New England Patriots 2010 Year In Review: Reliving the 20 Greatest Moments
After losing Wes Welker to an ACL injury in the final game of the 2009 season, it didn't look like it could get much worse for the New England Patriots. It did. 2010 got started on an even more sour note than 2009 ended on, as the Patriots were blown out at home by the Baltimore Ravens in a 33-14 beat down.
But as a great musician once said, "I've got to admit, it's getting better, a little better all the time."
2010 has been full of surprises, both good and bad, but mainly good. A lot has gone right for the Patriots this year, and 2010 has produced a lot of great memories for Pats fans.
20. Thanksgiving Rally Vs. Detroit Lions
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This was the second time the words "trap game" had been used to describe a matchup pitting the Patriots against one of the league's worse teams record-wise. The first time, the Patriots were embarrassed to the tune of a 34-14 loss to the Browns.
For the first half of the Thanksgiving game on the road against the Lions, it appeared the Patriots could fall victim to a similar, though not as embarrassing fate. Facing a 24-17 deficit in the third quarter, the Patriots rallied after a Devin McCourty interception gave the team good field position and allowed the offense to tie up the score.
From there, it was a feeding frenzy, as the Patriots went on to win 45-24 with a big fourth quarter performance from everyone involved. Especially Tom Brady, who finished the game with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 by going 21-for-27 for 341 yards and four touchdowns.
19. Tully Banta-Cain Ends Wild Game Vs. Green Bay Packers With Last-Second Sack
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Tully Banta-Cain went from a goat to a hero in about two minutes on Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.
On the last defensive series for the Patriots, Matt Flynn threw what was thought to be the game-ending interception to Brandon Meriweather. The play was called back for a hands-to-the-face penalty on Banta-Cain, and the Packers had another chance.
Just minutes later, on 4th-and-1 with the final seconds ticking off the clock, confusion ran amuck through the Packers sideline and offense. With under 10 seconds left, the Packers finally snapped the ball. Tully Banta-Cain found his opportunity for redemption and seized it, as well as the waist of Matt Flynn and a game-ending sack on the backup quarterback.
Not even a Gillette razor can cut it as close as the Patriots did on that night, but the way the fans reacted, that was just fine by them.
18. Out With The Old...
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I can't remember another singular moment in Patriots history, other than Drew Bledsoe's injury in 2001, that was first regarded as an early precursor of a disastrous end to the season that quickly became a non-factor.
But that's exactly what happened when the Patriots traded Randy Moss. Many New England fans called into their local radio stations, infuriated that it seemed the Patriots had "packed it in" for the 2010 campaign and would try their luck again next year. Those fans couldn't have been more wrong, and it seems the Patriots offensive identity now is even stronger and more unstoppable than it ever was with Moss.
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17. ...In With The 'New' (Albeit Old)
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Just days after trading away Randy Moss for a third round pick, the Patriots made a little more noise by trading a fourth round pick to the Seahawks for Deion Branch. The return of one of the Patriots' legends of their Super Bowl wins wasn't expected to have nearly the impact it's had for both Branch and the Patriots.
But he was huge in just his first game back with the Patriots, hauling in nine receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. Most of his work came in the fourth quarter and overtime.
For Deion Branch, this has been a career resurrection. Branch, who spent much of his time on the injury report, has played every game he's been with the Patriots and has been incredibly effective in New England's offense.
The Patriots have embraced their identity as a small-ball team, but Branch has shown the ability to get open downfield.
This was a match made in Heaven the first time around, and the return on the trade didn't take long to come to fruition the second time around, either.
16. Goal Line Stand Vs. Adrian Peterson and The Minnesota Vikings
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Not many teams can claim a goal-line stand against Adrian Peterson, whom many consider to be the best running back in the NFL today. The Patriots, however, are one of those teams.
The stop came at a crucial point in the game, too. Just before halftime the Vikings were threatening to break a 7-7 tie at the one-yard line but were unable to punch it in, and the Patriots took the tie to the locker room for halftime.
15. Randy Moss's One-Handed Catch Vs. Darrelle Revis
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I'd be remiss if I left this off the list.
The way the Patriots have been playing recently, it's like Moss was never even a part of the team. But this catch is one of the most memorable of the season, if only because of the pre-game hype surrounding the Moss-Revis matchup.
Of course, the most important thing to the Patriots isn't individual accomplishments, it's wins. The Patriots failed to get that against the Jets in their first meeting, but things would finish much differently than they started for this rivalry in 2010.
14. 36-7 Beatdown of The Bears in a Blizzard at Soldier Field
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Two weeks in a row, the Patriots faced a top five defense. Two weeks in a row, they hung five or more scores on those defenses.
This game was all one big moment, from the pre-game hype of Brian Urlacher's proclamation that the Bears were the best team in football to the 59-yard touchdown bomb to Deion Branch to end the first half.
From 13-year veteran Tom Brady to Eric Moore, a defensive linemen signed no more than a week before this game, everyone played a great game.
13. Patrick Chung Single-Handedly Dominates Miami Dolphins
8 of 20Not many defensive players accomplish in their careers what Patrick Chung was able to accomplish in just one night against the Miami Dolphins.
It started with a blocked punt, which was recovered by the Patriots in the red zone, setting up a touchdown. Then, a blocked field goal allowed Kyle Arrington to scoop up the live ball for another score. Finally, an interception off a Chad Henne pass was returned 51 yards for yet another score.
Every had fun that night, everybody Pat Chung'd that night.
12. Week 6 Rally For Overtime Win Vs. Baltimore Ravens
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The Baltimore Ravens had dominated the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs last season, and the Patriots set out to undo that embarrassing loss at home.
Down 23-10 in the fourth quarter, it looked as though that was far from likely. With the offense coming up short, the defense came up big and forced five consecutive punts on the Ravens' final five possessions of the fourth quarter and overtime. This allowed the Patriots to storm back with 16 unanswered points as Stephen Gostkowski closed out the game with a 35-yard field goal with under two minutes left in overtime.
This win was important in many ways: redemption for the playoff loss and proving the worth of the team after the trade of Randy Moss.
11. Tom Brady Picks Apart Pittsburgh Steelers Defense
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After a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Browns the week before and with tough matchups coming up on the road against the Steelers and at home against the Colts, many fans and analysts began wondering if the Patriots would be sent into a tailspin.
Tom Brady wouldn't allow that to happen. He went off for 350 yards and three touchdowns while completing 69.8 percent of his passes. Of course, a lot of credit goes to the offensive line, who didn't allow a single sack or even a hit on Brady in his 43 drop-backs.
With this game, Tom proved just how terrific he can be. But that was just the beginning.
10. Patriots Sign Danny Woodhead In Week 2
11 of 20At first, no one knew what Danny Woodhead's purpose would be for the Patriots. Was he brought in as an informant for the Week 2 game against the Jets? Or was it something more?
Well, whatever the original intent was, for all intents and purposes, Woodhead has staked his claim to a large share of the load at running back for the Patriots.
He has 907 all-purpose yards on 129 touches, good for seven yards per touch, and he's compiled six touchdowns to go with all that.
For a long time, it was hard to picture the Patriots offense without Kevin Faulk. Now, we don't have to.
9. Tom Brady Breaks Bernie Kosar's Record
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In the third quarter of the Patriots' 34-3 blowout win over the Buffalo Bills, Tom Brady broke a long-standing record set by Bernie Kosar. The record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception stood at 308, and after finishing Sunday's contest with a total 319 pass attempts since his last interception, Brady is still going strong.
Some fans are hoping Brady throws his first interception before the playoffs just to get it out of the way. Brady, however, would rather just not throw an interception at all.
8. Tom Brady Breaks Brett Favre's Record
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Brett Favre's record for consecutive regular season wins at home stood at 25 and fell at the feet of Tom Brady during what was a magical night for everyone in a Patriots uniform against the Jets, in a decisive 45-3 victory.
It's a great accomplishment that has to give the Patriots a ton of confidence as they head into the playoffs with home field advantage.
7. Tom Brady Breaks Don Meredith's Record
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Yep, Tom Brady is a record-breaking machine even without Randy Moss in the lineup. Tom Terrific has thrown at least two touchdowns without an interception in each of the past eight games.
He surpassed the late, great "Dandy" Don Meredith in Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers. Meredith's record had stood since 1966, and for Brady to break that record is the biggest proof of just how excellent he's playing this season.
6. Patriots Draft Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez
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Patriots fans everywhere were dumbfounded by Bill Belichick's strange decision to draft not one, but two tight ends in the first four rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Now, Patriots fans are dumbfounded at the spectacular play of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.
Belichick had shown little urgency to utilize the tight ends in recent memory, and with big-time targets such as Wes Welker and Randy Moss, it seemed unnecessary.
Little did we know just how important these two would be. I don't think anyone predicted that they would combine for 15 touchdown receptions. That's two better than Moss did all of last year.
These guys are clearly the future of this offense.
5. Patriots Draft Devin McCourty
16 of 20Call me a sucker for the "Patriot Way," but although those records are all astounding in their own right, I'm more excited about the prospect of Devin McCourty developing into a great cornerback for the future than I am about records that are already in the books.
Devin McCourty is a lockdown cornerback the likes of which Patriots fans haven't seen since the days of Asante Samuel and Ty Law. His six interceptions are tied for the third-most in the league, and he is a candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
The Patriots have rarely missed with their first-round picks in the past, and despite much criticism on this pick, it seems they struck gold yet again.
4. Dan Connolly Sets Record For Longest Kickoff Return By Offensive Linemen
17 of 20Connolly put new meaning to the words made famous by Chris Berman: "rumblin', bumblin', stumblin'."
With the first half of the Sunday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers drawing to a close, the Patriots were on the wrong side of a 17-7 deficit. Mason Crosby squib-kicked on the ensuing kickoff and got what he thought was the ideal result, as the ball bounced right into the hands of offensive linemen Dan Connolly.
Seventy-one yards later, nothing seemed too ideal about the Packers special teams unit, especially not their tackling.
This was the first Patriots game I've ever attended as a fan, and I couldn't have asked for more than this return. The place went wild. We were all witnesses to history.
3. James Sanders' Game-Ending Interception Off Peyton Manning
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Two words were going through the minds of New England Patriots fans during the final quarter of their game against the Colts: deja vu. That, or uh-oh. Take your pick.
Either way, James Sanders answered the prayers of Pats fans everywhere by stopping the Colts last-gasp drive dead in its tracks.
Clutching to a three-point lead with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Patriots were unable to stop anything the Colts were doing, and they were driving with the intent to score. Overtime seemed all but a certainty until Jermaine Cunningham got some pressure on Peyton Manning and forced an errant throw, which was underthrown for Pierre Garcon. James Sanders leapt what seemed like six feet in the air to make the game-winning pick and sent Gillette Stadium into a roar of approval.
And that, as they say, was all she wrote.
2. Patriots Clinch AFC East, First Round Bye, and Home Field Advantage in 2011
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With a big 34-3 road win over the Bills, the New England Patriots clinched three important things, usually attained one at a time, all at once: the AFC East, a first-round bye and home field advantage.
Twice in the past decade the Patriots have clinched home field advantage.
Both times, they went to the Super Bowl. Only once, though, did they win it all.
The Patriots would love to improve on that record, and now they've guaranteed themselves an opportunity.
Weren't the Patriots supposedly "rebuilding" after they traded Randy Moss?
1. 45-3
20 of 20There's no one moment that can be picked out from this game. They were all great.
Perhaps my favorite memories, though, came after New England's scores. Each time, the ESPN Monday Night Football cameras panned to a shot of Rex Ryan looking at his playbook, as if thinking to himself, "Maybe this one will work."
None of them did. That's what made this win so sweet.
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