Miami ... nice

The Patriots head down to South Beach this Sunday with a chance to clinch another AFC East title. Miami is -- a little surprisingly -- the second toughest team in the division this year. Although it won't be an easy game, most Pats' fans go into contests against the team from the Sunshine State with an outlook to match. Since Tom Brady stepped on the field, the Patriots have been far superior to the Dolphins and the results have almost always reflected that.

Brady lost two of his first three starts against the Dolphins. Since then the Pats have gone 14-5 against their division rival from the land of Shaq and JLo. Sure, there was the brief period when the Miami Wildcats gave the Pats trouble and there was that late season comeback in 2004 where Brady threw two bad fourth quarter picks in a little bump in the road to the Super Bowl. But for Pats fans who have grown up with the team over the last 10 or even 20 years, the Patriots have usually gotten the best of the Dolphins. So a trip to South Beach is not something to worry about.

That was not always the case.

When I was a kid growing up in the '70s the team I hated the most was the Miami Dolphins. Not the Steelers. Not the Jets. Not the Cowboys. Not even the evil Raiders. It was the Dolphins. Why? Two words ... Don Shula. The NFL in the '70s had several legendary coaches. Landry. Noll. Grant. Coryell. Madden. I didn't have a problem with any of them. All great head coaches (and even some of the crap ones) have egos and think they are smarter than everyone else. It comes with the job. But Shula ... there was something about the way he kept reminding everyone that he thought he was the smartest guy on the field that really bothered me. It was arrogance. With a capital A. Shula -- who was also a leader on the NFL rules commission -- felt that he alone was upholding the integrity of the game. (See Snow Plow Game). It was like he invented the game. He seemed to think that his team's wins were more honorable. More special. It was like he felt his team's greatness was ordained. Let's just say he bugged me.

Which made it that much more enjoyable when his team lost. Which didn't happen that often. Miami put up the only perfect season, going 17-0 in 1972 to win the franchise's first Super Bowl. (Among all the great reasons 19-0 would have been sweet, knocking Shula and his band of egotists out of the record books was pretty high on the list.) The Dolphins beat the Patriots often during those years -- and often beat them badly. For nearly 20 years the Patriots didn't win a game at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Eighteen trips down south. Eighteen straight losses. Every year Pats fans would gather around their Zeniths and watch the Pats lose to the Dolphins in some painful, humiliating way under the Florida sun. And each time Shula would walk off the field with that smug grin.

I hated the Dolphins.

And then came the 1985 playoffs. The Patriots were trying to emerge from the slime left on them from the Ron Meyer years. I didn't think Meyer was a bad coach but it was like having a car salesman running the team. Meyer was replaced by NFL legend and true gentleman Raymond Berry and the veteran Pats responded by going 11-5 and making the playoffs. It was one of the most entertaining Pats teams ever. The team was anchored by Hall of Famer John "Hog" Hannah and veteran quarterback Steve Grogan. The team had a great running game with Craig James and Tony Collins and a veteran, opportunistic defense with guys like Steve Nelson and the other Hall of Famer Andre Tippett.

The Pats -- behind Tony Eason who had replaced an injured Grogan -- went into New York and knocked off the Jets in the first round and then flew out to Oakland and upset the Raiders in a game that ended with GM Pat Sullivan (who sits near us at Gillette these days) and linebacker Matt Millen from the Raiders getting into a fight on the field after the game. I can still remember watching the games at my brother Richie's house with my other brother and my cousins. Two victories on the road against two teams you love to beat made for two of the best Sundays we had ever enjoyed as Pats fans.

They were just a prelude to the greatest game in Pats' history -- up to that point.

The back-to-back road playoff wins earned the Pats another trip to the Orange Bowl and their first trip ever to the AFC Championship game. It was a great time to be a Patriots' fan, which was a much rarer feeling than it is these days. The Pats were the Cinderella team. The Dolphins were the evil stepmother ... and the defending AFC champs. And they had beaten the Patriots eighteen straight times at home. As we sat in my brother's den drinking cans of Busch and bottles of Heineken we knew there was a good chance it could be another painful day as a Pats' fan. You could see on Shula's face that he thought his team would demolish the  Pats. But there was something about this Cinderella team that made you believe in magic.

And magic it was. In a tropical rainstorm the Pats offense held the ball for 40 minutes, rushing for 255 yards. The defense held young phenom Dan Marino to less than 250 yards and intercepted him twice. The Pats' got to the AFC title game by forcing turnovers and they came away with six more against the almighty Dolphins. I can still remember the sight of coach Berry being hoisted up on the shoulders of his players as the clock counted down to the team's first ever AFC title. And I can still remember the moment the players let him down at midfield so he could shake Shula's hand. Shula was soaked and crushed. The underdog Pats were headed to the Super Bowl and Shula was headed to the twilight of his career. It's one of my favorite football memories.

From that moment on the rivalry that had once been dominated by the team in turquoise and orange belonged to the team in red, white, and blue. Sure, the Dolphins had a resurgence in the '90s with Jimmy Johnson and the two teams had some great battles in those years. Especially the Bledsoe vs. Marino games. But the Dolphins were no longer the dominant force in the division and haven't been that since.

That spot has belonged to the Patriots. Much to the dismay of Don Shula, I'm sure.

For Pete's sake

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Pats 26, Dolphins 23 (11/23/'98): The history books say Pete Carroll lost his job as the Pats' coach after the 1999 season. Not true. Carroll lost his job in November a year earlier. I know. I was there. It was one of the wildest days on the aluminum benches of Foxboro Stadium that I can remember.

The 5-5 Patriots, coached by pumped and jacked Carroll, and the 7-3 Dolphins, coached by two-time Super Bowl winner Jimmy Johnson, faced off on a fairly mild late November night. It was Year Two under Carroll and things were clearly trending in the wrong direction. The Pats started off 4-1 but were a very undisciplined team and limped into the game against Miami looking dead. We could see the foundation that Bill Parcells had built slowly being eroded like a beach cliff under a Cape home. But on this night (and then the following Sunday) Drew Bledsoe almost single-handedly put the team back on solid ground.

We tailgated in nearly 50 degree temperatures, eating, drinking, and mocking Carroll's style of coaching. All rah-rah. Perfect for college. But it very rarely works in the NFL. You either have a dour tactician (Landry, Noll, Belichick) or an in-your-face motivator (Lombardi, Parcells, Cowher) at the helm of the best teams. Cheerleaders as coaches don't usually work out. And when a cheerleader replaces a motivator it usually spells disaster because the players are so glad the guy yelling at them is gone that they ease up and lose their edge. That was the '98 Patriots.

Besides our coach, the other topic of conversation that night was the announcement earlier that week that Robert Kraft had a tentative deal to move the team to Hartford. Hartford! In Connecticut! There was even talk they would change their team colors to match that of the NHL's Hartford Whalers. Green and white. Uh, those are Jets colors. Our team was sliding back into irrelevance and our franchise was moving to Connecticut. We were not in a very good mood as Brendan grilled up some tuna steaks in honor of the Dolphins. (You can't legally buy dolphin.)

Miami was led by Dan Marino nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career and coached by Johnson who spent most of the game pleading with the refs for penalties while Carroll stood around looking mostly lost. It was a back-and-forth affair. Bledsoe connected with tight end Ben Coates for a touchdown early in the game. In my book, the Bledsoe-to-Coates connection is still the all-time best passing tandem in the team's history. Coates would pull in nine passes for nearly 80 yards. But it was Bledsoe that was the story of this game. Hell, he was the story of that whole year. In the midst of a season where the team was disintegrating under Carroll, Bledsoe held things together by throwing for more than 3,600 yards, 20 TDs, and an 80.0 passer rating. Of course he threw many killer picks, but that was Drew.

Miami took a 23-19 lead with just over three minutes to go in the game. Bledsoe led the Pats from deep in their own end to almost midfield at the two minute warning. On a second-down play Bledsoe dropped back to throw and on his follow-through hit his passing hand on a defender's helmet. The Pats took a timeout and he came over to the sideline holding his hand and started to make some practice tosses to test it out. At the same time backup QB Scott Zolak (yes, that one) started warming up. "Zolak's coming in," Mark said with a tone of dread. "We're moving to Hartford and Zolak's coming in. The Parcells magic is officially gone."

But Zolak did not come in. Bledsoe, even though he would later be diagnosed with a broken finger, came back onto the field. And then took another timeout. He burned two timeouts without ever taking a snap with 1:42 to go in the game. He came over to the sideline and took some more practice tosses. He returned to the field, with only one more timeout to waste, and on 2nd-and-10 air-mailed a pass over Terry Glenn's head. He shook his hand some more and started to walk off the field as if he was coming out of the game. But again he stayed in and threw a pass to Coates for a short gain. Fourth-and-six and the Pats have to go for it. Carroll started signalling vehemently for a timeout. The players clearly saw him but ignored him and lined up to run a play.

Bledsoe hit Shawn Jefferson on a curl for a first down with 34 seconds to play. The crowd went nuts and Carroll shrugged and laughed as everyone in the stadium realized Bledsoe has just ignored his head coach. It was at that moment that Pete Carroll was no longer the head coach of the team. And everyone knew it.

On the next play, in the face of a corner blitz, Bledsoe let one rip into the left corner of the end zone that landed right in Jefferson's hands for a touchdown with 30 seconds left for the amazing victory. The stadium went into a state of delirium. Moving to Hartford? Not tonight! Beating Miami on a last second play. It was one of the best moments at the old stadium.

Bledsoe, broken finger and all, led the Pats on an amazing 26-play, 84-yard game winning drive. He finished with 423 yards passing. And as the game ended he ran around the field, responding to the roar of the crowd, pumping his fists and soaking in the moment. The next week, also at home, he played the entire game against the Bills with his broken finger taped to his other fingers, and again led the team to a last-second come from behind win, this time hitting Coates for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. He had many, many great moments as the Pats QB. But those two games in '98 were the two most amazing back-to-back victories that old Foxboro Stadium ever saw.

Bledsoe's career, and the team's fortunes, began to slide from that point as the Pats finished 9-7 that year and then 8-8 the next. Among all the sins of Carroll's years here, the biggest one is his ruining of Bledsoe. Parcells was tough on Bledsoe and that's what he needed. It motivated him. Carroll coddled him and his skills eroded. He was never Baryshnikov, but his footwork just got worse and worse until he become the most stationary target in the game. And then he took a hit by Mo Lewis that changed his -- and the team's -- fortunes. He left the field and Brady came on ... and hasn't left since.

There were a lot of stories in the media this week giving Carroll some credit for the success that Belichick has brought. There's probably some truth in that. But not much. Carroll's a good guy. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't root for him. He did a great job with USC ... except for all the NCAA rule violations that took away most of his wins after he left. He is a very good defensive coach, as the Pats will find out today when they go to Seattle. But I still don't think he's a good NFL head coach. Sure, the Seahawks are getting better. But his first two seasons as head coach have ended 7-9 and 7-9. I'd be surprised if their record is any better than 8-8 this year. But my guess is that Pete Carroll would be pretty pumped and jacked if the Seahawks finished 8-8. That's his way.

The forgotten man

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Pats 26, Dolphins 23 (11/23/'98): You can chart the ups and downs of NFL franchises since 1970 by looking at the schedule of each season's Monday Night Football games.

The Steelers and the Cowboys have rarely disappeared from the Monday night roster for more than a season, a testament to just how few bad stretches both franchises have had. Teams such as the Lions and the Seahawks, on the other hand, have had long periods out of view of the MNF cameras. Check out the early '70s and you'll see the Len Dawson-led Kansas City Chiefs played on Monday night ten times in the first seven years of MNF. In this decade the Chiefs players haven't had to get off their couch on a Monday night in five years. The Patriots, in their early years of bumbling, stumbling franchise, only made a few MNF visits but this decade it seems a month doesn't go by without Brady and the Pats stepping into the Monday night spotlight. I'm sure fans around the rest of the NFL feel the Pats are playing almost every Monday night.

This week's battle against the Saints is the latest in a decade of big Monday night games the team has played. Like the game in New Orleans, most of them have been on the road. The Patriots are 3-1 at home on Monday nights this decade. Not a lot of tailgating memories to go along with those games. But as we get ready for a match-up of two great quarterbacks -- Brady vs. Brees on Monday night -- it reminds me of my favorite MNF tailgating memory. Involving another great quarterback who is now the forgotten man.

Drew Bledsoe.

The Pats #1 draft pick in 1993 is one of the players most instrumental in turning the franchise around. Like Tom Brady. Ty Law. Tedy Bruschi. Bledsoe deserves as much credit as anyone. He didn't win a Super Bowl as a starter but he jump-started a franchise with some of the most amazing passing performances of the past two decades. He was that good. And he was that tough. I was a Brady guy early on. Mostly because you could tell he had that undefinable quality that all great players have. His abilities have improved each year, but from the beginning you could see he was hard to rattle and had the knack for making the big play. Just like the quarterback who came before him. Bledsoe hard to rattle? Tough? As tough as they come. It may be hard to remember now after the way his Pats career ended, but on back-to-back weekends in November '98 he led the team to two miraculous victories. In the second of those games (against the Bills) he did it while playing with a broken finger on his passing hand.

The first of those games was a Monday nighter against Miami at Foxboro Stadium. Pete Carroll was in his second (and thankfully next-to-last) season as head coach. The Pats started off 4-1 but limped into the game against the Dolphins at 5-5. We could see the foundation that Bill Parcells had built slowly being eroded like a beach cliff under a Cape home. But for two nights Bledsoe almost single-handedly put the team back on solid ground.

We tailgated on a crisp winter night, eating, drinking, and mocking Carroll's "pumped and jacked" mentality to coaching. All rah-rah. Perfect for college. But it very rarely works in the NFL. You either have a dour tactician (Landry, Noll, Belichick) or an in-your-face motivator (Lombardi, Parcells, Cowher) at the helm of the best teams. Cheerleaders as coaches don't usually work out. And when a cheerleader replaces a motivator it usually spells disaster because the players are so glad the guy yelling at them is gone that they ease up and lose their edge. That was the '98 Patriots.

Besides our coach, the other topic of conversation that night was the announcement earlier that month that Robert Kraft had a tentative deal to move the team to Hartford. Hartford! In Connecticut! There was even talk they would change their team colors to match that of the NHL's Hartford Whalers. Green and white. Uh, those are Jets colors. Our team was sliding back into irrelevance and our franchise was moving to Connecticut. We were not in a very good mood as Brendan grilled up some tuna steaks in honor of the Dolphins. (You can't legally buy dolphin.)

Miami was 7-3 and led by Dan Marino nearing the end of his career and coached by Jimmy Johnson who spent most of the game pleading with the refs for penalties. It was a back-and-forth affair. Bledsoe connected with tight end Ben Coates for a touchdown early in the game. In my book, the Bledsoe-to-Coates connection is still the all-time best passing tandem in the team's history. Coates would pull in nine passes for nearly 80 yards. But it was Bledsoe that was the story of this game. Hell, he was the story of that whole year. In the midst of a season where the team was disintegrating, Bledsoe held things together by throwing for more than 3,600 yards, 20 TDs, and an 80.0 passer rating. Of course he threw many killer picks, but that was Drew. I've wondered how Tom Brady would do playing on a team like the '98 Pats. Someday I might find out. If he plays like Bledsoe did that year then that's a hell of an effort.

Miami took a 23-19 lead with just over three minutes to go in the game. Bledsoe led the Pats from deep in their own end to almost midfield at the two minute warning. On a second-down play Bledsoe dropped back to throw and on his follow through hit his passing hand on a defender's helmet. The Pats took a timeout and he came over to the sideline holding his hand and started to make some practice tosses to test it out. At the same time backup QB Scott Zolak (yes, that one) started warming up. "Zolak's coming in," Mark said. "We're moving to Hartford and Zolak's coming in. The Parcells magic is officially gone."

But Zolak did not come in. Bledsoe, even though he would later be diagnosed with a broken finger, came back onto the field. And then took another timeout. He burned two timeouts without ever taking a snap with 1:42 to go in the game. He came over to the sideline and took some more practice tosses. He returned to the field, with only one more timeout to waste, and on 2nd-and-10 airmailed a pass over Terry Glenn's head. He shook his hand some more and started to walk off the field as if he was coming out of the game. But again he stayed in and threw a pass to Coates for a short gain. Fourth-and-six and the Pats have to go for it. Carroll started signalling vehemently for a timeout. The players clearly saw him but ignored him and lined up to run a play. (Yes, Carroll was toast as the coach right then and there.) Bledsoe hit Shawn Jefferson on a curl for a first down with 34 seconds to play. On the next play, in the face of a corner blitz, Bledsoe let one rip into the left corner of the end zone that landed right in Jefferson's hands for a touchdown with 30 seconds left for the amazing victory. The crowd went nuts. Moving to Hartford? Not tonight!

Bledsoe, broken finger and all, led the Pats on a 26-play, 84-yard game winning drive. He finished with 423 yards passing. And as the game ended he ran around the field, responding to the roar of the crowd, pumping his fists and soaking in the moment. The next week, also at home, he played the entire game against the Bills with his broken finger taped to his other fingers, and again led the team to a last-second come from behind win, this time hitting Coates for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. He had many, many great moments as the Pats QB. The record-setter against the Vikings that turned their '96 season around. The AFC championship later that year. The AFC title game in '01 where he came in for an injured Brady and put one final shining moment on a great career with the team. But those two games in '98 were the two most amazing back-to-back victories that old Foxboro Stadium ever saw.

Bledsoe's career, and the team's fortunes, began to slide from that point as the Pats finished 9-7 that year and then 8-8 the next. Among all the sins of Carroll's years here, the biggest one is his ruining of Bledsoe. Parcells was tough on Bledsoe and that's what he needed. It motivated him. Carroll coddled him and his skills eroded. He was never Baryshnikov, but his footwork just got worse and worse until he become the most stationary target in the game. And then he took a hit by Mo Lewis that changed his -- and once again the team's -- fortunes. He left the field and Brady came on ... and hasn't left since.

That's the other thing that Drew Bledsoe had. Class. When he was getting the crap kicked out of him playing for a mediocre team he took his lumps, kept his mouth shut, and kept coming out every Sunday battling his hardest. When he lost his job to a young QB who would soon prove to be among the best, Bledsoe kept his mouth shut, helped Brady get better, and by not stirring up a controversy played a key role in the first Super Bowl run.

I have a bulletin board in the basement with lots of ticket stubs, pins, stickers, etc. from all the Pats games. In the middle is the cover of the 1994 Globe's NFL preview with a photo of Bledsoe under the headline "A new era is dawning." A lot of things have come and gone from that bulletin board, but the faded picture of No. 11 still hangs right where I put it 15 years ago.