Patriots 2001: Preview of a Dynasty

As I’ve been enjoying the Patriots sixth Super Bowl title over the last month, I found myself glancing back at the 2001 season and how much has happened since then. The Patriots going on a second three-Super-Bowl run has certainly given things a complete feeling. I’ve been saying everything else is gravy but this is getting ridiculous thinking they’re not done.

2001 was a lifetime ago and for the Patriots it was the last time that there were no expectations for them. Really, no one outside of New England really cared about this football team back then, and now, 17 years later, the Patriots are loved and hated around the globe.

I popped the 2001 NFL Films Yearbook DVD in this weekend and was fascinated to see what a microcosm of the dynasty this season really was, how so many games against so many teams would encapsulate so much of what Brady and the Patriots would experience en route to winning five more Super Bowls. The themes that would recur over and over across the next two decades of football.

Let’s take a look at some of the notable moments and pieces that would echo well into the future.

Bledsoe Out, Next Man Up

The Patriots dynasty started with the ultimate “next man up” when second-year quarterback Tom Brady took over for franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Overcoming critical injuries and departures has defined the Pats under Belichick and Brady, and it was part of their fabric from the very moment Brady trotted onto the field.

Fittingly Bledsoe’s injury came against the Jets, the kind of play that seems like great news if you’re a Jets fan, that the Patriots lost their star quarterback, but as is always the case for the Jets it seems, it worked out for the worst for them. Mo Lewis inadvertently inserted the greatest quarterback of all time into then Patriots lineup and he’d go on to haunt them for going on two decades.

Overtime Wins

The Patriots got three overtime wins in this season, including the divisional round against the Raiders. The others were wins over the Chargers and Bills, when the Patriots defense actually forced a punt both times before Tom Brady led the offense to a game-winning field goal.

Away at Denver and Miami Haunt Brady

The Pats lost to both the Dolphins in Miami and the Broncos in Denver. Nowhere did the Pats dynasty end more seasons than Denver (2005, 2013, 2015). For his career Brady is 7-10 in Miami including the most recent Miami Miracle loss on the final play.

Historic Plays

To win as much as the Patriots have, there have been maybe hundreds of clutch game-winning plays. Their continued ability to make those plays is a testament to Bill Belichick and how he prepares his team. They don’t always have the most “talent” but they always play the hardest.

Adam Vinatieri kicked the dynasty off, literally, with the two greatest field goals in NFL history. It is still surprising as records and impossible plays continue to fall by the wayside.

From Vinatieri and Deion Branch to Malcolm Butler and Julian Edelman, from Willie McGinest and Ty Law to Dont’a Hightower and Devin McCourty, the Patriots have simply made (and not made) some of the biggest plays on the biggest stages.

Belichick Won’t Get Fooled Again

The Patriots lost the Rams the first time they played them in 2001, but the second time around Belichick had cracked the code on the Greatest Show on Turf. He’d do the same to the 2018 Rams offense, to an even more impressive degree.

Stopping prolific offenses has also been a staple of Belichick. In 2001 he held Peyton Manning and the Colts to just 30 points in two games. Manning would certainly land some punches toward the end of his career, but early on, Belichick and the Pats dominated him.

Snuffing out the mobile Kordell Stewart in the AFC Championship game displayed that it wasn’t just prolific passers he could stop, but dual-threats that could run. Containing Patrick Mahomes in 2018 was just the latest example.

No coach has ever been better at determining what an opponent’s strengths are and then taking them away.

Slow Starts

The Pats started 0-2 and sat at 3-4 in late October. There was no reason to think this team would ever put together the 11-1 run they did to win the Super Bowl. Imagine what things would sound like around Boston if they were 3-4 in late October now! They were 6-2 at that point in 2018 and it felt as gloomy as 3-4 did back then!

Defense Wins Championships

Who knows how many Super Bowls the Patriots could’ve had if their defense had closed a few more games out. The notable ones being 2006 losing a 21-6 halftime lead, 2007’s helmet catch, 2011’s Manningham catch and 2017’s Eagles 4th down conversion.

The flip side of that coin are all the plays that really went our way. When the Pats have been Super Bowl champs the defense has led the way with huge game-changing and game-saving plays.

Future Super Bowl Partners

The Patriots would see three future Super Bowl opponents in 2001, not including a preseason matchup against the Giants in which Tom Brady led the team in passing. They downed the Falcons in Atlanta, and closed out the season against the Panthers with a win that locked up the second seed and a playoff bye. That left just the Eagles as the only future Super Bowl opponent not on the schedule.

They also won their first of two AFC Championships in Pittsburgh and three overall against the Steelers. The absence of the Ravens is the only notable one missing.

Hello Browns Our Old Friends

Belichick and the foundation of the Patriots are unavoidably tied to the Browns so it’s fitting they hosted Cleveland in 2001, winning 27-16.

Power Running

The most effective Patriots’ Super Bowl teams have been led by a hard-charging running back. Antowan Smith’s 1157 yards and 12 touchdowns were critical in helping protect Brady. Corey Dillon, LeGarette Blount and Sony Michel played similar roles in the Pats’ future Super Bowl victories.

When they fell short the absence of a reliable running game was often a significant factor, especially 2009 and 2015.

Tom Brady is Clutch

Brady has gone from backup to GOAT because he immediately displayed excellent decision making and an unwavering commitment to improving his weaknesses. Brady wasn’t perfect out of the gate, but he was clutch, leading four fourth-quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives.

For his career, Brady has 44 fourth-quarter comebacks and 57 game-winning drives.

In his best passing game of 2001, Brady passed for 345 yards in an overtime home win against San Diego, a team he’d lose just twice to his entire career (2002, 2005). The Chargers would see their seasons end three times to the Patriots, including twice in Foxboro, just a few hundred yards away from where they lost in the old stadium in 2001.

There’s no question, they’ve been a significant actor in the Patriots dynasty, and one the Patriots have owned every time it’s mattered.

The 2001 Patriots were a magical team from long ago. An underdog team. A team with a nation behind them much because they were called the Patriots during one of the most patriotic periods of American history. They came out as a team, finished off the Rams and kicked off a two-decade roller coaster.

Now, the Patriots are loved and despised and rarely out of the news cycle. “The Patriots” is an entire industry to itself, a far cry from the terrifying aluminum-benched structure known as Foxboro Stadium, among other things, that the 2001 team played before.

All the threads of the dynasty, of the greatest 20-year run in the NFL, started with this 2001 season and so many of its most vital elements were there from the very start.