Despite loss, Patriots have nothing to be ashamed of

There's no sugar coating it. The 2013 Patriots saw their season come to an ugly end today, losing 26-16 to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game.

However, as we stew in our post-football grief, it's important to remember how incredible their season has been just to get to the AFC Championship. This team fought through an absurd amount of adversity throughout the season, overcoming any reasonable expectations ten-fold before even making the trip to Denver.

Lets take a trip down memory lane. The Pats offseason got off to a tumultuous start less than a week into free agency, with Wes Welker opting to jump ship and team up with Patriots arch-nemesis Peyton Manning in Denver. The Patriots would sign Danny Amendola in reaction, adding him as the presumed slot receiver to an offense featuring Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen and the two-tight end attack of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Those plans lasted, oh about three months, before Hernandez made national news after getting arrested on murder charges. Within weeks, Bill Belichick was asking questions about whether his star tight end had shown signs of being a murderous psychopath.

While most of the media attention turned towards the related PR hit and what this meant to "the Patriot way", the loss of Hernandez had a real, tangible affect on the team. Hernandez's unique skill set made him a nearly impossible matchup for every defense in the league, making him both a productive target for Tom Brady and an intriguing chess piece for Josh McDaniels. Without Hernandez, the Patriots offense unquestionably lost a key piece to their versatile offense.

While Hernandez was allegedly out killing people, the other star tight end was going under the knife. Rob Gronkowski's re-broken right arm developed an infection over the offseason, leading to multiple follow-up procedures to clean it up. Each of these, along with a "minor" back procedure, combined to push back the timeline of Gronk's recovery. Gronk would wind up starting the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, mandating that he would miss the first six weeks of the season.

Despite all this, hopes were high when the Pats started the season in Buffalo. Brady's rookie receivers had looked good in the preseason, and the offense still had proven playmakers like Ridley, Amendola and Vereen, with the later two coming up huge to carry the offense in a dramatic Week One win.

That win would be incredibly costly. Vereen gained over 150 total yards against the Bills, but would require surgery to fix a broken wrist suffered in the game, keeping the explosive third down back out until Week 11. Amendola aggravated a lingering groin injury in the first half, before coming back to make some incredibly clutch catches to fuel the comeback. Reports on the extent of the injury varied greatly (it seems pretty unlikely in hindsight that the muscle was torn entirely from the bone), but it is clear that it cost Amendola three games and affected him for the rest of the year.

Just a week into the season and the Patriots were stripped off their offensive weaponry. Gone were Gronkowski, Vereen and Amendola, along with the obvious absences of Welker and Hernandez. Even Danny Woodhead, who would have been the natural choice to slide into Vereen's role, was gone, having signed with San Diego as a free agent.

The Patriots offense would put up some ugly performances in the following weeks, as Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson had some expected growing pains while being thrust into prominent offensive roles. Despite this, the Pats got off to a 4-0 start, thanks largely to stingy performances from their defense.

Naturally, the defense was the next area of the team to get hit with the injury bug. A big win in Atlanta was tempered by the loss of big Vince Wilfork to a season-ending Achilles injury. Tommy Kelly would go down with a knee injury the next week, leaving the Patriots down to two unheralded and undersized rookies at defensive tackle: Joe Vellano and Chris Jones.

The next week saw another big win (this time with some last minute magic from Brady) come at a huge cost. Jerod Mayo: gone for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Aqib Talib suffered a hip injury that would cost him three games and noticeably limit him for at least five more. The comeback of Danny Amendola lasted all of a game and a half before he was lost with a concussion.

Despite this, the Pats had one gigantic Polish source of hope: the return of Gronkowski. Gronk came back the next week, giving the offense a badly needed red zone threat. Buoyed by the play of their tight end, the pedestrian Patriots offense woke up, becoming one of the league's most potent. By the time they got Vereen back (Week 11 vs Carolina), they were back to scoring 30+ points a game.

The next wave of injuries hit the team's secondary. Talib returned to the lineup in Week 11, but was clearly hindered by his balky hip. Kyle Arrington had already been playing (and struggling) through a painful groin injury, while Alfonzo Dennard's knee injury was bad enough to require a quick clean-up procedure. Steve Gregory's broken thumb forced rookie Duron Harmon into the lineup. The Pats were down to one healthy cornerback (Logan Ryan), just in time for a matchup with Peyton Manning.

As they had all season, they overcame the odds and won that one. However, the next big loss would come two weeks later, with Gronk suffering a torn ACL, MCL and a concussion in a scary collision with Browns safety TJ Ward. The defense was effectively gutted by injuries, and the offense was down their best playmaker. After losing the first game PG (post Gronk) to the Dolphins, there were whispers that a poor finish to the season could leave New England out of the playoffs.

Once again, the Pats pushed back with their backs to the wall. Effectively out of outside receivers with Thompkins and Dobson battling lingering injuries, the Pats reinvented themselves as a run-heavy offense. They ran right into the teeth of the Baltimore defense, getting a key win on the road, before finishing the regular season with another run-heavy win in the rain against Buffalo. Despite all of the injuries (I haven't even mentioned that their second best linebacker, Brandon Spikes, was hobbled throughout the second half with a knee injury), they were 12-4 and AFC East champs.

How did the Patriots overcome all those injuries? For starters, they never stopped fighting, regardless of the situation. They made plays in the clutch, going an incredible 6-1 in games decided by a field goal or less. Finally, players simply stepped up and handled their heavier-than-expected workloads. From Julian Edelman to Sealver Siliga, Logan Ryan to Jamie Collins, Michael Hoomanawanui to LeGarrette Blount, the Patriots roster is littered with previously unheralded players who made huge contributions to the season.

Don't get me wrong, this loss hurts. Watching Peyton Manning attempt to pull within one Lombardi of Brady in the Super Bowl will also hurt. But, when you think back on the 2013 Patriots, don't make the mistake of letting the sour ending tarnish all this team did accomplish. Be proud of this team.

Remember Kenbrell Thompkins game winning touchdown against New Orleans. Remember Tom Brady channeling his inner-Gronk and going insane after a touchdown in their dramatic comeback over the Broncos. Remember LeGarrette Blount doing the Ray Lewis squirrel dance after a decisive touchdown, mocking a crowd of 71,000 purple-camo clad Ravens fans. Remember Blount's 73 yard touchdown that broke the Colts back.

And, if your a masochist and choose to remember this AFC Championship game, remember that Denver's offense didn't get going until the Patriots lost Talib for the game to an injury. A fitting end to a star-crossed season.