they ultimately did prior to that Super Bowl season.

Bledsoe would lose his job to Brady four years later, and a dynasty would be born.

Before the Patriots’ become a superpower, they faced one of the NFL’s most legendary teams in the Super Bowl: the 1985 Bears.

The Bears crushed them 46-10. While it doesn’t have the same “Ha! Ha! The Patriots lost!” vibe because it’s not a Brady-Belichick era loss, it’s one that we can add to the tally giving them the most Super Bowl losses in NFL history.

Yes, all of their Super Bowls are tied for the best. Picking one (I imagine) is like picking a favorite child.