Vintage

You forget, because it is easy to forget, that for most of his career Tom Brady was a game manager. We didn't try to compare his touchdown passes or his yardage to guys like Marino and Manning (Peyton, that is) because there was no point--they had him in pretty much every category.

Go ahead--go back to that fateful 2001 season, look at those box scores and try to find the things that he did. You'll find exactly one 300-yard passing game (against the 5-11 Chargers) and 18 TD passes in 14 games. Not exactly Johnny Unitas.

But why would you bother? We all know what happened: Mo Lewis put a hit on Drew Bledsoe in game 2 of the season and we all gave up. Expectations for that team weren't high, anyway. Brady came out, kept the passing game alive, and relied on the defense to clinch the wins. The Pats fell to 1-3, and no one was surprised. And then, of course, everything happened. That comeback win over the Jets, the sudden when-will-our-luck-run-out winning streak, the Tuck Rule game. The win over the Steelers--how could they possibly beat the Steelers? And Adam Vinatieri, icewater in his veins. All of that happened, and Tom Brady just stayed steady.

I should have known then. A lot of people did. You don't stay steady when it's your rookie season and your team has suddenly gone from having no chance to home field advantage in the playoffs. You don't stay steady when you're playing The Greatest Show on Turf and you're a massive underdog in the Super Bowl. But, hey, I'm a skeptic, and I'm a bit of a stat-head. I figured I was just really, really lucky.

Don't get me wrong. By the time the Patriots won the 2nd, and then the 3rd, Super Bowl, I was fully on board. I knew Brady was one of the great QBs in NFL history, the Joe Montana of his era. Who would deny that? He threw darts. He was smart, calm, and a closer. He always won. That's the kind of guy you want on your team, stats be damned. But still--I don't think any of us knew just how good he was.

Because for the first time in Brady's considerable career, in 2007, he had a #1 receiver.

And, listen--there are New York sports fans, at least one of them, reading this blog, and you know and I know what happened in the end. Do not talk to me about what happened in the end. What I am saying to you is that Tom Brady in 2007 was something no one had ever seen before, and you know I'm right. 50 touchdowns against 8 interceptions, 589 total points scored, 16-0. Those are things no one had ever accomplished, or even bothered hoping for. Those are impossible things. If I had told you they were going to happen, you would have laughed at me. I don't care who you're backing--Tarkenton, Tittle, Unitas, Namath, Elway, Favre, Manning, Montana--I will take 2007 Tom Brady over all of them. And twice on Sunday. They talk about great players finding an extra gear in big situations. In 2007, Tom Brady broke the gearshift clean off. He couldn't have slowed down if he wanted to.

All of which is to explain my reaction to the 4th quarter of Monday night's astonishing comeback win over the Bills. Here is my reaction: I have seen this Tom Brady before, and he is the best QB I have ever seen.

See you Sunday in the Meadowlands.

MILES:

I think you're on to something with this Brady kid. He's got a bright future in this game.

I apologize for being glib. I'll take the bait, at least for Brady's most recent comeback performance. That is, after all, the purpose of this blog. Forgive me, though, if I don't join you in celebrating Mr. New England and Mr. New England alone for the team's 4th quarter performance against the truly awful Buffalo Bills. After all, I've seen this episode before. Besides, the play of Monday night's game, the singular outstanding moment that allowed the Pats the chance to win, was Merriweather's strip of McKelvin, which was, in truth, two parts greatness and one part costly fuck up. But, congratulations. The Pats beat the Bills, just like they've done 16 times out of the last 17. No matter that Bills haven't reached the playoffs since 1999, and were just two weeks removed from the dismissal of their offensive coordinator, who, according to the New York Times, derided Dick Jauron’s offense as “Pop Warner.” (Ed. Note: They still managed to put up 24 points).

As for this Sunday, the Jets might not yet be the Patriots, but they sure as hell aren't the Bills. See you in the Meadowlands, indeed.

BEN:

Actually it's 17 out of 18 times that they've beaten the Bills.

McKelvin got stripped by a well-coached, aggressive special teams unit that was missing its best player. I might also point out that the Pats had 3 timeouts and the two-minute warning left if they'd had to play defense, and that Brady put his team back in the end zone in 61 seconds, real time.

And the best part is, he knew he was going to do it. First, he huddled up the offense and said "we're going to win." He told the media afterward that he wanted to get the first touchdown before the 2-minute warning, and punched it in at 2:06. 81 yards in 3:26, and they never saw 3rd down. Then they went out, stripped the ball and were back in the lead with almost a full minute to go. That's not luck, it's brute force.