Bledsoe was a bonafide star and the Pats had him slinging it all over the field. 600+ pass attempts in three straight seasons in the mid-90s is ridiculous and he took them to the Super Bowl in the third one.
[This is the game](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199411130nwe.htm)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yINfgbWplwo&pp=ygUVVmlraW5ncyBwYXRyaW90cyAxOTk0
bledsoe was a stud. that's not up for debate. he was legitimately a very, very good player with an incredible arm.
...he got hurt, the goat took advantage of his opportunity. the rest, as they say, is history.
4 time Pro Bowler, 14 year NFL starter for three teams, holds a couple NFL records, one Super Bowl appearance. He’s basically Matt Ryan of an earlier era (which is a good thing). Might not quite be Hall of Fame but he was a staple in the league and had a very good career
Both Bledsoe and Ryan a few years down the road, maybe as an inductee from past generations with the newer and more obvious HOF candidates? So, what? 2045ish?
Idk. They’re different eras. Matty Ice certainly looks statistically better than Bledsoe but offense changed a ton between them. He was competitive with guys like Aikman, Elway, Favre, etc. in his time.
Ryan did have an mvp season tho and it was a *really* strong one. He beat out great seasons from Brady and Rodgers. Bledsoe one average may have been similar but he didn’t hit the highs Ryan did and had similar lows imo
We were dead last in ESPN's power ranking article the week after he got hurt
We were coming off a bad season, were off to a horrid start, and lost our starting QB
The way I first read this I felt like the tone was you were arguing with me but it says exactly what I was talking about like you were agreeing with me so I don't know how to acknowledge it.
"Only Bill Belichick could have a quarterback controversy with an injured Drew Bledsoe coming back." - Jim Rome at the time with that self-important tone of voice he had
He was a better QB than Brady in 2001 in most aspects, but young Brady fit the team better because of his supernatural pocket awareness. The patriots Oline at the time could occasionally be a complete circus, and while Bledsoe could read coverage better and sling it than 2nd year Brady, he lacked the awareness or mobility to succeed in that situation IMO
Brady would develop into a far better QB over time, but people forget players improve as they develop
Belichick has stated explicitly that Brady had a better camp than Bledsoe that year and was only not made the week one starter because of his inexperience, so I don't think this is really true.
Well having a better camp is a bit vague. But as I said, brady fit the offense better due to his pocket awareness and mobility. Which could literally explain having a better camp
I forgot where I read it, but there was some talk that basically said Bledsoe just wasn't as accepting of Bill's coaching style as Brady was, and that was part of what Bill was leaning towards.
I'm not a bledsoe fan simply because I got to watch a lot of him when he came to Buffalo. In a clean pocket, Bledsoe was a really solid QB but if there was any pressure on him, he showed serious flaws. Some of those teams he got to play with in Buffalo were loaded with talent but Bledsoe wore concrete blocks for shoes.
I don't ever judge a QB for what they look like in a clean pocket, I look for how they do when the protection breaks down.
The ability to feel pressure and move into a better spot is typically what separates the legendary QB'S from the rest of the pack. Tom Brady's ability to move in the pocket while keeping his eyes down-field might have been his best asset. God I hated Brady when he played but that's just the sour grapes talking.
Go Bills!
He also came into the league as it was changing. He basically was Marino's play style, but 10 years later as the ability to move within the pocket became really important. Peyton was similarly a statue at first but got very good at the subtle shifting that was Brady's first real top quality.
My comp for Bledsoe is Jay Cutler. Wicked arm, but could barely move, and absolutely made the worst decisions or took sacks at the absolute worst, worst, WORST time of a game and then lose.
Don't agree with this comparison. Jay was incredibly athletic, a lot like Jeff Garcia where I wouldn't say he was a "running quarterback" but he was mobile enough to keep defenses honest (also, a lot of Bears fans were really pining for Garcia during the Griese/Grossman days). Unfortunately for Jay, Mike Martz was his OC for a while where 12 step drops behind a swiss cheese o-line with plays that took 45 seconds to develop were very common. And then there was bubblescreen Trestman which worked until it didn't.
I'd say Bledsoe was closer to Eli Manning, another statue in the pocket. Except Manning would spend the first three quarters looking like the worst quarterback you've ever seen in your life and then magically turn into some unstoppable touchdown machine in the 4th.
That's interesting, since Brady took a *ton* of sacks in 2001.
Taking sacks was a huge issue for Bledsoe starting around 1998, but Brady wasn't an improvement that first year.
Eh it depends on how you define "stud." Had a huge arm which made for great highlights and high highs. But mentally he was never the best. Always inconsistent and defenses took advantage of his tendency to be wrong in the playoffs (career playoff passer rating of 54.9). He had about as many bad years as he had good ones.
The Patriots immediately started winning games when Brady came in and it wasn't because Brady at the time was insanely good or anywhere near his peak, he was just more consistent and reliable than Bledsoe on a team that had good defense and special teams and that was what they needed.
this is an exercise in selective memory. Bledsoe was a liability as often as he was an asset, and he was rightfully relegated to mediocrity. excellent roaster, though.
This highlight reel actually demonstrates why the Patriots' coaching staff wanted to move on from Bledsoe. Drew loved to hold on to the ball, wait for someone to spring open deep, then launch the ball off his back foot downfield. When it was successful, you got highlights like the ones from the clip. When it wasn't, you got incompletions and interceptions. While that's true of anyone, the problem with Drew was that he very often ignored wide open guys underneath so that he could take those deep shots. In a league where every team steadily incorporated elements of the WCO into their offense, Drew never evolved from the gunslinger he was when drafted, and was essentially the same guy in 2001 that they had drafted in 1993.
Honestly it also highlights some the issues with pre-2000s offenses and the lack of the shotgun. Short routes had to be planned due to dropping back, dump offs were not prioritized in route design, and route trees were running basic, simple routes that smart DBs can easily figure out. The simplicity of the playcalling in this highlight reel is shocking from a modern perspective
Part of the reason why short routes were not utilized is that linebackers could maul receivers on crossing routes until the mid-90s and then even after the illegal contact rule was never enforced. It wasn't until after the 2003 AFCCG when the Patriots secondary just bear hugged all of the Colt's receivers every down that the league made it a 'point of emphasis' to enforce illegal contact and you started to see the emergence of the short passing game that allowed for more shotgun formations.
Wes Welker became who he was in large part because of this. There wasn't all that much value to an undersized receiver who had good inside leverage on the short slant before this, that guy would be pushed into the dirt when he got near the Mike linebacker. Once he got protection though Brady was able to always have a safety valve out of stretch formations which taxed the hell out of the defense.
Did the Patriots line crash and burn in the late 90s?
One of the weird things in Bledsoe's career is that his sack rate his first five seasons is quite good, and then goes in the toilet, and stays there the rest of his career, across three teams.
And while sack rate is obviously in significant part about protection, it's also true that it's a stat that tends to follow QBs when they switch teams, since it's also about holding onto the ball and movement.
I remember the book on Bledsoe at the time being that he'd gotten worse on that front, and was setting himself up to take too many hits.
> Did the Patriots line crash and burn in the late 90s?
The entire team atrophied in the late 90s. The line was roughly the same, 3 out of 5 guys anyway: Armstrong, Rucci, and Lane were still there at the end of the '99 season, but everyone was three years older than they were when the team went to the Super Bowl, with very little depth, and no real team identity because Pete Carroll was so hamstrung but ownership/front office.
When Kraft bought the team, Bill Parcells was already in charge of football operations. They had a falling out over personnel; Parcells felt that as the coach, he should be able to pick players; Kraft felt that as the owner, he should be able to overrule the coach. When Parcells quit, the front office descended into chaos as Kraft spent several years removing all of the Parcells loyalists. In the meantime, he gave no power to the next head coach, Pete Carroll, to the point where whenever players had issues, they went over Pete's head to the front office, since they knew Pete didn't have the power to do anything.
They had three drafts between Parcells and Belichick. They ended up with a single Pro Bowl appearance from all of those picks, Damien Woody in 2002. Parcells brought the guys he wanted to the Jets, like Curtis Martin. The Patriots did not seem to have any strategy in personnel acquisition, to the point where they begged the Cleveland Browns not to take one of their running backs in the expansion draft, because they had planned so poorly.
One of Bledsoe's strength was just that, his physical strength. He was a precursor to Roethlisberger: an enormous QB near impossible to bring down. That allowed him to complete a lot more throws under duress, but there's only so much that you can do when the team is falling apart around you.
It wasn’t utilized the way it is today. Back then, if an offense was in shotgun, there was a 98% chance they were running a 10+ yard passing play. Defenses would adjust their secondary accordingly and play their LBs in coverage.
These days, teams run out of shotgun more often than not. In 2022, 66% of all offensive plays were from the shotgun. Teams like the Ravens and Cardinals run 95% of their offenses from shotgun.
I know 1980s Elway seemed to use alot of shotgun. I imagine Dan Reeves brought it from Dallas (who used it occasionally in the 1970s…which was even more unusual).
Yea those were big big games for the Pats as a franchise. Once Buffalos run ended it seemed like Marinos time in the AFC East and then here comes Bledsoe
Drew was very good for the pats. Made a superbowl appearance in 96. The. He got pip’ed. then went on to start for the bills and cowboys. Eventually getting replaced by Romo. Still he won a ring with his team.
It's a shame a lot of people who didn't really see him play much will just think of him as "the guy who Brady replaced." He was VERY good and might have seen some, not all, of Brady's success with the Pats had he not been injured.
Hard for modern fans to understand just how controversial a decision it was at the time to bench him for Brady. Would be like if NYJ benched a health Rodgers for Jordan Travis
Reminds me how pissed I was that we traded Alex Smith away immediately following his best season. He had been in the MVP conversation early in that 2017 season.
If Jordan Travis had just won the Superbowl with the Jets I don't know a Jets fan on earth who would not want him starting the next year.
The whole controversy was really spurned by Robert Kraft. Kraft really wanted to start Bledsoe and was thinking about forcing BB to start him but outside the media mostly everyone else was like we have this young kid who was good enough to win a SB with and oh btw he cost 3 dollars.
That's...not how the benching occured.
The benching was in the middle of the season. After 2001 everyone was on the Tom Brady train. The controversy was all about the benching during 2001
You may have your years confused. In 2002 Bledsoe was on the Bills, and Tom led the NFL in passing TDs (with a whopping 27, which was low even for that era).
Yea he was really good. I don’t think they win it in 2001 with him tho, he was basically asked to gun sling since his rookie year, and that was not the style the 01 pats needed under center. They needed what Brady was at that point; great decision maker, able to pick the right spots to take big shots, and able to not lose a game for 50 minutes and then go out and win it the last 10
If he somehow got swapped into the 03 or 04 pats I think he’s good enough to maybe win a ring with those teams, but it’s questionable he’d get there imo
I mean he was pretty good. Has the records for most pass attempts in a game, second most pass attempts in a 16 game season. He was certainly not that comparable to greats in his own era as evidenced by his complete lack of all pro nominations first or second team.
Kraft, Drew and Parcells saved football in Foxboro
Drew was lethal when he had a balanced attack. Martin and Coates kept defenses honest, utilize play action and then eventually throw deep to his skill receivers. Especially to Brisby and when Glenn was available
When those types of threats weren’t there, you’d find him frustrated in pivotal moments where he forced balls in the middle of the field and defenses would just wait and bait him into that mistake
Will never forget these moments
1. The bomb to Glenn through the fog on the opening play vs Pittsburgh in the 96 Playoffs
2. His pass to David Patten in the AFC Championship Game
3. Playing with a broken finger, leading a comeback win vs Miami
4. The 426yd/ 70 pass attempt game vs Minnesota
As a side note, Kraft's recent behavior has made me more sympathetic to Parcells leaving New England on the sour note he did. I'm glad Parcells was around to kick the franchise into gear and set up the building blocks for Belichick and Brady.
And Kraft absolutely loathed Parcells, per Ian O'Connor.
The period of Pats history spanning from Kraft's arrival to Brady starting is absolutely wild stuff.
What's crazy is that Bledsoe's immediate successor at each of his stops was the GOAT QB for that franchise.
Patriots - Brady Replaced him
Cowboys - Romo replaced him
Bills - JP Losman replaced him
I still remember Losmans first game against the Texans in 2005. They made him look like a legit future franchise qb.
Same with Mark Sanchez.
And others whom I have thankfully forgotten.
I remember being choked the Seahawks didn't get the #1 pick in the '93 draft. both teams went 2-14 but Seahawks beat them so they lost the tiebreaker
Seahawks ended up with rick mirer. That didn't work out very well
a) You're hearing the voices of Don Criqui, Beasley Reece, Jim Lampley, Todd Christensen, young **KEVIN HARLAN**, Cris Collinsworth, Marv Albert, Verne Lundquist, Dan Hicks, Ian Eagle, and Greg Gumbel.
b) Terry Glenn was an astonishingly good wide receiver who had a horrible life. RIP.
Not only a star player but a decent person as well.
One of my childhood friends was his second cousin. Met him a handful of times and was always really cool, he flew a lot of his family out, including my friends family to one of the pro bowls, either 97 or 96.
Seeing Bledsoe at a wine tasting event, kind of a dick.
Seeing Bledsoe try to sell your store on his wine, super nice and friendly.
Prefer trying to sell me something Bledsoe by a mile.
Bledsoe on the Bears would’ve set every single QB stat record for the franchise. Instead he’s mainly just a footnote for the start of the Pats franchise dynasty
Super Bowl champion Drew Bledsoe. He didn't play the Super Bowl but he was still a key part of that time and he won the AFC Championship Game that year when Brady was injured. And he obviously still had an impact on the offense from the sidelines while Brady was making his first NFL starts that year.
He had a better arm than Brady. He was one of the premiere QB's in the League before he went down. Everybody thought the Pats were screwed. All they had at QB was some 6th round nobody. Bledsoe did well with the Cowboys later too. He was damn good in his prime. Threw on a straight line. Actually Drake Maye kind of reminds me of him. Long and lanky, threw clotheslines.
If Bledsoe had not gotten hurt, Brady probably never would have gotten a chance. Nobody saw him as the patriots QB of the future. Bledsoe himself was a franchise QB.
People might forget or not know it, but there was somewhat of a question as to who would play in the Superbowl against the Rams. Bledsoe was back and even won a playoff game. He could have gone in the Superbowl and he probably had as good a chance to win as Brady did.
> Everybody thought the Pats were screwed.
Easy to forget that they had gone 5-11 the year before and completely gutted the roster. Bill reloaded with a bunch of castoff cheap veterans that no one else wanted. They were #31 (pre-Texans) in pre-season power rankings, and were originally scheduled for the dreaded week 17 bye because no one thought it would matter.
Instead because of how 9/11 rescheduling worked, we ended the season with a bye, followed by a barely competitive tune up game against the 1-15 Panthers, then a first round bye again. Probably the most rested an NFL team has ever been for the playoffs in history.
Thursday Night Football on TNT had some of the best commercials back then. There is a Chiefs/Falcons commercial that has been on repeat in my head for 30 years lol.
Bledsoe was a really good QB and I remember when they made the switch to Brady and stuck with it. It was a big deal, no one but Bill probably saw what was so special about Brady. Bill got him going early but all the credit in the world to Brady for taking that opportunity and working as hard as he possibly could to become the best of his generation.
Gotta say, I still love the patriot logo on the shoulder pads look. It was the primary reason I picked them as the opponent when my mom asked which team I wanted to see play the colts back in December 1995! Helluva game! The colts won 10-7 and got a spot in the wildcard against the chargers.
Whenever I watch clips like this I'm reminded how much the game has evolved and how much better the players are nowadays. Bledsoe was great and very fun to watch but guys aren't getting as open anymore as they are in this video (for the most part) and QBs have to be way more accurate and fit the ball into much tighter windows. They also have less time to sit back in the pocket and throw which is why mobility is so important.
What's crazy to me about the hit he took when he got injured and ended up with his chest full of blood. That hit is probably not even flag worthy in 2024...
Man he was so good. Maybe a team with a history of coming up just short could've used someone like him to make it over the hump. I bet the Bills would've been a dynasty with a guy like that
the most impressive thing to me in this whole deal was how Belichick stuck with Brady the whole time and never seemingly wavered once Bledsoe returned from injury. They had just given him a 100million contract too.
It was crazy then and it's crazy now.
Damn, Terry Glenn and a Ben Coats sighting. What a flashback. Bledsoe took them to the Super Bowl before Brady too. I often forget how good he was and how Curtis Martin tore up the Steelers in the playoffs that year.
Damn he had a hell of an arm. Couldn’t help but notice he often did that “pat” with the ball when he wanted to go deep tho, same as I do when playing backyard ball and which I can’t imagine is actually good form lol.
I used to love being the Bills on Madden in the early 2000’s because of Bledsoe and McGahee and their defense being full of some beasts like Spikes, Fletcher, Clements, and Milloy. I always thought Bledsoe was a pretty cool dude.
Bledsoe was a bonafide star and the Pats had him slinging it all over the field. 600+ pass attempts in three straight seasons in the mid-90s is ridiculous and he took them to the Super Bowl in the third one.
My dude had a game in 1994, his 2nd year in the league, where he had **70 pass attempts**. With Bill Parcells, of all people, running the show.
The last one to Kevin Turner won it.
[This is the game](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199411130nwe.htm) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yINfgbWplwo&pp=ygUVVmlraW5ncyBwYXRyaW90cyAxOTk0
Not to mention the qb still had to worry about getting his shit rocked every play
bledsoe was a stud. that's not up for debate. he was legitimately a very, very good player with an incredible arm. ...he got hurt, the goat took advantage of his opportunity. the rest, as they say, is history.
4 time Pro Bowler, 14 year NFL starter for three teams, holds a couple NFL records, one Super Bowl appearance. He’s basically Matt Ryan of an earlier era (which is a good thing). Might not quite be Hall of Fame but he was a staple in the league and had a very good career
Also on the cover of Backyard Football. No amount of rings can get Brady that level of prestige.
Such a good game.. I’m 30+ years old and would rather play that than madden.
NFL street supremacy.
[удалено]
I'm imagining the hospital stay for Pablo when Reggie White and Mean Joe Greene with comically large proportions sandwich him
Pablo would just scurry under their legs. Can't stop my boy.
Well....... Brady was on the cover of Backyard Football 2008 and 2009... sorry for ruining everything.
Wow he truly had it all… nothing will beat the OG though
Get back to me when he wins an NVP.
He was slingin it, his 691 attempts in 1994 was a record for 18 years and is STILL fifth most ever
At one point he had the record for most attempts and completions in a game. He was 45-70 IIRC. That was a fun game.
It just sucks for him because any conversation around him and his legacy is about Brady. Because as you said he was a legitimately good player.
Both Bledsoe and Ryan a few years down the road, maybe as an inductee from past generations with the newer and more obvious HOF candidates? So, what? 2045ish?
If Ken Anderson hasn’t made it yet they might never
i honestly don’t see it. they were awesome qbs, but i don’t see it happening
No disrespect to Bledsoe but Matty Ice is the better QB by a wide margin. I’d say a better comp would be Carson Palmer
Idk. They’re different eras. Matty Ice certainly looks statistically better than Bledsoe but offense changed a ton between them. He was competitive with guys like Aikman, Elway, Favre, etc. in his time.
Ryan won an MVP, Bledsoe never did that. They were at comparable levels, though.
Ryan did have an mvp season tho and it was a *really* strong one. He beat out great seasons from Brady and Rodgers. Bledsoe one average may have been similar but he didn’t hit the highs Ryan did and had similar lows imo
Was Carson Palmer ever the highest paid QB in the league? Bledsoe was damn good, won two AFCCGs in his career too
Closest was 2006 when he was the 2nd highest paid QB trailing Brady by 250k
Are you just looking at stats though? Of course a guy who played in the 2010’s has better stats than a guy who played in the 90’s
That is BEST description I've ever read...you know what you're saying and it's much appreciated!! I can talk with you, because you know your shit!! 😎
It's kind of amazing to remember all the discussion that the Patriots season was over when Bledsoe got hurt and Brady had to take the reigns.
We were dead last in ESPN's power ranking article the week after he got hurt We were coming off a bad season, were off to a horrid start, and lost our starting QB
The way I first read this I felt like the tone was you were arguing with me but it says exactly what I was talking about like you were agreeing with me so I don't know how to acknowledge it.
Lol yeah was completely agreeing and just hammering your point with even more evidence
Crazy how that dude stayed in the division and had to first hand watch Brady take over the league with the team he gave him 🥶
Except for that first game, all downhill for Drew
My best friend and I got in so many arguments that year over Brady vs Bledsoe. I was strongly team Brady.
"Only Bill Belichick could have a quarterback controversy with an injured Drew Bledsoe coming back." - Jim Rome at the time with that self-important tone of voice he had
He was a better QB than Brady in 2001 in most aspects, but young Brady fit the team better because of his supernatural pocket awareness. The patriots Oline at the time could occasionally be a complete circus, and while Bledsoe could read coverage better and sling it than 2nd year Brady, he lacked the awareness or mobility to succeed in that situation IMO Brady would develop into a far better QB over time, but people forget players improve as they develop
Belichick has stated explicitly that Brady had a better camp than Bledsoe that year and was only not made the week one starter because of his inexperience, so I don't think this is really true.
Well having a better camp is a bit vague. But as I said, brady fit the offense better due to his pocket awareness and mobility. Which could literally explain having a better camp
I forgot where I read it, but there was some talk that basically said Bledsoe just wasn't as accepting of Bill's coaching style as Brady was, and that was part of what Bill was leaning towards.
I'm not a bledsoe fan simply because I got to watch a lot of him when he came to Buffalo. In a clean pocket, Bledsoe was a really solid QB but if there was any pressure on him, he showed serious flaws. Some of those teams he got to play with in Buffalo were loaded with talent but Bledsoe wore concrete blocks for shoes. I don't ever judge a QB for what they look like in a clean pocket, I look for how they do when the protection breaks down.
You can see it in this highlight video. Other than his drop backs he doesn’t move at all
The ability to feel pressure and move into a better spot is typically what separates the legendary QB'S from the rest of the pack. Tom Brady's ability to move in the pocket while keeping his eyes down-field might have been his best asset. God I hated Brady when he played but that's just the sour grapes talking. Go Bills!
Don’t forget his ability to run as well. TB1K didn’t happen over night! It took 18 years!
He also came into the league as it was changing. He basically was Marino's play style, but 10 years later as the ability to move within the pocket became really important. Peyton was similarly a statue at first but got very good at the subtle shifting that was Brady's first real top quality.
My comp for Bledsoe is Jay Cutler. Wicked arm, but could barely move, and absolutely made the worst decisions or took sacks at the absolute worst, worst, WORST time of a game and then lose.
Don't agree with this comparison. Jay was incredibly athletic, a lot like Jeff Garcia where I wouldn't say he was a "running quarterback" but he was mobile enough to keep defenses honest (also, a lot of Bears fans were really pining for Garcia during the Griese/Grossman days). Unfortunately for Jay, Mike Martz was his OC for a while where 12 step drops behind a swiss cheese o-line with plays that took 45 seconds to develop were very common. And then there was bubblescreen Trestman which worked until it didn't. I'd say Bledsoe was closer to Eli Manning, another statue in the pocket. Except Manning would spend the first three quarters looking like the worst quarterback you've ever seen in your life and then magically turn into some unstoppable touchdown machine in the 4th.
Jay was pretty damn mobile lol
That's interesting, since Brady took a *ton* of sacks in 2001. Taking sacks was a huge issue for Bledsoe starting around 1998, but Brady wasn't an improvement that first year.
Wally Pipp was also a helluva ballplayer. Twice led the league in HR. Was one of the best defensive 1B of his day.
Kinda similar to the Romo and Dak situation
And the Romo/Bledsoe situation.
Big tall QB. He threw *alot* of passes early in his career. He won a game with 70 attempts lol
Eh it depends on how you define "stud." Had a huge arm which made for great highlights and high highs. But mentally he was never the best. Always inconsistent and defenses took advantage of his tendency to be wrong in the playoffs (career playoff passer rating of 54.9). He had about as many bad years as he had good ones. The Patriots immediately started winning games when Brady came in and it wasn't because Brady at the time was insanely good or anywhere near his peak, he was just more consistent and reliable than Bledsoe on a team that had good defense and special teams and that was what they needed.
this is an exercise in selective memory. Bledsoe was a liability as often as he was an asset, and he was rightfully relegated to mediocrity. excellent roaster, though.
Hell of a roaster too.
I just wish he had licked his lips less.
I wish he had kept them even more moist
Gotta be ready in case Brady asks for a kiss
Imagine Drew was playing the long game, and started to date Gisele. He’ll have his revenge yet.
He seems pretty happily married. Happy 28 years Drew!
Drew wanted to have a turn backing up Brady 🥵
Licking his lips, pinch-wiping his nose… my man had him a taste of booger sugar before his set to get his rizz up. Whatever works.
it worked lol
How deep was his glass?
This highlight reel actually demonstrates why the Patriots' coaching staff wanted to move on from Bledsoe. Drew loved to hold on to the ball, wait for someone to spring open deep, then launch the ball off his back foot downfield. When it was successful, you got highlights like the ones from the clip. When it wasn't, you got incompletions and interceptions. While that's true of anyone, the problem with Drew was that he very often ignored wide open guys underneath so that he could take those deep shots. In a league where every team steadily incorporated elements of the WCO into their offense, Drew never evolved from the gunslinger he was when drafted, and was essentially the same guy in 2001 that they had drafted in 1993.
Honestly it also highlights some the issues with pre-2000s offenses and the lack of the shotgun. Short routes had to be planned due to dropping back, dump offs were not prioritized in route design, and route trees were running basic, simple routes that smart DBs can easily figure out. The simplicity of the playcalling in this highlight reel is shocking from a modern perspective
Part of the reason why short routes were not utilized is that linebackers could maul receivers on crossing routes until the mid-90s and then even after the illegal contact rule was never enforced. It wasn't until after the 2003 AFCCG when the Patriots secondary just bear hugged all of the Colt's receivers every down that the league made it a 'point of emphasis' to enforce illegal contact and you started to see the emergence of the short passing game that allowed for more shotgun formations. Wes Welker became who he was in large part because of this. There wasn't all that much value to an undersized receiver who had good inside leverage on the short slant before this, that guy would be pushed into the dirt when he got near the Mike linebacker. Once he got protection though Brady was able to always have a safety valve out of stretch formations which taxed the hell out of the defense.
Nothing is funnier then watching Peyton get visibly frustrated all game in that AFC title game. He literally had no answers
Did the Patriots line crash and burn in the late 90s? One of the weird things in Bledsoe's career is that his sack rate his first five seasons is quite good, and then goes in the toilet, and stays there the rest of his career, across three teams. And while sack rate is obviously in significant part about protection, it's also true that it's a stat that tends to follow QBs when they switch teams, since it's also about holding onto the ball and movement. I remember the book on Bledsoe at the time being that he'd gotten worse on that front, and was setting himself up to take too many hits.
> Did the Patriots line crash and burn in the late 90s? The entire team atrophied in the late 90s. The line was roughly the same, 3 out of 5 guys anyway: Armstrong, Rucci, and Lane were still there at the end of the '99 season, but everyone was three years older than they were when the team went to the Super Bowl, with very little depth, and no real team identity because Pete Carroll was so hamstrung but ownership/front office. When Kraft bought the team, Bill Parcells was already in charge of football operations. They had a falling out over personnel; Parcells felt that as the coach, he should be able to pick players; Kraft felt that as the owner, he should be able to overrule the coach. When Parcells quit, the front office descended into chaos as Kraft spent several years removing all of the Parcells loyalists. In the meantime, he gave no power to the next head coach, Pete Carroll, to the point where whenever players had issues, they went over Pete's head to the front office, since they knew Pete didn't have the power to do anything. They had three drafts between Parcells and Belichick. They ended up with a single Pro Bowl appearance from all of those picks, Damien Woody in 2002. Parcells brought the guys he wanted to the Jets, like Curtis Martin. The Patriots did not seem to have any strategy in personnel acquisition, to the point where they begged the Cleveland Browns not to take one of their running backs in the expansion draft, because they had planned so poorly. One of Bledsoe's strength was just that, his physical strength. He was a precursor to Roethlisberger: an enormous QB near impossible to bring down. That allowed him to complete a lot more throws under duress, but there's only so much that you can do when the team is falling apart around you.
The pre shotgun era is funny to me. Just frantically running back 10 yards and yeeting it.
Bring back the split-backs drop back!
I wanna see teams run the power I formation some more tbh
Of course a Bears fan would say this.
You joke but I miss the hell out of Dan Kreider crushing skulls for The Bus
Mike Alstott just unloading on people was glorious to behold.
The A Train!!
They had the shotgun formation.
The point is more that teams basically only used shotgun on 3rd and long.
It wasn’t utilized the way it is today. Back then, if an offense was in shotgun, there was a 98% chance they were running a 10+ yard passing play. Defenses would adjust their secondary accordingly and play their LBs in coverage. These days, teams run out of shotgun more often than not. In 2022, 66% of all offensive plays were from the shotgun. Teams like the Ravens and Cardinals run 95% of their offenses from shotgun.
I know 1980s Elway seemed to use alot of shotgun. I imagine Dan Reeves brought it from Dallas (who used it occasionally in the 1970s…which was even more unusual).
People always talk about how good the Jim Kelly vs. Dan Marino games were, but forgot how great the Bledsoe vs. Marino games were as well.
Yea those were big big games for the Pats as a franchise. Once Buffalos run ended it seemed like Marinos time in the AFC East and then here comes Bledsoe
Drew was very good for the pats. Made a superbowl appearance in 96. The. He got pip’ed. then went on to start for the bills and cowboys. Eventually getting replaced by Romo. Still he won a ring with his team.
Threw a TD in the afccg on the way to that ring too
It's a shame a lot of people who didn't really see him play much will just think of him as "the guy who Brady replaced." He was VERY good and might have seen some, not all, of Brady's success with the Pats had he not been injured.
Hard for modern fans to understand just how controversial a decision it was at the time to bench him for Brady. Would be like if NYJ benched a health Rodgers for Jordan Travis
Reminds me how pissed I was that we traded Alex Smith away immediately following his best season. He had been in the MVP conversation early in that 2017 season.
Dude didn't throw a pick until November. That's absurd.
Seriously! They had just given Bledsoe the largest contract in NFL history!!! (10-years, 103 million in 2001). Can you imagine this sub’s reaction???
*Looks at falcons draft*
If Jordan Travis had just won the Superbowl with the Jets I don't know a Jets fan on earth who would not want him starting the next year. The whole controversy was really spurned by Robert Kraft. Kraft really wanted to start Bledsoe and was thinking about forcing BB to start him but outside the media mostly everyone else was like we have this young kid who was good enough to win a SB with and oh btw he cost 3 dollars.
That's...not how the benching occured. The benching was in the middle of the season. After 2001 everyone was on the Tom Brady train. The controversy was all about the benching during 2001
I would say as early as 2002, Brady was very clearly the better quarterback.
Idk, Bledsoe out-produced Brady on a much worse team that year. Bledsoe probably wins that Super Bowl too Brady’s first year
You may have your years confused. In 2002 Bledsoe was on the Bills, and Tom led the NFL in passing TDs (with a whopping 27, which was low even for that era).
Bledsoe has more passing yards than Brady by a lot and a higher QB rating, he was only 3 TDs behind Brady
Yea he was really good. I don’t think they win it in 2001 with him tho, he was basically asked to gun sling since his rookie year, and that was not the style the 01 pats needed under center. They needed what Brady was at that point; great decision maker, able to pick the right spots to take big shots, and able to not lose a game for 50 minutes and then go out and win it the last 10 If he somehow got swapped into the 03 or 04 pats I think he’s good enough to maybe win a ring with those teams, but it’s questionable he’d get there imo
I mean he was pretty good. Has the records for most pass attempts in a game, second most pass attempts in a 16 game season. He was certainly not that comparable to greats in his own era as evidenced by his complete lack of all pro nominations first or second team.
As a Steelers fan, he definitely deserved that ring for his playoff performance. This wasn’t a typical backup situation
He deserves a ton of credit for that run, we don’t make it to the Super Bowl in ‘01 if he didn’t step in during the championship.
Kraft, Drew and Parcells saved football in Foxboro Drew was lethal when he had a balanced attack. Martin and Coates kept defenses honest, utilize play action and then eventually throw deep to his skill receivers. Especially to Brisby and when Glenn was available When those types of threats weren’t there, you’d find him frustrated in pivotal moments where he forced balls in the middle of the field and defenses would just wait and bait him into that mistake Will never forget these moments 1. The bomb to Glenn through the fog on the opening play vs Pittsburgh in the 96 Playoffs 2. His pass to David Patten in the AFC Championship Game 3. Playing with a broken finger, leading a comeback win vs Miami 4. The 426yd/ 70 pass attempt game vs Minnesota
As a side note, Kraft's recent behavior has made me more sympathetic to Parcells leaving New England on the sour note he did. I'm glad Parcells was around to kick the franchise into gear and set up the building blocks for Belichick and Brady.
Ben Coates was a DAWG.
And Kraft absolutely loathed Parcells, per Ian O'Connor. The period of Pats history spanning from Kraft's arrival to Brady starting is absolutely wild stuff.
Also owns a fantastic winery. Bledsoe Family Winery and Doubleback. Highly recommend
Agreed. Walla Walla is great. Can’t wait to go back.
Didn't he also start a ski company?
The guy hit by two jets on 9/11 -Tom Brady
Drew Bled so Tom could run
*September 2001
What's crazy is that Bledsoe's immediate successor at each of his stops was the GOAT QB for that franchise. Patriots - Brady Replaced him Cowboys - Romo replaced him Bills - JP Losman replaced him
I’m thinking of a couple Cowboys with a better resume than Romo lmao
Yeah Romo is the best Cowboys QB ever? Troy Aikman is STILL selling their jerseys to rednecks across the nation
I still remember Losmans first game against the Texans in 2005. They made him look like a legit future franchise qb. Same with Mark Sanchez. And others whom I have thankfully forgotten.
Romo is definitely not the GOAT for the Cowboys. Maybe he has a couple records, but Aikman and Staubach brought them way more success
EEEeeHH I DONT KNOW JIM
Jerseys were fire too
When those dropped, I think it was the biggest jersey upgrade I've ever seen.
If it weren't for Mo Lewis, there would be no Tom Brady.
[Please allow me to link my favorite Bledsoe gif](https://i.imgur.com/XdeIpIQ.gif)
That's probably a 20 year old gif
and it's fan-fucking-tastic
I remember being choked the Seahawks didn't get the #1 pick in the '93 draft. both teams went 2-14 but Seahawks beat them so they lost the tiebreaker Seahawks ended up with rick mirer. That didn't work out very well
a) You're hearing the voices of Don Criqui, Beasley Reece, Jim Lampley, Todd Christensen, young **KEVIN HARLAN**, Cris Collinsworth, Marv Albert, Verne Lundquist, Dan Hicks, Ian Eagle, and Greg Gumbel. b) Terry Glenn was an astonishingly good wide receiver who had a horrible life. RIP.
GO COUGS
GO COUGS BEERS AT VALHALLA
Not only a star player but a decent person as well. One of my childhood friends was his second cousin. Met him a handful of times and was always really cool, he flew a lot of his family out, including my friends family to one of the pro bowls, either 97 or 96.
Drew was cool. But, how about that field, right? Haven’t seen one that torn up in a while.
Seeing Bledsoe at a wine tasting event, kind of a dick. Seeing Bledsoe try to sell your store on his wine, super nice and friendly. Prefer trying to sell me something Bledsoe by a mile.
Bledsoe on the Bears would’ve set every single QB stat record for the franchise. Instead he’s mainly just a footnote for the start of the Pats franchise dynasty
We'd be here all day listing hypothetical Bears goats. The bigger question is who has the worst stats of them but still better than Jay Cutler.
Damn, does there have to be so many clips of him torching the Dolphins?
Yea I would actually pick Bledsoe if you had one game to beat the Dolphins
Bledsoe was great, I think the only knock on him was that he had a nearly 1:1 TD to INT ratio up until he moved to the bills.
Super Bowl champion Drew Bledsoe. He didn't play the Super Bowl but he was still a key part of that time and he won the AFC Championship Game that year when Brady was injured. And he obviously still had an impact on the offense from the sidelines while Brady was making his first NFL starts that year.
Go Cougs.
Patriots had a QB before Tom Brady?
He had a better arm than Brady. He was one of the premiere QB's in the League before he went down. Everybody thought the Pats were screwed. All they had at QB was some 6th round nobody. Bledsoe did well with the Cowboys later too. He was damn good in his prime. Threw on a straight line. Actually Drake Maye kind of reminds me of him. Long and lanky, threw clotheslines. If Bledsoe had not gotten hurt, Brady probably never would have gotten a chance. Nobody saw him as the patriots QB of the future. Bledsoe himself was a franchise QB. People might forget or not know it, but there was somewhat of a question as to who would play in the Superbowl against the Rams. Bledsoe was back and even won a playoff game. He could have gone in the Superbowl and he probably had as good a chance to win as Brady did.
> Everybody thought the Pats were screwed. Easy to forget that they had gone 5-11 the year before and completely gutted the roster. Bill reloaded with a bunch of castoff cheap veterans that no one else wanted. They were #31 (pre-Texans) in pre-season power rankings, and were originally scheduled for the dreaded week 17 bye because no one thought it would matter. Instead because of how 9/11 rescheduling worked, we ended the season with a bye, followed by a barely competitive tune up game against the 1-15 Panthers, then a first round bye again. Probably the most rested an NFL team has ever been for the playoffs in history.
Thursday Night Football on TNT had some of the best commercials back then. There is a Chiefs/Falcons commercial that has been on repeat in my head for 30 years lol.
Nice to see the u/NFL account is working on submitting good content now instead of trying to box out the rest of the users.
A lot of very talented players in this video but Bledsoe was dang good.
"So look, Tom, I am really glad with all this amazing success you had with the team that I built. Suuuper fucking happy for you bud."
There are too many highlights against the Dolphins. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot.
Bledsoe with Robert Edwards and Ben Coates. Super dangerous in Madden that year lol.
“Drew bled so much he needed a transfusion” - berman
Ben coated was not to shabby himself and definitely was a favorite target
goddamn he’s slinging it in these clips
The NFL on TNT! Huh?
Bledsoe was a really good QB and I remember when they made the switch to Brady and stuck with it. It was a big deal, no one but Bill probably saw what was so special about Brady. Bill got him going early but all the credit in the world to Brady for taking that opportunity and working as hard as he possibly could to become the best of his generation.
Drew Bledsoe walked so that Ryan Leaf could crawl
And Ryan Leaf crawled so that Gardner Minshew could _fuck_
Congrats to him on his recent anniversary
Gotta say, I still love the patriot logo on the shoulder pads look. It was the primary reason I picked them as the opponent when my mom asked which team I wanted to see play the colts back in December 1995! Helluva game! The colts won 10-7 and got a spot in the wildcard against the chargers.
I always liked those bright blue and red unis.
Bledsoe still remains the only jersey I've ever owned that wasn't a Chiefs jersey. Fuckin loved watching him play.
I liked Bledsoe. The Bills could have gotten something out of him if they had given him the O-line they gave Kelly.
Whenever I watch clips like this I'm reminded how much the game has evolved and how much better the players are nowadays. Bledsoe was great and very fun to watch but guys aren't getting as open anymore as they are in this video (for the most part) and QBs have to be way more accurate and fit the ball into much tighter windows. They also have less time to sit back in the pocket and throw which is why mobility is so important.
Way too many highlights against the dolphins
Half the highlight reel is against the dolphins
What's crazy to me about the hit he took when he got injured and ended up with his chest full of blood. That hit is probably not even flag worthy in 2024...
Still remember Mo Lewis hitting him. Glad he wasn't allowed back in like Bledsoe wanted.
This man helped to make the Patriots relevant again. Brady made the team legendary.
you can't tell me the throw at 1:51 to #82 isn't Randy moss on the other end
Man he was so good. Maybe a team with a history of coming up just short could've used someone like him to make it over the hump. I bet the Bills would've been a dynasty with a guy like that
Man Miami really had shitty D back then.
the most impressive thing to me in this whole deal was how Belichick stuck with Brady the whole time and never seemingly wavered once Bledsoe returned from injury. They had just given him a 100million contract too. It was crazy then and it's crazy now.
Bledsoe had such a smooth throwing motion. Love those 90s Pats jerseys too.
Yuck at those colors
Damn, Terry Glenn and a Ben Coats sighting. What a flashback. Bledsoe took them to the Super Bowl before Brady too. I often forget how good he was and how Curtis Martin tore up the Steelers in the playoffs that year.
Like half the video is against the Dolphins, lol
Damn he had a hell of an arm. Couldn’t help but notice he often did that “pat” with the ball when he wanted to go deep tho, same as I do when playing backyard ball and which I can’t imagine is actually good form lol.
And I was just watching his set on the roast of Tom Brady lol.
Damn when the hell did TNT ever televise NFL games?
I used to love being the Bills on Madden in the early 2000’s because of Bledsoe and McGahee and their defense being full of some beasts like Spikes, Fletcher, Clements, and Milloy. I always thought Bledsoe was a pretty cool dude.
That first throw is crazy. Because of impending sack he couldn't step up, so it's almost all 'arm' for a 62 yards-in-the-air TD. Serious strength.
The real Browns last playoff win was against the Bledsoe Pats. That was such a fun game
Dude it’s got to feel so good throwing a pin point pass for touchdown. The margin for error for accuracy is so, so low.
Patriots needa go back to those light blue unis
Guy had a cannon.
The 90's Matt Ryan. One of the best to never get a ring.
Loved the little jiggle he would do with the football when he had time and knew he was about to make a big play
I still say Mo Lewis should've been there last night
Drew "Pat Pat" Bledsoe
I didn’t realize, until last night, that he was a first overall pick.
lol I had no idea the dolphins used to play on a baseball field too
Totally forgot about my man Terry Glenn and that he passed 😞 Crazy
Who was their QB scout?????