Who did you want when Brady vs. Bledsoe happened?

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

PatsFanSince74 said:

I picked Tommy too, but no one ever accused him of being mobile.

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That is only because people have no clue what mobility means at QB. They think it is Michael Vick bailing out of pass plays and running. It isn't. It is the ability to take a step left, a step right that is often the difference between a strip sack and a 40 yard completion. Bledsoe was a statue in the pocket. Brady's ability to move in the pocket is probably as good as anyone who ever played the position.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

I find it amazing to believe nobody was at all worried Brady might fall 'back to Earth' after 2001. There are more than a few Super Bowl QBs who weren't exactly All-Pros, even (or especially) in recent history.

Trent Dilfer, for one. Rex Grossman, Jake Delhomme, Kerry Collins...there's also the QBs who didn't have success for long...Brad Johnson, Rich Gannon, Chris Chandler, Stan Humphries...

Not saying I didn't like Brady but there was no track record of success for him.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

BennyBledsoe said:

I find it amazing to believe nobody was at all worried Brady might fall 'back to Earth' after 2001. There are more than a few Super Bowl QBs who weren't exactly All-Pros, even (or especially) in recent history.

Trent Dilfer, for one. Rex Grossman, Jake Delhomme, Kerry Collins...there's also the QBs who didn't have success for long...Brad Johnson, Rich Gannon, Chris Chandler, Stan Humphries...

Not saying I didn't like Brady but there was no track record of success for him.

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Nor was there any for Drew beyond the ability to accumulate empty yardage stats. I think most of us trusted a couple of things: Belichick's evaluation of Brady, Belichick's evaluation of Bledsoe, and what our eyes saw relative to the poise, drive, comportment of the youngster throughout that season. This team wasn't winning in spite of him, he wasn't just staying out of it's way, he was capable of both leading it and not hurting it. He made mistakes, but never the same ones twice. He learned from his mistakes and remained humble even in the face of being named SB MVP. Drew made the same mistakes over and over, and often at the least opportune times (including when there was no reason to). He was capable of carrying you one week and alternately killing you the next.

When Brady spiked that ball onto his fingertips, nonchalantly flipped it to the ref, and quietly jogged off the field with 7 seconds left for his money kicker to do his job, after doing exactly what needed to be done with 1:20 left and no TO's in a tie game where a coin flip opened the door for a team with all the 4th quarter momentum on it's side to roll a gassed defense, you either knew what IT was or you probably never really will.

After i saw Brady play his first game or two i just thoungt he made better dicisions. I NEVER thought at that time that he would be as good as he turned out.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

MoLewisrocks said:

When Brady spiked that ball onto his fingertips, nonchalantly flipped it to the ref, and quietly jogged off the field with 7 seconds left for his money kicker to do his job, after doing exactly what needed to be done with 1:20 left and no TO's in a tie game where a coin flip opened the door for a team with all the 4th quarter momentum on it's side to roll a gassed defense, you either knew what IT was or you probably never really will.

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That drive followed by Brady's spike walkoff and the AV's winning kick exorcized 40 years of demons. Greatest sports moment ever for me.

I wanted Drew back badly... and I was PISSED when they benched him.

That said... im glad TB made me look foolish!

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

PatsFanSince74 said:

I picked Tommy too, but no one ever accused him of being mobile.

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Whatever, call it pocket sense

I remember feeling bad for Drew because he had done so much for the Pats, but I thought BB should stick with the hot hand, which thankfully, he did!

Brady ... all day long ... Bledsoe drove me crazy.

I was willing to wait for the few years it would take to develop him ...

The bonus was he only needed 2000 and 2001 ...

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

PatsWickedPissah said:

Brady's spike walkoff

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9:02

YouTube - Super Bowl XXXVI: Rams vs Pats #15

I liked the OP's premise. So, I'll relate my recollections as I remember them...

I can't explain my feelings without placing it all in context. By Sept 2001 the pats had just come off a 5-11 season under BB and the dissapointment of the Pete Carroll years was still fresh. The satisfaction of the Parcells years was fading into the past and rather than looking back and seeing it for the springboard that those years were, I was looking back at them as if they were a flash in the pan along the lines of the 85 team -- A breif glimmer of hope that comes around maybe 10 years or so if you're lucky and maybe never if you were a Red Sox fan. 2001 season kicks off with a loss to the bungles. I was already thinking that this was not "ouah yea-ah". (Talk about a fair weather fan - I've changed btw...now I'm a closet kool aid drinker)

I work in IT. I wa 33 at the time. 2000 and prior was great. By the summer of 2001 the dot-com bust was affecting me. Then Sept 11. Outlook on life seemed grim. I remember thinking right away the world is changing. Football's just not that important.

Columnists like Shank and Borges were the industry standard. I remember being irritated about shaughnessey for his stupid "curse of the bambino". What a friggin defeatist ****y.

When Mo Lewis popped Drew, I remember thinking, good for Drew taking on a LB, show some fire, some passion! Then doh! During that Jets game I was thinking that Brady doesn't look all that bad for a backup. In subsequent games I remember thinking that the offense looks different with Brady at the controls - different like sparked, motiviated.

I can't say that I looked at the team mid-season thinking, these guys are going to win the superbowl. And with all that was going on with me, the world, my view of the Pats and local sports in general, it was refreshing what Brady was doing. For me that meant - Brady QB NE for good.

I can't answer the poll. I thought then, and still do know, that BB would do what he thought was best and that was, and is, fine with me.

Brady, but I was only 11 years old at the time so I was just probably supporting my Dad. Worked out well though.

I thought Brady was the guy. Quick thinking, quick striking, accurate. Bledsoe was too sluggish, took too many sacks, too many bad decisions.

I was happy they got rid of him. Even though he had a house near where I grew up.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

Brono said:

9:02

YouTube - Super Bowl XXXVI: Rams vs Pats #15

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Thanks. And Merry Christmas to you too...

The interesting observations in hindsight in context of this season are blown coverages and missed tackles happened even in the most magical SB games. Sometimes you need them to... Not to mention game clinching drives entirely out of shotgun can succeed even when everyone knows what's coming...provided everyone executes.

Dunno that I would have said to dust of Drew for the SB, but in the off season I was definitely all about the sure thing not "Tony Eason 2," the game-manager fill-in with a high completion percentage because of a lot of screens and short routes.

Bledsoe was my favorite player when I was growing up, so I obviously was rooting for Bledsoe. I didn't hate Brady and was glad the team was winning, but I just wanted to see Drew play.

Thankfully he was able to throw one more TD pass as a Patriot.

Definately Brady, though my wife will never forgive the Pats for replacing her beloved Drew. We named our first boy after him so I was obviously a big fan back in the day but it was clear that Brady was special and had a pocket presence that Drew always lacked. Huge Brady fan right away. I wish we could see the old Brady again soon!

I started following the Patriots a few years before Drew was drafted, so I got to enjoy all the great stuff he did for the franchise. By the end of the 2000 season, though, that "great stuff" was happening less and less frequently.

When Brady stepped in following Drew's injury and the team began to play well, I was in favor of keeping Brady as the starter because of that success. I did wonder if Bledsoe could duplicate what Brady was doing at that point since the rest of the team had elevated their game. I didn't see a way of performing this experiment during the regular season, though.

I made my final decision on this matter during the AFCCG at Pittsburgh. To his credit, Bledsoe did come in to relieve Brady and through a nice TD pass to Patten. In the second half of that game, I realized that when Drew threw downfield (any pass to a receiver that wasn't on the TV screen along with the QB), I had no confidence the ball was going to an open New England receiver. It might have been, but it also could be going to a guy who was triple covered or right to a Pittsburgh defender. After that, I was 100% in favor of Brady as the starter going forward.

Despite believing that Drew's ceiling with the Patriots was now as back-up QB, I still thought that teams should have given up more for Bledsoe when he was traded.

Koma said:

I started following the Patriots a few years before Drew was drafted, so I got to enjoy all the great stuff he did for the franchise. By the end of the 2000 season, though, that "great stuff" was happening less and less frequently.

When Brady stepped in following Drew's injury and the team began to play well, I was in favor of keeping Brady as the starter because of that success. I did wonder if Bledsoe could duplicate what Brady was doing at that point since the rest of the team had elevated their game. I didn't see a way of performing this experiment during the regular season, though.

I made my final decision on this matter during the AFCCG at Pittsburgh. To his credit, Bledsoe did come in to relieve Brady and through a nice TD pass to Patten. In the second half of that game, I realized that when Drew threw downfield (any pass to a receiver that wasn't on the TV screen along with the QB), I had no confidence the ball was going to an open New England receiver. It might have been, but it also could be going to a guy who was triple covered or right to a Pittsburgh defender. After that, I was 100% in favor of Brady as the starter going forward.

Despite believing that Drew's ceiling with the Patriots was now as back-up QB, I still thought that teams should have given up more for Bledsoe when he was traded.

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I have to go quite a bit further back and compare Bledsoe to Plunkett.
Both first round picks, great passers, that took a beating in the pocket, which resulted in many crippling interceptions.

Plunkett was lucky enough to end up on a good team, while Bledsoe didn't.

I was glad to see Brady. I had seen enough of Bledsoe's meltdowns under pressure. He just reminded me too much of the bad old Plunkett days.