2008 was the last year the patriots did not make the playoffs.
2008 was the last year the patriots did not make the playoffs.
when was the last year the patriots did not make the playoffs?
2008
the chargers would only appear and lose in three championship games since then. the chargers were set to defend their 1963 afl title in 1964 against the buffalo bills. however, a key play by mike stratton on keith lincoln would help the bills win, 20–7. the next year, the chargers played the bills again in the championship game and were shut out 23–0. the quarterback for the bills (and the game mvp) in both of those games was former charger jack kemp (and incidentally, those two championships would also be buffalo's last). in 1966, team owner and founder barron hilton was forced to sell off the team to appease the board of directors of hilton hotels. since hilton sold the team, the chargers have only had one super bowl appearance, in 1994, when they lost 49–26 to the san francisco 49ers, as san francisco quarterback and eventual mvp steve young threw for a super bowl–record six touchdowns. additionally, eight members of that 1994 chargers team, including team captain junior seau, died before the age of 45. since appearing in the super bowl, the chargers have fielded some dominant teams that appeared to be super bowl-type teams, only to take an early playoff exit. in 2004, the chargers finished 12-4 and hosted the new york jets in the wild card game, but they lost the game in overtime 20-17 despite rallying from a 17-7 fourth quarter deficit. in 2006, the chargers finished a league-best 14-2 and clinched the 1 seed in the afc playoffs. they hosted the new england patriots in the divisional round. late in the 4th quarter, with the chargers leading 21-13, patriots quarterback tom brady threw an interception to marlin mccree, which likely would've clinched victory. however, he was stripped of the ball by patriots wide receiver troy brown and the patriots recovered and took over in chargers territory. the patriots were able to tie the score at 21 and ultimately won the game 24-21 on a late field goal. this has since gone down as one of the greatest "what-ifs" in chargers history, going down as "what if marlin mccree holds on to the ball?". in 2007, the chargers finished 11-5 and won the afc west once again, and this time were able to advance to the afc championship game. despite praise from the media for philip rivers playing through a torn acl he had suffered the previous week in the division round win over the indianapolis colts, the chargers fell to the 17-0 new england patriots by a score of 21-12. since their super bowl appearance in 1994, this remains the only time the chargers have reached the afc championship game since that time. in 2008, the chargers became the first team in nfl history to start a season 4-8 and make the playoffs by winning their final 4 games, including a 52-21 victory in a win-and-in game over the denver broncos. after upsetting the indianapolis colts in the wild card game, the chargers lost to the pittsburgh steelers in the next round 35-24. in 2009, after a slow 2-3 start, the chargers won their last 11 games to finish the season at 13-3 and finish as the afc's number 2 seed. but in the divisional round against the new york jets, the chargers lost 17-14 which included 3 missed field goals by kicker nate kaeding. after the string of 4 consecutive afc west crowns from 2006-2009, the chargers only made the playoffs once in their final 7 seasons in san diego, in 2013 when they finished as the afc's number 6 seed after having won 4 in a row after a 5-7 start. they beat the cincinnati bengals in the wild card round 27-10, but lost to the denver broncos in the next round 24-17.
sports-related curses
on the opening possession of the game, the ravens stormed 71 yards in under three minutes to take a 7–0 lead, with joe flacco hitting rookie wide receiver kamar aiken on a 19-yard td pass. after a patriots three-and-out, flacco drove the ravens down the field once again, this time 79 yards in exactly six minutes, capping the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to steve smith, giving baltimore a surprising 14-0 lead. the patriots countered on their next drive. aided by a 46-yard pass to gronkowski, the patriots drove 78 yards culminating in 8 plays with brady tucking and running in a 4-yard touchdown, (in the process brady tied curtis martin's club record for rushing touchdowns in the playoffs) with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter. midway through the second quarter, the patriots marched 67 yards in three-and-a half minutes to tie the game at 14-14 with a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver danny amendola. a 23-yard completion to gronkowski earlier on the drive gave brady 6,595 career passing yards in the postseason, a new nfl record. the touchdown pass gave him 44 touchdown passes in the playoffs, tying him with brett favre with second behind only montana (who has 45). after a ravens three-and-out, with just over a minute remaining in the first half, brady was intercepted by ravens linebacker daryl smith at the ravens 43 for no gain. on 2nd-and-10 from the patriots 44, flacco threw an incomplete pass intended for steve smith, but revis was flagged for illegal contact, giving the ravens a first down at the patriots 24. three plays later, flacco hit tight end owen daniels for a touchdown to give the ravens a 21–14 with 10 seconds remaining in the half. brady took a knee to end the half. amendola returned the second half kick 28 yards to the patriots 26, but the patriots were forced to punt after a brady pass intended for gronkowski fell incomplete, with a controversial pass interference no-call on ravens rookie linebacker c. j. mosley. the ravens took advantage of the no-call and drove 70 yards with flacco throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass to ravens running back justin forsett out of the backfield, marking flacco's fourth touchdown pass of the game and giving the ravens the lead 28–14, their second 14-point lead of the game, quieting the patriots once raucous crowd. the patriots drove to the ravens 24 on their next drive. a 14-yard catch by michael hoomanawanui gave the patriots a first down at the ravens 10 with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ravens bench moving the ball to the 5. two plays later, brady found gronk for the touchdown, trimming the deficit to 28-21 and tying him with joe montana for the most postseason touchdown passes. after a ravens three-and-out, the patriots needed just three plays to tie the game. brady completed passes to edelman and vereen for 9 and 10 yards, respectively. then, brady threw a lateral pass to edelman, who then proceeded to throw to a 51-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open danny amendola, in what was edelman's first career passing touchdown, tying the game at 28-28. on the second play of the ravens next drive, mccourty intercepted flacco at the ravens 37 for no gain. despite the fantastic field position, the patriots didn't gain a single yard, and they decided to punt rather than attempt a 55-yard field goal. taking over with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the ravens marched 73 yards to the patriots 7, in 16 plays. on third down, daniels dropped a pass in the end zone from flacco, thanks to excellent coverage by patrick chung, who was having a renaissance season, and the ravens settled for a 25-yard field goal from justin tucker, taking a 31-28 lead fairly early in the fourth quarter. on the next drive, brady led the patriots down the field, with the drive culminating in a 23-yard touchdown pass to lafell with 5:21, giving the patriots their first lead of the game, 35-31. with the pass, brady set a new nfl record with 46 career postseason touchdown passes. he also set franchise single-game postseason records in passing yards (367) and completions (33). on the ensuing drive, the ravens were able to move the ball to the patriots' 36-yard line. on 2nd-and-5, with 1:47 to go, flacco was intercepted at the patriots 1-yard line by duron harmon on a deep pass intended for ravens receiver torrey smith. after three patriots kneel downs following the interception, the ravens called their last timeout with 14 seconds to go, necessitating a patriots punt. on the final play of the game flacco's desperation heave was batted out of the end zone, and was batted down around the 5-yard line, sealing the patriots' victory, and sending them to their fourth consecutive afc championship game.
2014 new england patriots season