How to pass the time? Here are Chad Finn’s top five Patriots games to watch

Super Bowl XLIX is one of Chad Finn's five Patriots games to watch. Kathy Willens/AP Photo

March 21, 2020

2 minutes to read

History had changed earlier and for the better for the Patriots in February 2002, when they beat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI for the franchise’s first championship. They won two more in the next three years, but encountered a nine-season stretch in which their consistently excellent teams reminded us of how hard it actually was to win a Super Bowl. Their best game among so many thrilling ones is the championship that spawned the second phase of the dynasty, and the one that introduced the world to a little-known cornerback named Malcolm Butler: the victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

So many early plot twists in that game were reminiscent of past events, and not necessarily good ones. Seahawks receiver Chris Matthews, who entered the game with as many career receptions as your favorite pet, took apart Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington early. He was about as well known as David Tyree, and no further elaboration should be required about why we know that name.

Running back Shane Vereen channeled J.R. Redmond, a quiet hero of the first Super Bowl win, with clutch catch after clutch catch. And Tom Brady, who threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes against a ferocious Seahawks defense, orchestrated a late 10-play, 64-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Julian Edelman that put the fate of the game in the hands of the Patriots defense. It seemed to be a cruel nod to Super Bowl XLII, at the same venue in Glendale, Ariz., when the 18-0 Patriots could not hold a late lead and ended as the 18-1 Patriots.

The tension was unceasing. When Jermaine Kearse hauled in a 33-yard pass that seemed to deflect off every appendage on his body before he caught it, it was impossible not to think of … well, you know. Tyree’s helmet catch seven seasons before. “How many different plays are the Patriots going to have like this?’’ said NBC color analyst Cris Collinsworth in his incredulous drawl.

Collinsworth, twice in the final quarter, including with 2 minutes 52 seconds left and the tension at a premium, began inexplicably prattling about Deflategate. That still makes no sense. But play-by-play voice Al Michaels perfectly nailed the call of Butler’s goal-line interception with 20 seconds left. “Pass is intercepted at the goal line, by Malcolm Butler!’’ he said, with hints of bemusement and wonder in his voice.

That win didn’t change everything for the Patriots. But it restarted what had been a dynasty on delay.