FOXBOROUGH, MASS. - In reviewing a 2007 season that was filled with unexpected twists and turns, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick acknowledged that the pain still lingers from losing Super Bowl XLII.

"Sure," he said. "It's hard to think of 18-1 as being a disappointing season. It is. We had our chances, but in the end -- we just needed to make one more play somewhere along the line, and we just weren't able to do it."

As of Sunday evening, Belichick had yet to watch a tape of the Patriots' 17-14 loss to the New York Giants. He plans to do so at some point.

Reflecting on what unfolded that night in Glendale, Ariz. --when the Giants dashed the Patriots' hopes for a historic 19-0 season -- Belichick could not pinpoint one aspect that might have altered the outcome.

"You get beat in the last 30 seconds, so anything could have made a difference anywhere along the line that any of us did -- players, coaches," he said.

Weekly challenges

Over the course of the year, the Patriots faced a variety of challenges, especially off the field, starting with the death of reserve defensive lineman Marquise Hill in late May.

Cornerback Asante Samuel stayed away for most of training camp because of his contract situation; safety Rodney Harrison was suspended four games at the start of the season for violating the NFL's banned substances policy; the league penalized and fined Belichick and the Patriots for videotaping procedures after the first week of the season; receiver Randy Moss faced allegations of domestic battery leading into the playoffs; and quarterback Tom Brady's right ankle became a hot-button topic before the Super Bowl when he was photographed by paparazzi in New York City wearing a protective boot.

When assessing the challenging aspects of the season, however, Belichick focused solely on what took place on the field.

"It seemed like there was something every week," he said, noting the difficult schemes of the opposition and his feeling that the Patriots "played a really tough schedule."

"I thought being able to go undefeated in the division, that was a pretty big accomplishment, too," Belichick added. "I'd say the week-to-week challenges -- we faced some tough weather games at the end of the year, road games, faced a lot of good teams. It seemed like every week was either one of those or multiple, and that was very challenging."

With the Super Bowl more than two weeks behind him, Belichick noted the Patriots are now transitioning into team-building mode for 2008.

"We're kind of right at that point where the most important thing is to evaluate our team going forward, what we're going to do with the guys we have," he said. "There are some guys we don't have rights to that we either have to find a way to get on our team or move on without them, one way or the other. I think that process is really just starting right now.

"We're trying to get caught up on some of the draft stuff and trying to take a little bit of a look at the free-agent market. You don't know how that is going to go. As some of these other guys come onto the market as they're released, there are guys we would at least talk about, and then it's whether we want to move forward on them or not. It varies from player to player."

What about Moss?

Asked about the status of Moss, whose contract expired after the season, Belichick said, "I'd say the same thing about all those players. Each player's situation is a little bit different. As always, we'll try to do what's best for our football team and have to take into consideration what's best for the player and see whether the two can meet at some type of position that everyone is comfortable with. We'll just take it on a case-by-case basis."

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