Patriots: 3 best games from Tom Brady’s first season under center

Here are Tom Brady’s best games from his first season as the Patriots starting quarterback.

If any Patriots fans want to drive themselves up a wall, just try to compile a list of the best games of Tom Brady’s illustrious career with the franchise. For a player who’s won a whopping six Super Bowl titles (and been to three others), appeared in 285 games, and made the playoffs in every season as New England’s starting quarterback save for his sophomore campaign and the 2008-season-that-shall-not-be-named, that literally seems like an impossible task.

There are so many potential options that we have a migraine just thinking about narrowing down his 10 best performances with the Patriots.

As it turns out, we have just the list that will help us avoid that predicament. With Brady preparing for his first season in Tampa Bay, with whom he signed a two-year, $50 million contract this offseason, it only seems fair that we dive into his best games in his first year (2001) as the Pats starting gunslinger.

That season, the Patriots finished first in the AFC East with an 11-5 record and topped it off with a win over the then-St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. In 15 games (14 starts), Brady completed 63.% of his passes for 2,843 yards and 18 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions.

3. Week 4 vs San Diego

We simply had to include the game in which many fans believe Brady arrived on the NFL scene. In the first three games of the 2001 season, the former sixth-round pick really struggled to move the ball, completing less than 44% of his passes for a total of 300 yards and zero (!) touchdowns.

However, Week 4 was an entirely different story, as Brady rallied the Patriots to a 29-26 overtime win over the then-San Diego Chargers. While the Chargers defense was nothing to write home about that year, it says a lot that Brady was able to overcome his early struggles.

The 14-time Pro Bowler erupted in this one, going 33-of-54 for 364 yards and two touchdowns, marching the team down the field to set up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning 44-yard field goal. Little did the rest of the NFL know that this was just the start of a 20-year run of Brady dominating opposing defenses.

2. Week 10 vs New Orleans

While Tom Brady was solid for most of the 2001 campaign, he didn’t blow minds on the stat sheet until Week 10. Fans in New England really caught their first glimpse of the three-time MVP’s clutch gene in this one, as the team was in need of a win following a loss to St. Louis the previous week.

All Brady did was carve up the Saints defense, finishing 19-of-26 (73%) for 258 yards and four touchdowns compared to zero interceptions. He even added a season-high 14 rushing yards on four carries! Brady might have been in the prime of his career from an athletic standpoint in 2001, but he was never known to be a runner, as evidenced by his infamous performance in the 40-yard dash at the 2000 Combine.

The Patriots rolled to a 38-17 victory in this one, and they literally wouldn’t look back as they didn’t lose again for the rest of the season.

The Michigan product threw for more than two touchdowns just three times in 2001, and this was undoubtedly his best pre-playoff performance.

And speaking of the playoffs…

1. Super Bowl XXXVI

If you were to only look at the stat sheet, you wouldn’t think that Brady delivered an MVP performance in his first career Super Bowl cameo, and understandably so, as he finished 16-of-27 for 145 yards and just one touchdown.

However, for as ineffective as he was for the first 58 minutes of the game, he was every bit as brilliant for the final 1:21 of the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 17, the Patriots ironically took over on their own 17-yard line with zero timeouts. What ensued was what can only be described as career-defining.

FOX color analyst John Madden was imploring New England to play it safe by kneeling the ball and living to fight another drive in overtime. However, Brady and head coach Bill Belichick weren’t of that mindset, as the former executed a picture perfect two-minute drive, taking chances in the middle of the field when the opportunity presented itself while also finding his receivers near the sidelines. He even showed tremendous composure against St. Louis’ bloodthirsty pass rush, avoiding what could have been a handful of sacks.

While Brady didn’t set Vinatieri up with a chip shot, the Pro Bowl kicker made light work of the pressurized 48-yard game-winner, drilling it right down the middle with plenty of room to spare, thus completing the Patriots’ upset over “The Greatest Show on Turf.” With all due respect to Brady’s other games in 2001, none of them compared to his first of six championships.