Two painful losses
12/11/2002
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As the cliché states, revenge is sweet. But an unsuccessful attempt to extract revenge has more of a bitter taste and two such failures can be downright embarrassing.
Just ask Drew Bledsoe.
He once stood as the symbol of New England Patriots football, compiling a 10-6 mark in 1994 as a second-year starter before leading the Pats to the Super Bowl in 1996 with an 11-5 regular-season mark. The first overall pick of the 1993 draft out of Washington State, Bledsoe was selected to the Pro Bowl three times in New England while setting franchise marks for attempts (4,518), completions (2,544) and passing yards (29,657). And although his 58-53 record as a starter from 1994-2001 may seem mediocre, the Pats were always a better team with #11 behind center.
Until last year.
Bledsoe and the Patriots started the 2001 campaign with a whimper, going 0-2 against the Bengals and Jets. Even worse, in that 10-3 loss to the division-rival Jets in week two, Bledsoe was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter by New York linebacker Mo Lewis. Ready to return seven weeks later, Bledsoe had lost his starting job to Tom Brady after the Michigan product almost single-handedly painted the Pats back into the playoff picture. One Super Bowl championship later, two things were clear: Brady was Bill Belichick's guy, and Bledsoe and his robust contract needed to be moved.
Enter the Buffalo Bills, who sent a 2003 first-round choice to New England for the Pro Bowl quarterback on draft day. Everybody immediately tore through the upcoming schedule, noting the dates of both games between the Bills and Pats in 2002: November 3 in Buffalo and, the homecoming, December 8 in New England.
Two chances for Bledsoe to show his former team that they'd made a mistake. Two chances to show that they'd chosen the wrong guy. Two chances to show that they'd forever regret trading their one-time leader to a division rival.
Only things didn't work out so well for Bledsoe and his new teammates.
Heading into the week-nine game in November, the Bills were flying high. Standing at 5-3 after winning three straight and four of their last five, Buffalo was one of the hottest teams in football and Bledsoe was one of the hottest quarterbacks around. He'd already registered four 300-yard passing games, including a 463-yard performance in an overtime win against the Vikings in week two and a 417-yard display in a week-five loss to the Raiders.
The visiting Patriots, on the other hand, had some issues. After starting the season 3-0 behind Brady's own surprising aerial accomplishments, the defending champs, losers of four straight, were threatening to fall off the postseason map. Brady, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, had thrown for just 553 yards in his last three games with four touchdowns and five interceptions, leading the Pats to a pitiful 53 points in those four-consecutive losses. With Buffalo hosting the first reunion, revenge seemed to be a mere four quarters away for Bledsoe.
Instead, Belichick's defense dominated the Bills, limiting them to just seven points on 331 yards of total offense. Bledsoe was steady throughout the day, completing 28 of his 45 attempts for 302 yards with one touchdown and one late interception, but Brady was magnificent, going 22-for-26 with 265 yards, three touchdowns and no picks on his way to a strong 38-7 win.
Patriots 1, Bledsoe 0.
But the loss for Buffalo wasn't simply damaging to Bledsoe's ego -- after a week 10 bye, the 5-4 Bills found themselves in a three-way tie atop the AFC East standings with Miami and, of course, New England.
Two weeks later, the Bills were 5-6, the Jets and Patriots were 6-5, and the Dolphins were 7-4.
The big game for Bledsoe, though, was in New England on December 8. Playing in front of thousands of fans who greeted their former star quarterback warmly, this was Bledsoe's chance to shine, to erase the memories of that ugly 38-7 loss a month earlier.
How does 27-17 sound?
This time, Brady's numbers were modestly impressive, throwing for 183 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions on 15-of-27 passing, but Bledsoe's were horrific. Oh sure, the 321 yards and two Eric Moulds touchdown strikes looked nice but he hung himself with four devastating mistakes: a first-quarter interception deep in his own territory that Brady turned into a nine-yard touchdown just seconds later; a second-quarter interception by Tebucky Jones in the end zone that squashed a 10-play, 60-yard drive and eventually resulted in a 46-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri; a Ty Law interception at the Buffalo 26 in the fourth quarter after New England had just taken a 27-10 lead; and one more pick with a little more than seven minutes to go.
Patriots 2, Bledsoe 0.
The Bills are in trouble. At 6-7, they're not only two games behind Miami and New England in their division, but they're also two games behind San Diego for the final playoff spot. Even worse, four 7-6 teams are currently jockeying for postseason position ahead of Buffalo while the Patriots, at 8-5, still need some help to advance.
Let's turn the tables for a second, though, and give Bledsoe's Bills the two wins instead of New England. Then it's Buffalo on the verge of advancing while the Patriots slump through a 6-7 campaign.
How important do those two games look now?
Of course, Bledsoe isn't the only prominent player who struggled against his former team. Green Bay's Terry Glenn managed just three receptions for 19 yards in a week-six win over the Patriots and Tampa's Keyshawn Johnson caught just one pass for one yard against the Jets in 2000. Even the game's greatest sometimes can't deliver against past employers: Jerry Rice caught six balls for 74 yards and no touchdowns in a week-nine overtime loss to the 49ers this year, and in 1994 Joe Montana, then playing for Kansas City, completed 19 of his 31 attempts for just 203 yards against San Francisco with no touchdowns in a 24-17 win.
But that doesn't make these two New England losses any less painful for Bledsoe, who will probably end the year with the best numbers of his career despite his struggles in the two biggest games of the season.
"Every game I've ever played I've taken personally, this one more than most," Bledsoe said after the most recent loss. "With the turnovers, it falls heavily on my shoulders."
Gee, think he wanted to beat his former team?
The Bills were 3-13 last season but this year they should finish around .500, and that's something Bledsoe should take pride in. But he won't be satisfied until he's got another ring, one to replace the ring that Tom Brady essentially put on his finger last year. To do that, he'll have to get past Brady, Belichick and the New England Patriots.
The good news is, Drew Bledsoe will have two more chances at revenge next year. But the bad news is, that's not necessarily good news.
In the Bullz-Eye
The Toronto Raptors. Already in trouble at 7-13, the Raptors will again be without superstar Vince Carter for an extended period of time. Carter, who's already missed 10 games this year with a strained tendon in his knee, will be out of action for at least two weeks after straining the same knee in practice following a collision with a teammate. This is getting all too familiar for Toronto fans, who saw Carter in street clothes for more than 20 games last season due to similar knee problems.
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