Monday morning was like Christmas Day for critics of the New England Patriots.
The Patriots lost in stunning fashion to the rival Miami Dolphins in their Sunday Week 17 regular season finale at Gillette Stadium, which dropped the defending Super Bowl champs to the No. 3 seed. Losing out on a top-two seed means the Patriots will be playing on Wild Card Weekend for the first time since 2009.
A large chunk of the national media has already declared the Patriots' dynasty over (again) before Saturday's playoff matchup with the Tennessee Titans in Foxboro. FOX Sports 1 even had a clock on its shows counting down the remaining days left in the Pats' dynasty.
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One member of the national media who isn't abandoning ship is Deion Sanders. The NFL Network analyst and Pro Football Hall of Famer admitted Monday that he's still "ride or die" with the Patriots as the postseason nears. Check out his explanation in the video below:
The Patriots have never won a Super Bowl as a wild card team, and their only Super Bowl appearance as a wild card team came in 1985. The last time the Patriots won on Wild Card Weekend was 2006, and all six participants in the last three Super Bowls all had a playoff bye.
The odds are stacked against the Patriots, but despite some of their struggles during the regular season, it's still hard to bet against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Julian Edelman when it's win-or-go-home time. The Patriots have won eight consecutive home playoff games, and it's going to take a tremendous performance by the Titans to end that impressive run.
