Brady Hunch Pays for Patriots

Dearly beloved:

We are gathered here to pay our final respects to the old New England Patriots. You know the team, the one that staggered to a 1-3 start; was nearly torn asunder by Drew Bledsoe’s aching chest (and Terry Glenn’s bellyaching); and, a month into the season, was thoroughly embarrassed in a 30-10 loss at Miami.

That defeat prompted Patriot Coach Bill Belichick to grumble, “We just got our butts kicked,” and no one disagreed.

The next day, Belichick sank a shovel into a spot just off the practice field. He dug a small grave and laid the game ball to rest, stepping aside as players tamped down the dirt with their cleats.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

Chaos to playoffs.

The Patriots will play host to the Oakland Raiders on Saturday in an AFC divisional playoff game. Unlike the Raiders, who roared out of the gate and seemed to peak at midseason, the Patriots overcame a slow start and the loss of Pro Bowl quarterback Bledsoe to win eight of their last nine.

New England’s amazing turnaround from punching bag to AFC East champion--orchestrated in part by backup quarterback Tom Brady and scrap-heap running back Antowain Smith--rivals that of the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who lost quarterback Trent Green, then rode arena-league refugee Kurt Warner all the way to a Super Bowl victory.

Belichick has done fix-it jobs before. He took over the 3-13 Cleveland Browns in 1991 and, over the next four seasons, built them into an 11-5 playoff contender. But that was nothing like this.

Even before the season started, the Patriots were rife with problems. They were unable to sign Pittsburgh running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala, so they settled for Smith, a castoff from Buffalo. Their offensive line was riddled with injuries; each starting lineman missed at least one exhibition game. And Glenn, their oft-troubled star receiver, was warring with the front office, which was holding back deferred payments on his $11.5-million signing bonus.

Then, the season started and things really took a turn for the worse. In the second game, against the New York Jets, Bledsoe was clobbered by linebacker Mo Lewis and suffered a sheared blood vessel in his lung. He lost half the blood in his body over a 21/2-hour span. The potentially fatal injury sidelined him for eight weeks--and probably cost him his job for good. This is the guy the Patriots had drafted first overall in 1993, had led them to the Super Bowl three years later, had accepted a $103-million contract before last season, and whose face is still plastered above the team’s Web site. Bledsoe was the franchise.

He also had been outplayed in training camp by Brady, a sixth-round pick from Michigan in 2000. Brady, who faced plenty of starting defenses in exhibition games, finished with a 91.9 quarterback rating, completing 57% of his passes for two touchdowns with no interceptions. He was never sacked, either, even though he stood tall in the pocket and didn’t shrink from contact. Bledsoe had a 70.7 rating with a touchdown and an interception, and was sacked seven times.

Regardless, when it became apparent that Bledsoe would be out indefinitely because of his chest injury, and Brady would be taking the helm, any air left in New England’s season hissed out. Or so it seemed.

But people who watched the situation closely knew that Brady was among the team’s hardest workers, a tireless perfectionist who’d added 15 pounds of muscle in the off-season and had uncommon zip on his passes.

He played well in relief of Bledsoe in the Jet game, beat Indianapolis the next week, then took a big step backward in a shaky performance against Miami. That’s when Belichick buried the game ball.

Behind the scenes, though, Brady was spending just about every waking moment on improving. He and Bledsoe worked well together, as did backup quarterback Damon Huard. The three would devise weekly quizzes, trying to trip up one another on the nuances of the playbook.

Some childhood friends of Brady had planned to visit him in Boston but were willing to reschedule when he became the starter. Nonsense, he told them. They stayed at his house, although he didn’t have much time for R&R.;

“He was in Tommyland, that’s what we call it,” friend Steve Loerke said. “We’d be watching a golf tournament or playing pool downstairs. He was on the couch going over the game plan. We were in amazement. ‘How do you comprehend this language?’ He just gets in a zone, very focused. You can tell when he’s playing a game the next day.”

Week by week, Brady improved. He isn’t terribly mobile, but he’s tough and could handle the beating that most starting quarterbacks endure. In the background was Bledsoe, who was supportive of his understudy but still territorial and competitive about getting his job back.

“I feel I’ll be the starter as long as I’m here,” Bledsoe said in mid-October. “At the same time, I know it’s not given to anybody.”

A month later, a recovered Bledsoe was visibly upset over Belichick’s decision to stick with Brady as the starter for the rest of the season. Bledsoe said he wasn’t even given a chance to win the job back in practice. Folks began to speculate what Bledsoe might bring in a trade, and Brady continued on with a dream season that would ultimately land him an invitation to the Pro Bowl.

He completed 63.9% of his passes and threw 18 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions. He is the fifth quarterback in league history to make the Pro Bowl in his first year as a starter, following in the footsteps of Brett Favre, Daunte Culpepper, Dan Marino and Warner.

Apparently, Belichick didn’t expect anything less.

“He’s been consistent,” Belichick said. “You don’t see a guy that goes out there one day and throws five or six interceptions and then the next day hits four or five miracle passes. You see pretty much the same thing every day. His reads, his throwing accuracy, his consistency, I’m not saying it’s unbelievable, but it’s good and it gives you confidence when you call a play.”

Clearly, this isn’t a one-man show. Brady has been reliable, often better than that. But, most important, he didn’t do things to lose games.

The team’s most dangerous offensive threat is Troy Brown, an ultra-reliable possession receiver and punt returner. He caught 101 passes this season, breaking the team record of 96 set by tight end Ben Coates in 1994. Whereas Glenn is faster and makes breathtaking plays, Brown has a rock-solid character and work ethic. He likes to be the last player out of the locker room.

Smith is a good guy too. He was raised by his grandparents in Millbrook, Ala., where he first took up football as a senior in high school, and instantly emerged as a standout running back. He received offers from several colleges but turned them down so he could work at a nearby factory and support his grandparents for the next two years. After the death of his grandmother, he enrolled in junior college for a year, then spent the next two playing at Houston.

He was Buffalo’s first-round pick in 1997, and led the Bills in rushing the next two seasons. He was second in rushing in ‘99, then his playing time dropped off sharply last season. The Bills released him in May, and he signed with New England a month later.

Smith could be a huge factor Saturday, especially if nasty weather makes it difficult to throw the ball. A big game by him would keep the party going in New England. And the Patriots would like nothing better. Because, hey, these are the playoffs, not a funeral.

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Good Things Come in Threes

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