Be honest, witnessing undefeated streaks and their eventual end is a combination of pride, shock, plenty of screaming, and silence with rivers of tears. Surprisingly, streaks are probably meant to be broken by the least likely individual (or individuals). Surely, your favorite athlete or team has been the one to deliverer the fatal blow, so you know the feeling of overwhelming joy? Maybe you’ve seen it from the other side. The beauty of streaks is knowing that they can’t be replicated, it’s all “once in a lifetime”.
Eli Manning’s 210 consecutive starts come to erupt end
Ever since November 21, 2004, Eli Manning became the starting quarterback for the New York Giants. During his 13 year tenure, Manning started for 210 games; two of which consisted of Super Bowls 42 and 45 (starts 44 and 130).For some reason, (now former) coach Ben McAdoo benched Manning in favor of the former Jet; Geno Smith. Apparently, McAdoo just wanted to give Smith a try (and Davis Webb, but no date for Webb was confirmed) and that “this is the best direction for the team”. That experiment was an absolute bust and resulted in McAdoo being fired.
Undertaker’s Wrestlemania Streak
For twenty straight Wrestlemanias, the phenom known as the Undertaker racked up twenty victories.
Once Taker reached a certain amount of wins, fans came to accept that he will never lose. It required the greatest of opponents for everyone to stay in shock when it seemed like the streak was about to end. Of course, Taker won them all. At Wrestlemania XXX it is where it came to an end; at the hands of Brock Lesnar.Lesnar’s dominance was not convincing enough to have people believe that he would win.
25 minutes in and everyone was expecting the match to end. Yes, they were right. Lesnar got the F-5 to break the streak. Silence was everywhere, many thought there was a mistake, and even the ref thought that he messed up. It wasn’t until the 21-1 graphics appeared to confirm the defeat.
Oscar De La Hoya
Mexico’s “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya was one of Mexico’s best boxers during the late 90s and early 2000s.
On September 18, 1999, De La Hoya (31-0) fought Puerto Rico’s Felix “Tito” Trinidad (35-0). The fight itself had the potential to be one of the best fights of the 90s. Analysts and fans alike agree that the fight was fixed. De La Hoya was clearly winning most of the fight; but in the end, Tito won via majority decision. Not only was this De La Hoya’s first loss; it was also the beginning of frequent losses for the remainder of his career. In worst way possible, he lost his final match.
Die Mannschaft’s Blitzkrieg in Belo Horizonte
2014 World Cup host, Brazil, faced a very destructive Germany team in the semi-finals. The Germans opened up the floodgates at the 11th minute with a goal by Thomas Müller.
Miroslav Klose followed up with his (record breaking) goal twelve minutes later. By the end of the first half, Germany had scored five goals, four of which came within a span of six minutes. Andre Schürrle closed the deal with two goals during the 2nd half. Brazil’s Oscar scored a meaningless consolation goal at the 90th minute.Brazil’s loss broke their 6-match home undefeated streak dating back to the 1975 Copa America (to Peru 1-3). 39 years of glory were crushed in 79 minutes and converted into a national humiliation.
49ers’ first Super Bowl loss
After 19 and 12 year Super Bowl appearance droughts, respectively, the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens made it back at Super Bowl 47. The 49ers came in as the favorites, with a 11-4-1 winning season and the Ravens were sporting a 10-6 record.
Apart from that, the Niners were also looking to keep intact their Super Bowl undefeated streak.Things weren’t looking good as the Ravens built a 28-6 lead by the third quarter. After a 30 minute blackout, the Niners scored 17 unanswered points to the score to 28-23. One of the greatest comebacks wasn’t mean to be. Baltimore ended up winning 34-31, thus handing San Francisco its first franchise loss at the event.
Patriots are stopped at 18-1
For the first time since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, a team finished the regular season with a perfect record. To finish off the perfect season (2007), Tom Brady and company entered Super Bowl 42 looking for their fourth championship (their first since the 2004 season).
Somehow, the Giants defense held off Brady to only two touchdowns. As the game was approaching the end, the Patriots had a 14-10 lead (2:42 left on the clock). On 3rd-and-5, Manning escaped the blitz and threw the ball to David Tyree for a miraculous first down (dubbed the “Helmet Catch”). The drive ended with a touchdown by Plaxico Burress and the win. 19- 0 was not meant to be.
