Day 294: Well... Maybe Next Year, Patriots.

Since the launch of my Balls of All Sizes quest back on April 1, 2013, there has rarely been a shortage of topics on which to reflect. I've been lucky enough to pick a year where lots of newsworthy stuff has happened—some really amazing and some really bad—and I did my best to give attention to all of it. Even when I didn't want to.

From the Boston Marathon bombings, to the Bruins in (but losing) the Stanley Cup Finals, to the Aaron Hernandez murder charges, to the Red Sox winning the World Series, it's been a flood of subject matter. So after what the Bruins and Sox did, naturally I wanted the trifecta—the Patriots at least making it to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Peyton Manning and the Broncos had other plans. Curses!

I'm not here to make excuses for the Patriots. They played a shitty game—it's as simple as that. I don't want to hear about the injuries or their lack of weapons because they've had to deal with those deficiencies nearly all season long and ended up with a 12-4 record and the #2 seed going in to the playoffs. They were just plain outplayed. Unfortunately, there would be no magical comeback today.

While I'm sad about the loss and as much as I hate doing it, I must give props to the Denver Broncos for coming up with a game plan based on the obvious weaknesses of the Patriots and sticking to that plan. Back in November, they exploited the Pats' lack of run defense by rushing for over 250 yards. In the AFC Championship, the Broncos took advantage of New England's weak secondary and Manning picked them apart for 400 yards passing.

That's all I can muster tonight... Now pardon me while I go cry in my mac and cheese. Until next year...