FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- There are few things in life more predictable than another Buffalo loss to New England, but I can think of one: quarterback Tom Brady. Give him a chance -- no matter how slim -- to beat you, and he will.
|
|
| Tom Brady completes 12 of 14 passes in the final 5:32. (AP) |
New England had no business winning this one, just as Buffalo had no business losing. But here we are talking about the Bills' 12th consecutive loss to the Pats and their 17th in 18 consecutive games because of one guy, and I don't mean Leodis McKelvin. I mean Brady.
• Recap: Patriots 25, Bills 24
After a year away from the game and three-and-a-half quarters of so-so football where he was tentative, occasionally inaccurate and atypically unproductive, he pulled himself together and did what Brady always does.
He won.
Forget that New England seemed hopelessly behind. Forget that Brady was more successful finding Buffalo's Aaron Schobel with touchdown passes than he was with teammates Randy Moss or Wes Welker. Forget that Brady had trouble converting key third downs, fourth downs or simply finding the friggin' end zone. None of that mattered because when he stepped into the huddle with 5:32 left and New England down by 11 he did what Brady always does.
He told his teammates they were going to win.
"When he said [that], everything went positive," Moss said.
Well, of course it did. This is Tom Brady. In his first game since suffering a season-ending knee injury against Kansas City, Brady seldom resembled the league MVP who threw for a league-record 50 touchdown passes in 2007. He sailed passes over Moss' head. He bounced another at his feet. He rarely threw down the field, and when he was successful it was only with the wrong jerseys -- like that interception Schobel turned into a touchdown.
"A really bad throw," Brady said. "You can't do that."
You can if you're Brady because the ending is always the same ... especially against Buffalo. Let's face it, folks, this series is the NFL version of Groundhog Day, with the Patriots finding ways to win and the Bills inventing ways to lose. What never changes is Brady, and I don't care that he was Tom Terrific for only 5:32. In that time he produced two touchdown passes, hit 12 of 14 passes and saved the game winner -- his 29th career comeback victory -- until only 50 seconds were left.
Both touchdowns went to the same guy, tight end Benjamin Watson. Both were the same play. And both were into the same coverage, with Watson splitting the Bills' safeties. The difference, of course, is that both were made when Brady and the Patriots absolutely, positively, had to make something happen. And they did ...just as they always do.
"It's a great feeling to have that rhythm and that aspect of the game back," tackle Matt Light said. "Not that we didn't have it last year. There were times when we had to go into two-minute mode, and it was just like that. But he was out there making all the right plays and delivering the ball downfield. And all those guys were making huge catches."
In others words, it was New England being New England and Brady being Brady. It took awhile, but it happened, and bad news for the rest of the AFC. So it took awhile for Brady to look like himself and the Patriots to get their act together. They won.
"Tom has performed many times," Moss said. "It has nothing to do with [his] layoff; it was just first-game jitters. We had a chance to sit down and look at football this weekend, starting with Pittsburgh, and there was a lot of bad football this weekend. And I think [our performance] has to do with Week 1 jitters.
"I'm not making an excuse, but it is what it is. We just had to settle down."
Well, they did, and they're back where they belong -- on top of the AFC East. Brady isn't back to where he was in 2007, but give the poor guy time. He's coming off a serious knee injury, and recoveries don't happen overnight. Brady's recovery took nearly four quarters, but the point is that it happened. The Tom Brady people remember appeared in the nick of time, the first telltale sign that Tom Brady ... I mean the real Tom Brady ... is back.
"I'm glad it's over," Brady said. "I'm glad we're moving on and I'm glad we got a win. And we'll learn from it."
Sure we will. We'll learn what we learn every autumn: Give Brady a chance to beat you, and he will.
"It never gets old," Light said. "He went out there and did everything you could do. It's a great feeling and a great win for us. It's a big boost. It wasn't pretty, but it was fun."
