Worst choke job in Boston Sports History….

[kraidstar]

Did the 18-0 Pats blow a big lead? Where was the choke exactly? Asante dropping the INT? Or general o-line play?

I thought the Giants' d-line was historically good but got overlooked during the season. I think pats fans still oddly refuse to give the Giants credit. They won 2 titles despite having a garbage QB. Their defense was just that good.

I don't consider the Rams' loss to the 2001 Pats a choke either. Bill Parcells and Pete Caroll built a juggernaut defense stacked with talent. With a defense that good, all it takes are a few clutch offensive plays to win.

Exactly. 18-0 patriots didn’t choke. On paper I can see why someone would come to that dumb conclusion based on regular season records. They took the lead with minutes to go against a historic defensive line performance and then got beat by flukiest play in sports history.

Giants don’t get the credit. They were playing better football then the patriots leading into that Super Bowl and pats still almost pulled off the impossible, improbable season running on fumes.

TP

Yeah, their defense just throttled us. It is one of the biggest disappointments for sure. As you said we were kinda running out of steam going into the playoffs. But as far as chokes go I thought the 2006 AFC Championship was far worse. That was an 18 pt lead, and we had loads of chances to get a first down or TD that would have sealed it.

And we would have pummeled the Bears had we made the SB. The Colts didn't even play well and they won that SB easily. Still makes me sick to this day.

[SparzWizard]

Did the 18-0 Pats blow a big lead? Where was the choke exactly? Asante dropping the INT? Or general o-line play?

I thought the Giants' d-line was historically good but got overlooked during the season. I think pats fans still oddly refuse to give the Giants credit. They won 2 titles despite having a garbage QB. Their defense was just that good.

I don't consider the Rams' loss to the 2001 Pats a choke either. Bill Parcells and Pete Caroll built a juggernaut defense stacked with talent. With a defense that good, all it takes are a few clutch offensive plays to win.

I think the "choke job" was them having perfect season and played against a wild-card NY Giants team. They also had the lead in the 4th quarter until the helmet catch happened.

Still, I'd rate all three Tom Brady Superbowl losses much higher than the Celtics losing the 2023 NBA Playoffs. C's really had no business hanging around after the series was 3-0 Heat lead. They should've lost in 4 or 5.

[kraidstar]

Did the 18-0 Pats blow a big lead? Where was the choke exactly? Asante dropping the INT? Or general o-line play?

I thought the Giants' d-line was historically good but got overlooked during the season. I think pats fans still oddly refuse to give the Giants credit. They won 2 titles despite having a garbage QB. Their defense was just that good.

I don't consider the Rams' loss to the 2001 Pats a choke either. Bill Parcells and Pete Caroll built a juggernaut defense stacked with talent. With a defense that good, all it takes are a few clutch offensive plays to win.

I think the "choke job" was them having perfect season and played against a wild-card NY Giants team. They also had the lead in the 4th quarter until the helmet catch happened.

Still, I'd rate all three Tom Brady Superbowl losses much higher than the Celtics losing the 2023 NBA Playoffs. C's really had no business hanging around after the series was 3-0 Heat lead. They should've lost in 4 or 5.

The Giants and Pats both played well though. How is that a choke? The Giants were built for the playoffs. They figured things out late in the season and went on a tear. They were a worthy opponent and squeaked out a lucky win.

[kraidstar]

I thought the Eagles SB was a far wirse choke that the Giants ones. The Falcons held that Eagles team to 15 points that postseason, and we couldn't force a single punt

[kraidstar]

I think this year was the worst for sheer volume of chokery.

The Atlanta series. Games 1, 3, and 5 against Philly.

We blew solid leads in games 1 and 2 against Miami. Nearly did the same in game 6. Games 3 and 7 were wire-to-wire panic.

We underachieved many, many times. There were few games I felt good about. Game 7 against Philly for sure. And games 4 and 5 against Miami. The rest of the time we were melting down regardless of how our opponent played.

Against Philly and Atlanta our sheer talent was enough. But Bam, Butler, and a bunch of undrafted chuckers beat us through sheer poise.

[ETNCeltics]

Did the 18-0 Pats blow a big lead? Where was the choke exactly? Asante dropping the INT? Or general o-line play?

I thought the Giants' d-line was historically good but got overlooked during the season. I think pats fans still oddly refuse to give the Giants credit. They won 2 titles despite having a garbage QB. Their defense was just that good.

I don't consider the Rams' loss to the 2001 Pats a choke either. Bill Parcells and Pete Caroll built a juggernaut defense stacked with talent. With a defense that good, all it takes are a few clutch offensive plays to win.

The NYG weren't historically good at anything. They were 10-6, they were middle of the pack statistically. They had 53 sacks which is very good but far from historic, and had a solid run defense.

They won a couple nailbiters to get to the SB, and only a Tony Romo's choke job got them past the divisional round.

The Pats had the most dominant offense and regular season the NFL had ever seen to that point.

If that's not a choke job, I don't know what is.

[kraidstar]

Did the 18-0 Pats blow a big lead? Where was the choke exactly? Asante dropping the INT? Or general o-line play?

I thought the Giants' d-line was historically good but got overlooked during the season. I think pats fans still oddly refuse to give the Giants credit. They won 2 titles despite having a garbage QB. Their defense was just that good.

I don't consider the Rams' loss to the 2001 Pats a choke either. Bill Parcells and Pete Caroll built a juggernaut defense stacked with talent. With a defense that good, all it takes are a few clutch offensive plays to win.

The NYG weren't historically good at anything. They were 10-6, they were middle of the pack statistically. They had 53 sacks which is very good but far from historic, and had a solid run defense.

They won a couple nailbiters to get to the SB, and only a Tony Romo's choke job got them past the divisional round.

The Pats had the most dominant offense and regular season the NFL had ever seen to that point.

If that's not a choke job, I don't know what is.

The offense was a bit fraudulent. Those bombastic deep passes don't work so well in the playoffs. The games are won mostly at the line. Bucs vs Chiefs is a great example of this.

The Giants won 2 Super Bowls with a middling QB and offense. That defense was built for the playoffs. Just like the 2001 and 2019 Pats.

[Moranis]

The Bruins losing in the 1st round after being up 3-1 and having the greatest regular season in the sports historynis a much bigger choke job than the Patriots losing in the SB (to a team they barely beat in the regular season) or the C's losing in the ECF after beingndown 3-0.

I think the 83 Celts getting swept in the ECS by the Bucks is the biggest choke job in C's history.  That never should have happened.

[Kernewek]

Did the 18-0 Pats blow a big lead? Where was the choke exactly? Asante dropping the INT? Or general o-line play?

I thought the Giants' d-line was historically good but got overlooked during the season. I think pats fans still oddly refuse to give the Giants credit. They won 2 titles despite having a garbage QB. Their defense was just that good.

I don't consider the Rams' loss to the 2001 Pats a choke either. Bill Parcells and Pete Caroll built a juggernaut defense stacked with talent. With a defense that good, all it takes are a few clutch offensive plays to win.

The NYG weren't historically good at anything. They were 10-6, they were middle of the pack statistically. They had 53 sacks which is very good but far from historic, and had a solid run defense.

They won a couple nailbiters to get to the SB, and only a Tony Romo's choke job got them past the divisional round.

The Pats had the most dominant offense and regular season the NFL had ever seen to that point.

If that's not a choke job, I don't know what is.

My memory from watching is that while it was certainly an upset, it wasn't really a choke?

[smokeablount]

I also don’t think the 18-0 Pats were a choke. It’s never been done. The Dolphins went like 14-0 and still celebrate every year. We got 4 more wins than the only undefeated season. Losing in the SB was a disappointment but hard to say it’s a choke when to “not choke” would be to do the impossible.

[Roy H.]

I also don’t think the 18-0 Pats were a choke. It’s never been done. The Dolphins went like 14-0 and still celebrate every year. We got 4 more wins than the only undefeated season. Losing in the SB was a disappointment but hard to say it’s a choke when to “not choke” would be to do the impossible.

Well, it wasn't impossible, necessarily.  The Pats were the clear favorites coming into the game, and they lost.   Just because something has never been done before doesn't automatically mean it's *not* a choke job.  The obvious example:  last night's Celtics game.  A team had never come back from an 0-3 deficit.  The Celtics could have, but came out flat and ice cold at home against the #8 seed.  It's probably fair to call that a choke.

I think the thread is showing some overlap between "choke" vs. "upset", though.  They're not equivalent terms.

[Donoghus]

Are the '86 Red Sox still the gold standard for local choke jobs?

[kraidstar]

Are the '86 Red Sox still the gold standard for local choke jobs?

Yeah. The stage was enormous,  the panic was palpable, the mistakes were spread amongst numerous players across multiple games.

We literally handed a championship away. We had many chances to change course but the ship sank straight to the bottom or the Mariana Trench