Why is this considered such a big deal? As far as I know...

Last season, Chelsea had won the league with one of the best points record in Premier League history. They lost the FA Cup final to an Arsenal side that had had its worst league performance in over 20 years. In 2013, Manchester City (the English champions the previous year) lost to Wigan, who had just been relegated. Sometimes the favourites lose in a knock-out competition, these things happen quite often yet people on Cred Forums seem to think it's one of the greatest BTFOs in human history.

going undefeated in the NFL means you swept your division. you have to play the same three teams twice every season. they know all of your common strategies and your best players like the back of their hand. needless to say that's very hard to do. on top of that, not only were they beating teams but they were breaking records. tom brady passed for 50 scores, the average for a typical quarterback of that time was in the high 20s. randy moss caught 23 of those scores, which is still the record to this day. who's in second place? jerry fuckin rice.

The hype at the time is a huge part of it. It would have been the best feat in NFL history, and everyone already thought that Patriots team was the best team in history. Leading into the super bowl against the giants everyone was so sure they would finish out because the giants weren't even that good. Plus the game itself was also one of the biggest meme games of all time.

There was only one other perfect season in all of Superbowl era history and the Patriots were an amazing offensive team that year and were held under 21 points. It was an amazing choke job by an amazing team who's QB and coach before were known for being clutch if nothing else. I don't think a soul in America outside of New York and New Jersey thought the pats could lose that game.

In 98 seasons of NFL/AFL football, only ONE (1) team has gone unbeaten/untied. The Patriots would have been the 2nd to do it, and the first to do it over a 16 game-season, so they would've also won more games than any other team in the history of the sport, in addition to setting numerous statistical records. They would've been widely regarded as the greatest football team ever. And the team that beat them wasn't a fellow juggernaut, but one of the biggest underdogs to ever reach the game. The Giants won despite being 14 point-underdogs, the largest Super Bowl upset by point spread since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. It is hands down the greatest Super Bowl upset of all time.

It wasn't just AN upset, it was THE greatest upset in the history of the sport.

Didn't 18-1 literally shitpost Cred Forums into existence?

because they cheated so prolifically to go untouched and then in the one game that actually matters choked on autistic dick

Well unlike whatever long-fired memes were coaching the AFC East, Coughlin realized "oh they're cheating maybe I should adjust my playbook"
So the Patriots went in on an even playing field for the first time all season and lo and behold got fucked

In American football maybe, I can name 10 greater upsets in association football alone.

Disregard this post, I suck dicks and I can't read. Although I still don't think it's very special, American football must not have many upsets if this is considered the biggest.

Dont compare 2 different sports cultures

Because Pats fans suck miles and miles and miles of cock.

Hope this helps.

you underestimate american's obsession with stats in sports

1. you know just as well as i do that the FA cup is treated as probably the third most important thing on chelsea/arse's sched after the PL and the CL. the super bowl is the ONLY championship that matters in american football
2. Arsenal is still a good team, whereas the giants at that point were barely above average. arsenal is ALWAYS a top 5 or 6 team in the PL, whereas the giants were a wild card that barely won over half of their games
3. There had only been one undefeated team in NFL history in the modern era. This is the equivalent if the Arsenal invincibles lost on the last match day of the season to QPR and also lost the PL title.
i think something similar happened to Benfica a few years ago

>American football must not have many upsets if this is considered the biggest.
You're gonna have to explain your reasoning here.

23 out of 52 Super Bowls (44%) have been point spread upsets; since the salary cap was put in place (1994) the number jumps to 15 of 24 (63%).

youtube.com/watch?v=qhw_YLGmvKw

Brady laughing at the idea that they might only score 17-points. Keep in mind they were the most prolific offense in history. Then they shit the bed against the Giants and only scored 14-points.

It wasn't the most surprising upset, just the most consequential. They were one victory away from being the greatest team in the history of the sport and ended up having absolutely nothing to show for their dominance, and no matter how many rings they win in the future it's almost a certainty that they'll never have another shot at a perfect season.

I think the best comparison to soccer is that Hungarian team from the '50s, that only lost one game the entire time they were together and it just happened to be the WC final, although that's a little more heartbreaking since Hungary hasn't had a chance to win anything since and likely never will again.

Fuck Pats haters. 505 yards suck on that number. Eli called upon the derp gods and won. The Giants are a fucking shitshow nowadays so....

The FA Cup is the last game of the season, Arsenal and Chelsea players both had plenty of rest before the final so it wasn't like they needed to hold back during the match. Arsenal also had their best (and only good) defender unavailable for the final. Three of their defenders were unavailable, either due to injury or suspension, so they were forced to play an old and slow Per Mertesacker (who had barely played at all that season) and Rob Holding (who was inexperienced). Meanwhile Chelsea looked unstoppable ever since they changed their formation after their first meeting with Arsenal. Chelsea had also battered Arsenal in their most recent meeting. Chelsea were the overwhelming favourites leading up to the match, not a single person rated Arsenal's chances and they still won. Also it's not really like the Invincibles losing because that happened in a round-robin league. It's almost impossible for a team to lose just a single game in the league and not win. However, in a knockout competition losing a single game in the campaign and not winning the trophy is very realistic.

Sure, it's an upset that the Patriots lost. But there are plenty of other examples in other sports that are more notable than 18-1.

>They were one victory away from being the greatest team in the history of the sport
I'm certainly not an expert on American football so I can't make any claim on who the greatest team ever is. But seeing as the Patriots have won so much this century surely a lot of people would still one of the best teams in history. Meanwhile Netherlands and Hungary missing out on the World Cup is far more consequential. I'd even say something like Arsenal being unable to win the Champions League in 2006 after winning pretty much every other trophy they could and slipping into mediocrity is more tragic.

I could understand if the event was seen more as a triumph for the Giants, in the same way that the 2005 CL final was seen as a triumph for Liverpool. But it seems to mainly be a joke at the Patriot's expense which just seems overexaggerated.

i don't think you understand how good that pats team was. there were maybe two teams on their whole schedule they didn't obliterate. almost 70 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, 50 sacks. they weren't just winning they were imposing their will.

And Monaco beat PSG to the Ligue 1 title last season despite PSG dominating the French league for the past however many years and rolling over teams before the match had even started. I'd say that's a more notable feat than 18-1 seeing as it happened over a number of games rather than a one-off game. There are dominant teams in every sport, sometimes they lose and don't win anything. That's what happens in a knock-out competition.

The Giants were ass tho. And the pats had already beaten them once that year. And the best offense of NFL history was held to only two scores. It's the way they lost bros. Being held to 14 like that is almost as bad as giving up 7 goals in soccer.

yes