The Patriots achieved so much during their two-decade, never-to-be-duplicated dynasty that it has required a couple of years to fully comprehend certain aspects of it.
Example: From 2011-18, they made eight straight AFC Championship games.
We were always aware of the impressiveness of this, of course, and appreciative enough. Yet because the laser-focused mission in those days was to win Super Bowls, and there were some profound disappointments sprinkled in among those six confetti-rain victories, those eight straight trips to the NFL’s final four was something that could not be properly savored in real time.