It worked so well, Brady won his second MVP award, topping the NFL with 36 TD passes (against 4 INTs) and a 111.0 passer rating for a team that went 14-2. 2010 Patriotsīelichick recalibrated the offense, trading WR Randy Moss early in the season as the passing attack diversified around Welker, WR Deion Branch, who was reacquired from the Seattle Seahawks, and rookie TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. He threw for 209 yards and an INT in his final game for the Patriots, a 20-13 wild-card round upset loss to the Tennessee Titans. But even as the D regressed down the stretch, Brady's lack of offensive weaponry became the emergent narrative in a season when he passed for 4,057 yards and 24 TDs – figures well shy of his standard output during his second decade in New England. The final ride of the Brady-Belichick era, this team went 8-0 in the first half of the season – though its early dominance was owed to a top-ranked defense that seemed destined to be one of the greatest in league history. Broncos QB Peyton Manning shredded them with the Super Bowl berth at stake. Brady's season (25 TD passes, 87.3 QB rating) was also lackluster compared to his usual output. Stellar by any other franchise's standards – 12-4, AFC East champs, AFC title game appearance – but meh relative to New England's dynasty. Brady's 13 INTs that season, not including three more in the loss to Baltimore, are the most he's thrown in the past 16 seasons. But this New England edition, which lost All-Pro WR Wes Welker to a torn ACL in Week 17, was throttled in its next game – a 33-14 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens during the wild-card round at Foxborough. Most teams would love to go 10-6 and win a division crown – the first of a league record 11 in a row. Brady led the NFL in passing yards (4,110) for the first time, but also suffered his first playoff loss – 27-13 at Denver in a game best remembered for TE Ben Watson running down Broncos CB Champ Bailey and knocking him out of bounds shy of a TD after he returned a Brady INT 101 yards. But these Patriots were aiming to be the first team to pull off a Super Bowl three-peat, a feat derailed by numerous injuries. Most teams would love to go 10-6, win a division crown and reach the second round of the playoffs. Brady did toss a league-leading 28 TD passes in his second year as the starter – even as some wondered if he and his team was merely a flash in the pan. The Pats, Dolphins and Jets all finished 9-7, but New York – despite a 2-5 start that sparked coach Herm Edwards' memorable "You play to win the game" rant – won the AFC East based on tiebreakers while New England and Miami failed to qualify for the playoffs. This group fell flat coming off its first Super Bowl title. But this was among Belichick's most masterful coaching performances – mainly because he lost reigning league MVP Brady to torn knee ligaments in the first quarter of the season opener. ![]() They didn't reach postseason despite going 11-5. Also Brady's first year in New England – he arrived oh so quietly with the 199th selection of that year's draft – and he threw three passes in mop-up duty behind then-face-of-the-franchise Drew Bledsoe. 2000 Patriotsīelichick's first year in New England, and still the only time his team finished last in the AFC East. ![]() So, as Brady goes back to Gillette Stadium as a visitor for the first time, let's reflect on what he and Belichick accomplished together over 20 years in Foxborough by ranking the Patriots teams they shared from worst to best: 20. ![]() ![]() 11 terrorist attacks, but later regarded as a diabolical duo by legions of NFL fans west of Connecticut as they reached nine Super Bowls and won six – with shady tactics often providing a backdrop. For two decades, Brady and Belichick were a dynamic football power couple – alternately admired as underdogs leading a nascent dynasty that first planted its flag in Super Bowl 36, just a few months after the Sept.
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