One loss has never loomed so large. It turns out, The New England Patriots are not The Greatest Team of All Time, as they were being hailed. And even though they are going down in history, they'll be there for all the wrong reasons. They will forever be considered one of sports' greatest disappointments, grouped with the likes of the 1991 UNLV men's basketball team, another group that didn't lose until it mattered most. It's possible for one loss to overshadow eighteen victories, and we saw it last night. And while I hate to look at a game from the loser's perspective, the historical aspect of this loss is too hard to ignore.

Lost in all of the talk about perfection is the fact that New England has looked very mortal since late November. Since week 12, when The Pats defeated The Eagles by three, the previously perfect team has only been dominant in one and a half games - on December 9th, when they decimated Pittsburgh, and in the first half of their week 16 game against the hapless Dolphins. The warning signs were there, and we chose to ignore them, likely because their story was so compelling.

Or maybe because Mercury Morris and the '72 Dolphins are so annoying. Whatever the reason, we dismissed the fact that this was a different Pats team than the one that ran roughshod over their opponents in the first half of the season. We ignored the impact of the loss of Roosevelt Colvin, which caused them to rely too heavily on the aging Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi. We also passed over the loss of Sammy Morris, who was the team's best running back when he went down with injury. This team made so many adjustments that they didn't skip a beat in the middle of the season, even with these losses. But something changed along the way. Whether it was fatigue, the impact of injury, or the weight of expectations, New England was no longer invincible in the latter stages of the season. In the playoffs it was more of the same, as they comfortably beat Jacksonville, but slithered by an injury-depleted San Diego team that shockingly outplayed them through three quarters. Despite all that, they made the Super Bowl.

They reminded me of the '95-96 Bulls, who were so dominant in getting off to a 41-3 start to the season, and kept winning, but less decisively, after Scottie Pippen aggravated a back injury and the pressure of winning 70 games became more intense. Those Bulls managed to pull through, and even though they stumbled twice in the finals, their championship was never in doubt. There are no best-of-seven series in football, however, and the Pats stumbled at the worst possible time. And, unfortunately for them, this loss becomes as much a part of their legacy as their three wins in four seasons. All year long, they were primed to do the unthinkable, and then yesterday, they did just that, just not in the way that we were expecting.

One game can change so much. Bill Belichick was considered by some to be the greatest coach ever, based on his remarkable success during the salary cap era. Now, after getting outcoached on the grandest stage (going for it on fourth and 13 instead of kicking a long field goal?!), and suffering through a new round of Spygate allegations, he'll be sure to face more scrutiny than ever before. Tom Brady got outplayed by Eli Manning, and his historic season now carries the same baggage that Peyton Manning's did in 2004 - remarkable, but incomplete. Randy Moss disappeared throughout the playoffs, and the most prolific offense ever was overwhelmed by the Giants' pass rush. In our haste to coronate these three, and their team, we missed the obvious - they were the second best team in the league during the playoffs, when true greatness is defined.