Well I remember,
I remember, don't worry
How could I ever forget?
It was the first time, the last time we ever met...
But I know the reason why you keep this silence up
No you don't fool me
Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows,
It's no stranger to you and me...
I can feel it coming in the air tonight...
Well, once again Phil Collins has scripted some masterful words to push the Patriots towards their destiny. If you recall back prior to Bledsoe Bowl I, Phil blessed us with the first verse to "In the Air Tonight" as an incredible way to sum up the tension between these two quarterbacks. This next verse fits perfectly into the rematch, Bledsoe Bowl II. So why did I wait until after the game to get this article up? Why didn't I make an arrogant prediction of a Patriots victory like last time? Well, it's because I knew that if the Pats won the game, I could start typing this gem which reveals a plan so cunning, so masterful, that it could only be concocted by the "Cerebral Assassin", Bill Belichick.
There have been many instances where someone's made my mind do a complete 180. I'm watching a movie and the director has me thinking one thing, and then BAM! he sends my mind spinning in a completely different direction with an incredible plot twist. This is one of my favorite things to experience because it completely switches things up and leaves me in awe of how completely duped I just got. It's a beautiful thing to have the tables turned on you like that. Well the thing with these "Mind Blowing" experiences is that the usually happen when I look at movies, read a book, or watch the WWF. Never, well at least until last Sunday, had I had a "Mind Blowing" experience watching sports. Sure, I've had adrenaline rushes that had me hyped for hours, and heart-breaking defeats that left a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, but never before was my mind blown. You see, it's nearly impossible to do something like that because sports are real. In the WWF you can script things so they line up perfectly for a plot twist, but there are no predetermined storylines in sports. And that's why Bill Belichick's pulling an amazing move out of thin air to place the AFC East in checkmate absolutely left me blown away.
I hated the Bledsoe trade. I was completely against it from day one. Tell me how it could possibly be in the Patriots' advantage to trade one of the best quarterbacks in the league within the division. Not only are we giving our competitors a huge upgrade, but now twice a year we have to face one of the best arms in the league which is holding the daddy of all grudges against us. How could this possibly be better than having a great backup just in case Brady did turn out to be a one-year-wonder or got injured? I thought bad things could only come. And boy was I wrong...
Here's the surface beauty of the whole deal: I was thinking we'd split with Buffalo. Drew would burn us once, and we'd burn him back, or vice versa. What I completely forgot about in my short-sightedness was the one of the things that made me hate the Jets so badly for those years in the late 90's - Bill Belichick owns Drew Bledsoe. For those years when Bill was defensive coordinator of the Jets, we got our tails handed to us on a consistent basis. The reason - Bill Belichick owns Drew Bledsoe. Bill knew that trading Drew to Buffalo wasn't really a risk at all; if anything, it guaranteed wins because - Bill Belichick owns Drew Bledsoe. And so twice this season the Patriots stomped all over a Bills team, who before the Bledsoe trade had forced us into something like 5 or 6 consecutive games determined by 3 points or less (several of which were overtime games) simply because - Bill Belichick owns Drew Bledsoe. So that's why the trade I was so adamantly opposed to was actually a brilliant move. Belichick puts another knotch in his belt as Drew Bledsoe joins Kurt Warner and Kordell Stewart on the list of quarterbacks he's destroyed. We get some easy wins and a first round draft pick to boot! Pretty good plan, eh? Except, I forgot to mention the part that blows my mind...
It's week 15 of the NFL Season. We play our last three games against teams that are competing against us for a playoff spot. The Pats and Dolphins are tied at 8-5. The Jets are a game back, and the Titans are also 8-5 and in the running for a wild card spot. Now this only works if the Broncos don't run the table, which really, really shouldn't happen anyway. Even assuming that all of these three teams' games not played against us are won by them, simply winning two of the last three games wraps up a playoff spot for the Patriots. If we lose to Tennessee but beat the Jets and Phins, we win the division based on a better division record than the Dolphins. If we beat the Titans, lose to the Jets, and beat the Dolphins, we win the division based on better record against common opponents than the Jets. If we beat the Titans and Jets and lose to the Dolphins, we get a wild card spot over the Titans based on head-to-head record. Pretty nice place to be in. Just win 2 of 3 and a shot to retain the title is in our hands. The absolute mind blowing thing about this perfect situation is the reason we're in it - The Bledsoe Trade. You see unleashing Bledsoe into the AFC East was like having a second team playing for us. The Bills can beat up on the Jets and Dolphins while only handing us wins. The result: 2 losses for the Dolphins and it would've been one for the Jets had Santana Moss not run 2 kickoffs back for touchdowns week 1. If the Bills hadn't beaten the Dolphins twice the Patriots would be playing for the season on Monday Night, and on top of that would have to run the table and hope the Dolphins blew one in the next two weeks to win the division. But all that chaos is avoided because of a brilliant move that everyone, including myself thought was the bone-head move of the year. Bill Belichick - You Blow My Mind.
