Morning sports update: Rob Ninkovich provided perspective on Patriots’ playoff streak coming to an end
"I know in my lifetime we'll never see another team with a run like the Patriots have had."
The Patriots lost to the Dolphins on Sunday, 22-12, officially eliminating New England from postseason contention for the first time since the 2008 season.
One of the other standout results from Sunday was the winless Jets beating the Rams, but potentially costing the team a chance at the No. 1 overall pick in the process.
Only the Jets could lose by winning pic.twitter.com/EcKjGyRn0k
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) December 21, 2020
Rob Ninkovich provided some perspective on Patriots’ run: Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins was the formal end to multiple record-setting streaks for the Patriots.
It was already the end of the team’s run of AFC East titles, and 10-win seasons, but it was also the end of New England’s consecutive years streak of postseason appearances, and winning seasons.
With the run over, former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich — who played in New England from 2009-2016 — provided some perspective.
“We’ll never see it again. I know in my lifetime we’ll never see another team with a run like the Patriots have had,” Ninkovich said of the Patriots’ accomplishments since the start of the 2001 season. “I was blessed to have eight years of that run underneath my belt. I think it was awesome for the fans of New England. If you’re a Patriots fan, I understand everything this year has been difficult, it’s been tough. But the last 20 years were pretty awesome and when you’re in the playoffs every single year, it’s exciting.
“It’s odd to be here,” Ninkovich said of New England’s atmosphere without a playoff appearance. “You turn on the radio and it’s not the Patriots moving on into the playoffs or what their seeding is going to be in the playoffs. It’s just such a weird feeling around here. It really is. So it wasn’t going to last forever, but it was a heck of a run.”
Trivia: The Patriots last missed the playoffs in the 2008 season. What player led the team in interceptions that season with four?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He played at the University of Miami in college.
More from Boston.com:
- Here’s what Tom Brady said about the Patriots missing the postseason for the first time since 2008
- ‘We didn’t deserve to win today’: Bill Belichick was asked about the Patriots’ playoff streak coming to an end
- 5 takeaways from the loss that ended the Patriots’ playoff chances
- 12 thoughts on the Patriots’ 22-12 loss to the Dolphins
- Devin McCourty explained why next year’s Patriots ‘won’t be the same’ as this year’s group
- NHL announces return to play plan: 56-game schedule, with Canadian teams staying north of border
- Comeback, Part II: Brady breaks Falcons’ hearts again, 31-27
- ‘It’s another game when you think about it, but not really’: Dolphins react to beating Patriots
- With Tom Brady on the verge of the playoffs, the Patriots are done
- ‘It’s another game when you think about it, but not really’: Dolphins react to beating Patriots
- Terry Francona explained how 2020 shaped his view of the team name Indians
- Samantha Mewis named U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year
The Patriots were almost part of a “Scorigami” scenario on Sunday
: The 22-12 score has only happened one other time in league history.
NE 12 – 22 MIA
FinalNo Scorigami. That score has happened 1 time before, most recently on October 8, 1961.
— Scorigami (@NFL_Scorigami) December 20, 2020
Devin McCourty’s thoughts on the Patriots’ season:
On this day: In 2001, the Red Sox — amid the arrival of new ownership — signed outfielder Johnny Damon. It was one of the last moves made by then-general manager Dan Duquette (as he would be fired shortly after the ownership group was officially installed in 2002).
Damon, on top of adding both speed and power to the top of Boston’s lineup, would become an inimitable part of the charismatic and unique Red Sox team culture. In the vaunted 2004 season, which delivered the first Red Sox World Series win in 86 years, it was Damon who came up with the group’s self-deprecating nickname: The idiots.
Daily highlight: Derrick Henry was once again tossing NFL players around like it was nothing in the Titans’ 46-25 win over the Lions on Sunday.
Derrick Henry with the MEAN stiff arm! 👑
📺: Watch #DETvsTEN on CBS pic.twitter.com/1jhPLFZncg
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 20, 2020
Trivia answer: Brandon Meriweather
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