I do not think that the New England Patriots loss in the AFC title game affected the legacy of the Belichick and Brady combination. While some may say it does because the Patriots have not won the superbowl since being caught in what was come to be known as "spy gate" I think the opposite.
Since that game they have been 64-15 in the regular season (65-15 if you count that win against the Jets and let us be honest here, I don't think the Jets had a shot there...) so that puts them at a .8125 winning percentage with Brady starting (not the 2008 season is not counted he did not play). Since that game they have also been 5-5 in the playoffs, counting both losses in their super bowls to the Giants, they have also been 2-1 in the AFC title game.
While one could say that it does not matter the Patriots have been successful since the spy gate that is rather absurd to say because both super bowl losses have come to the same team and the Patriots defense has become soft, and the Patriots never filmed offensive signals. In fact Brady has had his best seasons since that game including that season when he threw for an NFL record 50 touchdowns, he also ran for 8 more.
The Patriots went 16-0 that regular season and 18-0 all the way to the Superbowl before being stunned by Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Since that year Brady has still posted career years including a year that saw him throw 36 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions giving him a ratio of 9:1 and his second season of a passer rating of over 110 which is an NFL record. His TD/INT numbers including 2007 are 187-45 which gives him a ration of just over 4:1 which is difficult to accomplish.
Looking at the Patriots other 3 losses in the playoffs they have 2 to the Ravens including this year and 1 to the New York Jets, The Ravens always play the Patriots hard, and almost beat them in the AFC title game last season and finally beat them this season. The Jets played the Patriots hard the first two seasons under Rex Ryan and the Pats loss to the Jets happened in the second season under Rex Ryan, and Eli Manning is 3-1 against Brady all time including a 2-0 record in the super bowl.
The point I am making by using that information is that one can simply not say that the Patriots have not been successful since they were caught cheating against the Jets in the 2007 season opener and since there is ZERO evidence that the Pats cheated in any super bowl they have ever played in.
Some may say that this loss against Baltimore has tarnished Brady and Belichick's legacy but I do not think so. As long as they are together the Patriots will always be a threat to the rest of the league and will be contenders every year, they have been to 4 AFC title games since their last super bowl victory, that is more than any other team in the NFL since the Patriots last won the big game in the 2004-2005 season.
The legacy that will be left behind may be tainted because the Patriots got cheating in the 2007 season, but overall the legacy is 5 super bowl appearances, going 3-2 (3-0 to start), 5-2 in AFC title games (3-1 at home) numerous passing and scoring records and many wins to go along with all their other feats.
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