Tom Brady has lost it.
The Patriots' offense stinks without Rob Gronkowski, the rookie receivers can't hold onto the ball and coach Bill Belichick needs to trade for a veteran pass catcher or two to give Brady some reliable targets...
...and while all of these things may be true, these are still the New England Patriots, and on this night with a 70 yard field to maneuver and with just 1:13 left on the clock, Brady showed the world that he's not quite washed up.
On this night, a pleasant autumn evening in New England, Brady proved that the Patriots offense doesn't stink without Gronkowski quite as badly as many thought - on this Sunday night before a national television audience and under intense scrutiny from a media and fan base that are not accustomed to seeing their team - their 4-1 team - struggle on offense, Brady and his rookie receivers delivered a vintage dagger.
Without Rob Gronkowski.
Brady connected with rookie wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins on a 17 yard touchdown pass with just five seconds left on the clock as his much-maligned Patriots stunned the New Orleans Saints and - indeed - the entire football world 30-27 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, running their record to a sterling 5-1 while dropping the Saints to an identical record.
Behind a heroic defensive effort, aided in part by brutal clock mismanagement on the part of the Saints, the Patriots got the ball at their own 30 yard line with just over a minute to play, Brady first hitting a banged up Julian Edelman for a 23 yard gain and then 15 yards to newcomer Austin Collie and then a short gainer to rookie Aaron Dobson...
...but two short-hoppers toward Edelman left the Patriots with a 4th and four from the Saints' 26 yard line - and that's when the clutch Brady reached back and delivered a bullet to Collie for nine yards and a first down. Brady was able to spike the ball at the 17 to stop the clock, then stabbed the Saints right in the heart with the Dagger to Thompkins over a stunned Jabari Greer for the game winner.
But none of it would have been possible without a defensive effort that held the prolific Saints' passing attack to their lowest output of the season - by a wide margin.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was confounded by the Patriots' coverage scheme all game, never able to find super-human tight end Jimmy Graham and top receiver Marques Colston just once for eleven yards - forcing the record setting passer to go to his third and fourth options and keeping the explosive Darren Sproles in check.
Brees was a less than efficient 17of 36 for 236 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which gave the Saints the lead for the first time in the game at the 3:36 mark of the fourth quarter. So stingy was the New England pass defense that New Orleans was forced to turn to their lightly used running game on the drive, gouging the Patriots interior defense for huge chunks of yardage before hitting a tightly covered Kenny Stills for a one point lead.
Brady, who finished the game 25 of 42 for 269 yards, became the victim of three consecutive drops of perfectly thrown balls on the ensuing possession, the last one on 4th and four from his own 24 yard line with under three minutes to play that had some of the capacity crowd headed for the exits.
But the defense held and combined with deft usage of their timeouts, New Orleans settled for a Garrett Hartley field goal and Brady got the ball back with 2:24 remaining in regulation - and promptly threw a deep interception to Saints' corner Keenan Lewis, that started a steady stream of disappointment out of Gillette - But again, the Patriots' defense held, forcing a New Orleans punt...
...and the rest, as they say, is history - and now part of Patriots' lore.
There were many heroes for New England - many, many stories to be told, many injuries to monitor and many wrinkles to iron out - not perfect by any means, but a washed up Brady and his rookie receivers Aaron "Dropson" and Kenbrell "Dropkins" along with running back Stevan Ridley and a legitimate championship defense managed to provide the Patriots with their signature win of the 2013 season.
And the scary thing for the Patriots future opponents is that they're only going to get better.
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