7. New England Patriots (2008)
Tom Brady’s men feature twice on this list. In many people’s eyes, this was the greatest NFL team of all time. They went unbeaten through the entire regular season. It looked like they were set to emulate the Miami Dolphins’ unbeaten year. However, Eli Manning and his New York Giants refused to be denied. They were the NFC’s sixth-round seed and had no right to win (via Bleacher Report).

But this was a true underdog story. Manning refused to allow the Patriots to deny him. Finally, the game finished 17-14 for the Giants. The Patriots’ hopes of immortality were over. Instead, they guaranteed their place on lists like this because of their near-miss. New England lost a few Super Bowls over the years but this was one of the toughest.