Belichick can't bear to see perfect season tick away for Patriots

Then, disaster struck - in the form of an all-out, swarming defensive attack by the Giants - in the worst possible setting. It was the first time Brady had been sacked as many as five times since the New York Jets did it on Sept. 21, 2003.

"It's one of those things where they have a great front seven," Koppen said. "They have tremendous players up there and they just outplayed us."

The offense couldn't get going, other than Wes Welker - who tied a Super Bowl record with 11 catches - mainly because Brady had no time behind the line.

"I think their intensity from the beginning snap to the end of the game was really higher than ours," Moss said. "We just couldn't meet that intensity."

Ouch.

Given two weeks to produce the mother of all game plans, Belichick came up short. It's a position he's not used to, especially when he was correct 18 times this season. The only one that mattered, though, was the last one.

"Congratulations to the Giants," he said. "They made some plays there at the end and we didn't. It's disappointing."

The season started with a scandal - "Spygate" cost Belichick and the Patriots a draft pick, $750,000 and, to some, their credibility - and ended with reports of more foul play as a former member of the Patriots' video staff claimed he taped the St. Louis Rams' last walkthrough before they played in the 2002 Super Bowl.

It's all enough for Belichick and the Patriots to head into the offseason hoping to quickly forget a season that was a win from perfection.

"I can't let that loss take away from everything that happened this season," Harrison said. "It isn't just about wins and losses. It's about how we prepared and learned what we were as players and the camaraderie we formed."

They can keep telling themselves that, but training camp surely won't have many warm and fuzzy moments for the Patriots. Belichick is probably ready to get back to work - today.

"I'm sure we are all going to wake up (Monday) more disappointed," Brady said. "When you review the film, I'm sure we all could have done things better, but it's just part of competition. We competed against a team that is very deserving of being Super Bowl champs."