The simple answer is no, considering the way they played for so long.
But I believe the true answer is, probably.
The Patriots did not look like the Patriots almost from the opening gun on Super Bowl Sunday. The entire season, or at least most of it, they dictated the pace and style of the game.
With all of the “perfection” talk, I wonder now if it was all worth it. Since the Indianapolis game, the Patriots ninth win, it was all Patriots, all the time on the network football shows.
Add in the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the ugly wins beginning on Thanksgiving, and I believe this team had lost its edge.
When you are not a power team, like they probably were the other Super Bowl wins, I believe the edge is easily lost.
When your team is based on toughness, ugly or picturesque, that is easy to bring to the table every game. Sort of like Bobby Knight’s take on defense: “Defense is about effort not execution. There is no excuse for not playing good defense every night.”
I would not blame the loss on the this aspect, but I would say it played into what happened that night.