Recapping 2013: The season of comebacks and heartbreaks

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Walking off the football field in 2013 with the taste of disappointment after not getting back to the Super Bowl, a place where they failed to win in just two seasons before, the Patriots were looking forward to the next season, this just January 20th, 2013, only 364 days ago.

No one could have scripted a more horrible off-season than the Patriots faced. Losing Gronkowski for most of the upcoming season for surgeries, letting Wes Welker go to Denver, Aaron Hernandez being arrested, Lloyd leaving and then retiring, along with others. The Patriots underwent a complete face lift, something that the Patriots had to adjust to, and fast.

Going into the preseason, the Patriots looked sharp and were firing on all cylinders early. Tom Brady showed great poise and touch, as the preseason ended and the regular season neared though, many people questioned just how exactly this team would over come such adversity.

Following a come from behind victory against Buffalo, the Pats took on the Jets and while it was ugly, the new look Patriots were 2-0. Next up were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that was facing heavy adversity of their own, the Patriots and their defense locked up Tampa Bay and won 23-3. Next week however, the Patriots would face their first thorn in their side as Vince Wilfork went down, losing him for the entire year, however, this team was now 4-0.

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The team would soon taste defeat as the Bengals, aided by a late touchdown, went on to win 13-6 and as the Pats faced their first defeat of the season, another starter, Tommy Kelly, went down. New England would then go on to face the New Orleans Saints, on a day many New Englanders will never forget. First, the improbable come from behind victory against the Saints, then Ortiz's grand slam later that night to tie the game in the ALCS. Nevertheless, New England was 5-1 and once again the injury bug was a factor was Jerod Mayo would eventually be lost for the year and Talib went out with a bad hip.

After losing late to the New York Jets in heartbreaking fashion (and Rob Gronkowski's return on the season) the Patriots would stay at home for the next three weeks with two being home games, and a bye week after that. After the Dolphins took an early and somewhat shocking lead, the Patriots took off and never looked back as they took out the Steelers next week in what was likely the team's best offensive showing all year.

The much changed Patriots were now 7-2 heading into the bye week. Coming out of that bye week, they faced back to back stiff challenges. First, at the Carolina Panthers, in a Monday Night game where Cam Newton looked great and a late game call led to many arguments during the next week. The Patriots would lose that game, and faced the Denver Broncos on a short week.

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After one of the worst starts ever for the Patriots, down 24-0 at halftime. The Patriots would comeback and win the game in overtime 34-31. Now 8-3 and in the prime situation for a playoff bye, dispute injuries, many fans were loving it.

After coming from behind again against Houston  the next week and extending their record to 9-3, the Patriots eyed the Cleveland Browns in a game to always be remembered. After trailing late and basically being out of the game, two very late touchdowns sealed a near impossible comeback for Tom Brady and the Patriots, but the Patriots lost Rob Gronkowski to a torn ACL, and once again, the injury bug was a concern.

Now 10-3 with three games remaining. The Patriots were just three wins away from clinching the first seed, something some fans thought would never happen, but after a loss late to Miami, all hopes for that vanished.

The Patriots would go on to win their next two games and close the year 12-4 and with the 2nd seed. Among all the injuries, arrest(s), changes, and adversity, the Patriots were watching the Wild Card round at home, but not in a bad way.

The Patriots would face Indianapolis, and then they went on to face Denver. And while the Colts game was easy, the Broncos game wasn't. And as the season slowly came to a depressing end, I'll leave all fans with this message:

The 2013-2014 New England Patriots completely changed and adapted to these changes extremely well. Many rookies stepped up huge and because of that, next year's team will be a much deeper team depth wise in not only skill, but also experience. Next season will be a great season to look forward to as Tom Brady will get accustom to his offensive weapons and the much improved defense will be healthier and better. While this season left many heart stopping comebacks like against the Saints, Broncos and Browns. This team left with many heartbreaks and what-ifs that started way back when everything started to go downhill with their roster, to losing games late like at Miami, Carolina and Cincinnati. Next season will be a great season to remember, aside from any arrests that is...

Photo Credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images