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New England Patriots: Brady, Belichick Doing The Impossible

By Ryan Phillips

Nov 23, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass against the Detroit Lions during the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass against the Detroit Lions during the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are doing what some thought was impossible just a few weeks ago

Two months ago the New England Patriots were done. Tom Brady was a washed up hack and Bill Belichick had lost his touch. After being on the receiving end of a 41-14 Monday night shellacking courtesy of the Kansas City Chiefs, New England’s 2014 season was all but over. Fast forward eight weeks and the Pats are rolling with the best record in the NFL at 9-2. The lesson? Never question Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

The Patriots are the NFL’s version of Kenny McCormick, no matter how hard you try to kill them, they’ll just be back next week. You would think after 14 years of seeing Brady and Belichick do their think we would have learned by now. Nope. Even I thought New England faced a monumentally difficult task this season after a horrendous Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Despite a roster littered with no-name players, somehow Brady and Belichick have found a way to make things work and that old New England Patriots machine is back up and running.

New England has won seven in a row since that Week 4 loss in Kansas City and has beaten solid teams along the way. The Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions are the last three teams vanquished by Brady and his no-name squad. Something clicked after that Chiefs loss and it’s hard to figure out just what it was.

Nov 23, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the sideline during the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Lions 34-9. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the sideline during the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Lions 34-9. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports /

Despite having a group of wideouts no other quarterback in the NFL is jealous of, Brady has the Pats’ passing offense flourishing. Thanks to tight end Rob Gronkowski’s return to health, Brady finally has a go-to guy. Other than that he is dealing with the missing member of One Direction in Julian Edelman, the real-life version of Clifford Franklin in Brandon LaFell, a living, breathing injured reserve spot in Danny Amendola, and yearly fantasy disappointment Shane Vereen catching balls out of the backfield. That’s all Brady has to work with, and the Patriots are still averaging 272.5 passing yards per game, which is sixth in the NFL.

After a brutal start by his standards, Brady is looking like an MVP candidate all of a sudden. He is completing 65.0 percent of his passes and has 2,998 yards, with 26 touchdowns and just six interceptions. His quarterback rating of 101.0 ranks sixth in the NFL and is rising weekly. His Total QBR of 77.1 ranks fourth leaguewide and also continues to rise. Despite all our doubts about him the 37-year-old gunslinger can still bring it with the best of them.

As always happens with the Patriots, they seem to plug running backs in off the street and get them to work. That literally happened this week after the Pittsburgh Steelers cut LeGarrette Blount last Tuesday. The Patriots signed him on Thursday and he ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions on Sunday. That came a week after third-string running back Jonas Gray rushed for 199 yards and four touchdowns against the Colts. It really doesn’t matter who is back there, the Patriots seem to make the running game work.

Defensively, the Patriots are solidly in the middle of the pack league-wide, but that’s a vast improvement over how things were earlier in the season. They are allowing 350.3 total yards per game, which ranks 15th in the NFL, and are surrendering 20.6 points per game, which ranks 12th. Both of those numbers are heading in the right direction though. Other than Vince Wilfork and Darrelle Revis New England doesn’t have any true stars on its defense. There are solid players but no one stands out and dominates on a regular basis. But Belichick doesn’t need stars to stifle opposing offenses and he’s proving that once again.

The Patriots have a few tough games remaining to close out the regular season, and that starts with a showdown against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field this weekend. Despite what should be a difficult matchup, it is becoming increasingly clear that the path to the Super Bowl in the AFC will go through Foxborough, Massachusetts. New England is 6-0 at home this season and no one wants to face them at Gillette Stadium in January. The fact that we are even discussing home-field advantage for a team that got whipped by the Dolphins and Chiefs and was sitting at 2-2 after Week 4 is simply remarkable.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have defied the odds by staying relevant in the NFL for almost 15 years. While they haven’t won a Super Bowl in more than a decade, would you count them out after this turnaround? If you answered “yes” then you haven’t been paying attention.

The New England Patriots are your Super Bowl favorites after Week 12, and that fact alone should lead you to never doubt Brady and Belichick again.

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