Patriots: Ranking Tom Brady’s return among hyped Foxborough matchups

8:00 p.m Wednesday night, the NFL officially announced their schedules for the upcoming 2021 season. For the past 20 years, Patriots fans have not paid much attention to the regular season schedule, and especially not a Week 4 October game.

This year that changed, when all of Patriots nation circled Week 4, Oct. 3 as the date Tom Brady will return to Foxborough.

After 20 seasons with the team, the greatest player of all time will be returning to New England, the place where he hoisted six Lombardi trophies. After years of debating, we will finally get to see the greatest QB of all time go head to head with the greatest coach of all time.

With the nosebleed seats of Gillette being sold for a minimum of $1,144 on StubHub, they are already saying this may be the hottest ticket in the history of the NFL.

Of course, no regular season game has compared to the hype and anticipation this game will get. Looking back on some highly anticipated Gillette Stadium regular season games, though, a few come to Pats’ fans minds.

1. Patriots vs. Bengals 2016
2. Patriots vs. Bengals 2014 (We’re onto Cincinnati)
3. Manning vs. Brady 2014
4. Brees vs. Brady 2013
5. Banner-Raising Games

Starting off with Patriots vs. Bengals in 2016, which was the original “Brady’s Return to Foxborough Game.” After serving a four-game suspension for “Deflategate,” Tom Brady made his long awaited return to Gillette Stadium by beating the Bengals 35-17. Despite going 3-1 without him, not seeing No. 12 at QB didn’t feel right to Pats fans and they couldn’t wait for “The Revenge Tour” against Roger Goodell to begin.

No. 2 on our list is another Pats vs. Bengals game back in 2014, which we all know as the “We’re on to Cincinnati” game. After a 41-14 blowout loss in KC, the media and many NFL fans were beginning to doubt Brady and the Patriots.

Is Brady too old? Should Belichick consider putting in Jimmy Garoppolo? Is the dynasty over? All of those questions would be answered with a 43-17 win over Cincy, and yeah, three more Lombardi Trophies.

Tom Brady’s return ranks similarly to his comeback from the Patriots’ Deflategate suspension vs. the Bengals.

Next, No. 3 is the Manning vs. Brady 2014 matchup. This QB matchup always gathered the most hype of regular season games every year, but with the No. 1 seed on the line and Peyton in Denver, this matchup felt different. The Patriots would go on to destroy the Broncos 43-21 highlighted by a young Julian Edelman’s 84-yard punt return (met by TB12 in the end zone).

At No. 4, we have the Brady vs. Brees matchup from 2013. With two of the greatest QBs of all time facing off, this October matchup had to have an unforgettable ending. With no timeouts down 27-23 and 1:13 left on the clock, the comeback seemed impossible…until Brady picked apart the Saints defense like a surgeon and threw a TD to Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds to go.

This masterful comeback left Buddy Ryan nearly in tears and Scott Zolak delivering maybe his greatest call ever (“UNICORNS! SHOW PONIES! WHERE’S THE BEEF?”).

Last, but certainly not least of the highly anticipated Gillette Stadium matchups is all six “Banner Games.” With too many to choose from, raising the Super Bowl banner became almost a yearly tradition in New England (with a 10-year break in between). The two that come to mind are the 2002 and 2015 banner games against Pittsburgh.

2002 was the first banner, an underdog Super Bowl win that will always have a special place in Patriots fans’ hearts, followed by a 30-14 win on opening night. 2015 was the first game at Gillette stadium since the Deflategate conspiracy theory playoff run and the Pats did not disappoint. They beat Pittsburgh 28-21, with No. 12 throwing for 288 yards and four touchdowns, proving just how ridiculous that controversy really was.

Despite winning most of these games, they would often be followed by the cycle of a rough start to the season, the entire media and country doubting them, and the team proving everyone wrong come January.

Will Brady and Belichick embrace pregame? Will Brady run out of the tunnel and do his trademarked fist pump that fired up the Gillette crowd for 20 years? Will Brady be met with a sea of cheers or with a mixture of boos? Will the student beat the professor?

These questions will be answered come October 3, but all Pats fans can hope for is both teams starting the season 3-0, only building up the anticipation for what could be the most memorable night in Gillette Stadium history.

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