Next on our countdown, I take you to Week 9 of 2003.
The Patriots at Denver.
It was a time in America people alive today would scarcely recognize.
Tom Cruise was king of the box office.
The biggest music producer was Jay-Z.
The gossip rags were all over the relationship between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
It was like a whole other world.
Plus there was a little TV show calledMonday Night Football, which featured this particular game.
At this point, no one really knew what to make of the Patriots.
After starting the season 2-2, they’d rattled off five straight wins.
But were coming off a butt-ugly 9-3 game at home against a below average Browns team.
What we do know is that they went into Denver as 2-point road dogs.
These were the 5-3 Broncos of Mike Shanahan, featuring Clinton Portis, Shannon Sharpe, and Rod Smith.
Though with Danny Kannell at quarterback.
The world also didn’t know yet what it had in Tom Brady.
Three Brady incompletions took just 15 seconds off the clock and set up a 4th & 10.
Then what followed went into the box score as fumble by punter Ken Walter.
But that’s only because they don’t have a designation for Brilliant Situational Awareness.
If they did, Belichick would’ve broken the record, probably previously held by him.
At first, no one understood what the hell just happened.
Long snapper Lonie Paxton’s ball clanged about 20 feet off the upright.
As the Broncos and their fans celebrated the safety.
“:
We sure did know what he meant.
Until the events unfolded.
As Walter now moved out to the 20 for the free kick in what was now a 3-point game.
And we slowly started to solve the puzzle.
Put it a mile-and-a-halfhigh.
Which he did to perfection.
Walter’s free kick flipped the field.
He boomed it 64 yards, Denver mishandled the return, and took over at their own 15.
Trying not to turn it over, they kept the ball on the ground.
And Belichick responded after each down by burning two of the three timeouts he had held onto.
The subsequent punt gave New England the ball at their 42 with 2:15 to play.
–He gained:41 yards of field position.
That’s when Charlie Weis' offense took over the game.
More specifically, Kevin Faulk took over the game.
With receptions of 5, 19, and 16 yards.
The last of which gave his team a 1st & 10 at the Denver 18.
Which ended with a Kannell interception and a Brady kneel down.
Not Chess vs. Checkers.
Spock 5-Level Chess,while the rest were playing Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
He might not have invented the art of taking an intentional safety.
But for sure, on that night in Denver he perfected it for the whole world to see.
