These are more than just losses, more than simply moments of frustration watching your team fail to meet the challenge against a given opposing team.
No, these losses to THIS opposing team and THIS opposing coach in THIS stadium cut much deeper. They define the soul-crushing exasperation of an entire fan base. They frame a despondency from which there has been no adequate or sustainable response, save for one momentous playoff upset more than a decade ago.
Losing to any other team can at least be compartmentalized and eventually be put aside. Losing to Bill Belichick’s Patriots is simply mind numbing.