Super Patriots: Ranking the Super Bowl Teams

I was asked today which Patriots Super Bowl team is my favorite.

That's like asking me to pick which of my children is my favorite — or which Seasonal Sam Adams brew I like the best. It's nearly impossible to choose.

That said, I'm suffering from a massive case of writer's block tonight (no beer left, can't think without beer). Since I have no ideas of my own, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'm leaving the 1985 Patriots off the list for a couple of reasons:

1) I can't take any team quarterbacked by Tony Eason seriously.

2) I was 6-years-old.

3) The Patriots weren't the best team in the AFC that season, they just caught an overconfident Miami Dolphins team in the AFC championship.

4) Because of the 1985 Patriots, the Super Bowl Shuffle, Mike Ditka, and Refrigerator Perry all live on. I cannot forgive them for this.

It's amazing, after suffering through a 1-15 season, a 2-14 season, coaches like Pete Carroll, Rod Rust, etc. that I'm actually discussing my favorite Patriots Super Bowl teams.

This is not your parent's New England Patriots, that's for sure.

4) 1996 New England Patriots

The 1996 season started with a draft-day feud between Bill Parcells and Bob Kraft that carried over into the season and bubbled over in the playoffs.

Forgotten in the mess of Parcells' last season is exactly how good that draft was. The first three picks were all major contributors.

Terry Glenn was the controversial first round pick that signaled the beginning of the end of Bill Parcells in New England.

In the second round, the Patriots grabbed a safety out of Washington named Lawyer Malloy.

In the third round, they grabbed an undersized defensive lineman from Arizona that they thought they might be able to convert to a linebacker. His name was Tedy Bruschi.

The 1996 Patriots would not have beaten the 1996 Denver Broncos. Everyone in New England expected their season to end in Denver. But that didn't happen.

Mark Brunell put on one of the greatest playoff road performances in the history of the NFL in the divisional round. The upstart Jags pulled off a huge upset, setting up an AFC Championship Game in New England.

Big Play Willie Clay sealed the AFC championship for New England with an interception in the end zone, and the Patriots (only six years removed from 1-15, four years removed from 2-14) were heading to the Super Bowl!

Super Bowl week proved a disaster, as Bill Parcells spent most of the week negotiating a new contract with the New York Jets. The Patriots would eventually lose the Super Bowl, their head coach, and the better part of the next three seasons.

But this team was my generations first taste of NFL success, and for that they will always hold a spot in my heart.

3) 2003 New England Patriots

"They hate their coach."

Tom Jackson said the Patriots were dead after Week 1. They had cut their emotional leader and former team captain Lawyer Malloy just days before the season began, only to see him come back with another uniform and lay a 31-0 beat-down on them.

To make matters worse, Malloy was budding superstar Tom Brady's best friend on the team. Brady took the new hard and didn't hold back when asked about it.

It certainly looked like Tom Jackson was right.

The Patriots lost to the Washington Redskins in Week 4, leaving their record at 2-2.

They didn't lose again.

The team with no superstars on the defensive side of the ball, no big named wide receivers, and no running game to speak of won 12 straight regular season games, including the Patriots' defining moment — a game ending goal line stand against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Patriots became the first team to beat two current NFL MVPs in the same postseason, squeaking past the Titans then dismantling the Colts.

They played one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever, winning on a last second field goal.

Rodney Harrison was the key edition that season, taking over as the defensive leader when Lawyer Malloy was cut. He defined what the Patriots were: tough, smart, and intense.

In the Super Bowl, Harrison broke his arm making a tackle late in the fourth quarter. The Panthers were in the no-huddle and he didn't want to waste a timeout, so he stayed in the game.

Rodney Harrison, broken arm and all, made the tackle on the next play.

2) 2004 New England Patriots

Similar to the 2007 season, the 2004 Patriots were expected to win. That's not something we were familiar with in New England.

The 1996, 2001, and 2003 Patriots were not expected to win Super Bowls. In 2004, anything less would have been a disappointment.

By 2004, the legend of Tom Brady was in full gear, and he was only made better by the acquisition of Corey Dillon.

Corey Dillon had the best season of any running back in Patriots history. He was tremendous. The Patriots leaned on him heavily all season.

But it was the defense that made this team special. It was Troy Brown playing cornerback and Rodney Harrison playing Pro Bowl football. It was Tedy Bruschi becoming the best middle linebacker in the NFL for a season. It was Rosie Colvin recovering from a massive hip injury to become a playmaker.

People don't give them the credit they deserve. The 2004 New England Patriots were one of the greatest teams in NFL history.

The played the toughest playoff schedule in modern NFL history and walked through it easily. They were never challenged.

They humiliated the Colts, obliterated the Steelers, then systematically destroyed the Eagles in the Super Bowl.

Yes, it was a three-point Super Bowl victory, but it wasn't that close. The Patriots were never in trouble, were never worried, and never gave themselves the option of losing.

The NFL Network has the 2004 Patriots rated as the ninth best team in NFL history. Sounds about right.

(P.S.: Memo to the 1972 Dolphins — the 2004 Patriots would have mopped the floor with you.)

1) 2001 New England Patriots

I was sitting in the sixth row, on the 40-yard line, when Drew Bledsoe's Patriots' career came to an end.

Mo Lewis destroyed Bledsoe and introduced the world to Tom Brady.

This was a magical season. The 2001 Patriots were not the best team in the NFL that year (the Rams were) and they weren't the best team in the AFC (the Steelers were).

They just found crazy ways to win.

They won a game in Buffalo because David Patten was knocked out cold and his helmet touched out of bounds while the ball was touching him.

They won a game against the Jets because a former XFL wide receiver named Fred Coleman went bonkers.

They beat the Raiders in the playoffs because a fumble was correctly overturned, their kicker hit an impossible field goal, and their quarterback was absolutely perfect in a blizzard for the fourth quarter and overtime.

They beat the Steelers because of a punt return for a TD, a blocked field goal returned for a TD, and the fact that Kordell Stewart remembered he wasn't a legitimate NFL quarterback.

They just kept finding ways to win. When they met the Greatest Show on Turf in the Super Bowl, all of New England knew they'd find a way to win.

Tom Brady became Tom Brady during the last 1:21 of the Super Bowl that season. Up until that point, there were still people clamoring for the return of Drew Bledsoe.

One drive, one kick, one championship, and Tom Brady and the New England dynasty was born.

It was then and will always be the greatest sports related moment of my life.

I'm SeanMC.

SeanMC is a columnist for Bleacher Report and writes a column for Sports Central every other Thursday. You can read more articles by SeanMC in his Bleacher Report archive.