Heath Evans celebrates stopping the Jaguars on a fourth-quarter kickoff return last weekend.

The Providence Journal/ / Bob Breidenbach

It would be a shame if the Patriots lost now.

Now that they have history in the palm of their hand. Now that everlasting NFL glory is theirs for the taking. Now that a perfect 19-0 championship season appears not only possible, but likely.

It would be a shame if a season that would live forever should die on a frigid afternoon in Foxboro — where the Patriots haven’t lost a game all season. In fact, they haven’t lost a playoff game there since 1978. That’s 9-1 all-time.

It seemed ridiculous, back in September, to think of the Patriots going undefeated. Only one team in the Super Bowl era had achieved that most improbable, seemingly almost impossible, feat — the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who went 17-0 on the way to winning Super Bowl VII.

In an era of salary caps and free agents, of parity scheduling and 16-game seasons, with games played from Thursdays through Mondays, often at night, the idea that a team would go undefeated seemed not merely far-fetched, but downright ludicrous.

And, truth be told, the Patriots should have lost.

The Ravens twice stopped them on fourth down in the final two minutes on a Monday night in Baltimore in the first weekend of December, when gaining possession would have meant victory.

But Tom Brady’s futile quarterback sneak was nullified because someone on the Baltimore coaching staff had, inexplicably, called time-out from the sidelines just before the Patriots snapped the ball. And then, on the next play, when Heath Evans was stuffed short of the first-down marker, that was wiped out because a New England lineman had moved before the snap, drawing an automatic five-yard penalty.

Given two reprieves after failing twice on fourth-and-1, the Pats picked up the first down on fourth-and-6, as Brady scrambled for 12 yards, and then proceeded to throw the game-winning touchdown in a 27-24 victory to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds remaining.

Having pulled out that win, the Patriots now are just two wins away from perfection, and it would be a shame if they lost now.

Especially since the next two games seem so winnable.

The Patriots easily defeated San Diego — today’s opponent in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium — in their home opener the second week in September, 38-14. It was 24-0 at halftime. Brady completed 25 of 31 passes for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 of them to Randy Moss, without an interception. The Pats twice picked off Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, and limited star running back LaDainian Tomlinson to just 43 yards on 18 carries.

Granted, that was a very different San Diego team from the one the Patriots will be facing this afternoon. Those Chargers were still adjusting not only to a new head coach, in Norv Turner, but also new coordinators on both offense and defense. After losing 3 of their first 4 games, and 5 of their first 10, the Chargers have won 8 in a row — the latest a 28-24 upset of the defending Super Bowl champion Colts in Indianapolis last Sunday.

The Chargers won at Indy despite having Tomlinson, generally considered to be the NFL’s best running back, on the sidelines for three quarters with a knee injury, and losing Rivers, also to a knee injury, in the second half. San Diego’s game-winning drive was led by backup QB Billy Volek.

Rivers and Tomlinson both are expected to play today, but they’re not at 100 percent, and the cold weather will only exacerbate the pain they’ll feel when hit by New England’s determined — although not exactly dominating of late — defense.

The Patriots are favored by two touchdowns, and it’s easy to see why. They are the highest-scoring team in NFL history, a point-producing machine with the incomparable Brady at the controls, unerringly putting the football into the hands of a dazzling array of dangerous receivers.

And if the Pats, as expected, win today, then it’s on to the Super Bowl.

Doesn’t the AFC always win the Super Bowl?

Well, most always, anyway — the last 4 in a row, 6 of the last 7, and 8 of the last 10. Three of those AFC victories were by New England — in 2001, 2003, and 2004.

The Patriots would play either the Giants, a team they beat on the road in the final game of the regular season, 38-35, or the Packers, who earlier this season lost to the Cowboys in Dallas, where New England won in October, 48-27, when the Cowboys were undefeated.

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are undefeated in Super Bowls. There’s no reason to think they won’t keep their record unblemished.

And who wouldn’t root for them to do so?

If a pitcher has one inning to go in a perfect game, even against your favorite team, wouldn’t you pull for him to get three quick outs? If a bowler needed one more strike for a perfect game, would you hope he’d throw a gutter ball?

The Patriots are on the brink of something truly special. We are nearing the end of a season the like of which may never be seen again.

It would be a shame if the Patriots lost now.

jdonalds@projo.com