Gone Glory: Will Patriots Ever Return to NFL Championship Sunday?

Can new coach Jerod Mayo and the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft lead the New England Patriots back to their once-commonplace spot in the AFC Championship Game?

The beginning of the end, turns out, was a 2-yard run in Arrowhead Stadium five years ago by Rex Burkhead.

Once as commonplace in late January AFC Championship Games as brutal winters in Boston, the New England Patriots will again only be spectators when the Super Bowl is set this Sunday in Baltimore and San Francisco. In a bygone era when the Pats had both Bill Belichick and an winning aura, they dominated the AFC.

Belichick and Tom Brady combined to play in an astonishing 13 AFC Championship Games in 18 years, including eight in a row 2011-18. They went 9-4 on championship Sunday, the last of which came in January 2019 in the iconic win over the Chiefs.

New England led 14-0 at the half, then had to withstand a furious rally led by NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes. The fourth quarter featured 38 points. Chris Hogan's one-hand grab. Dee Ford's game-saving offside penalty. Mahomes-to-Travis Kelce, long before Taylor Swift became an NFL fan. Brady at the peak of his powers. And, finally, Burkhead's score to win it in overtime, 37-31.

It might have been New England's best AFC Championship Game. It was also its last. The Pats won Super Bowl LIII two weeks later and ... nary a playoff game since.

While the Pats attempt to rebuild their dynasty behind new coach Jerod Mayo and the No. 3 pick in April's NFL Draft, Sunday will be a reminder of the difficult task. The AFC title between the Ravens and Chiefs is the first ever to feature two former MVP quarterbacks - Mahomes and Lamar Jackson - under 30 years old.

Instead, this weekend Pats fans are reduced to trying to find a rooting angle. It's not easy.

In the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers no longer boast ex-Patriot Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback. Instead, their discovery of Brock Purdy in the 7th round of the draft has diluted our excitement at landing Bailey Zappe in the 4th, much less increased the angst of whiffing on Mac Jones in the 1st.

Since the AFC East is no longer represented thanks to the Buffalo Bills' loss to K.C. last weekend, we're essentially pulling for former Pats' offensive lineman Joe Thuney (Chiefs) or ex safety Logan Ryan (49ers) to get another ring ... or former practice squadder Malik Cunningham (Ravens) to earn his first.

This season New England only played one of the final four teams. In a game started by Zappe Dec. 17 at Gillette Stadium, the Pats led the Chiefs, 10-7, in the second quarter before Mahomes threw for two touchdowns and Kansas City rattled off 20 straight points in a 27-17 win.

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That loss dropped Belichick's squad to 3-11 on their way to a 4-13 finish that prompted the legendary coach to part ways with the organization and the Pats to wind up with their highest draft pick since taking Drew Bledsoe No. 1 overall in 1993.

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