Foxborough, Mass. – Entering the 2005 season, the New England Patriots had something of a “coaching situation.” After winning a second consecutive Super Bowl and third in four years, both of the team’s coordinators, offensive guru Charlie Weis and his defensive counterpart, Romeo Crennel, left for new jobs.
For the defensive position, Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t hesitate, naming Eric Mangini the new coordinator soon after Super Bowl XXXIX. After working alongside Belichick on three staffs, the move to Mangini was perfectly natural.
But when the reigning NFL champions come to Invesco Field at Mile High for Saturday night’s AFC divisional playoff game against the Broncos, there won’t be an offensive coordinator calling plays from up in the coaches box or along the sideline. There hasn’t been one for New England all season. Speculation as to why Belichick never bothered to name someone to the position ranges from the idea that the team has done well with input from multiple sources to the thought the coach didn’t want someone to have to live up to the standards set by Weis, particularly if the Patriots’ attack faltered.
However, one of the most popular theories holds that the man who runs the show for New England already has a title – quarterback.
“Each year presents different challenges; I know he’s taken more on his shoulders this season,” Patriots tight end Christian Fauria said of Tom Brady on Tuesday. “I know there’s been more meeting time with the receivers, making sure everyone’s on the same page going into each game.
“He’s always had the input, even when Charlie was here. Did he have more of an impact on everything than he did last year? I don’t know, you’d have to ask him, but I know that nothing ever really changed for us as an offense from last year. He’s still getting us into the right positions.”
Continuity hit hard
That sense of continuity may be the highest compliment given Brady in a season filled with high praise. Things were decidedly not the same for the Patriots in 2005 – besides losing Weis to Notre Dame, there also were lengthy absences for running back Corey Dillon. A 1,635-yard Pro Bowler in 2004, Dillon finished this season with 733 yards, missing five games with assorted injuries, only twice rushing for more than 100 yards in a game.
Along the offensive line, eight players started games. Overall, the Patriots used 45 players in their starting lineup. Only three players started every game on offense, and one of them was Brady, who threw for a career-high 4,110 yards, with 26 touchdowns. Befitting a team forced to undergo so much change, Brady threw TD passes to 12 receivers, tying the NFL record set by Tampa Bay’s Brad Johnson in 2003.
The spate of injuries made most of the 10-6 regular season an ever-changing picture, requiring a different approach by the Patriots’ offense. In 2004, the Patriots ran the football almost 52 percent of the time. In 2005, they threw it on more than 56 percent of their snaps.
Last season, New England ranked seventh in the NFL in rushing and 11th in passing. This year, the Dillon drop-off left the team ranked 24th in rushing. Despite defenses keying on the pass most of the season, the Patriots still finished second in the NFL in passing yardage. This despite more and more defenses blitzing waves of players as the season progressed with the intent of beating up Brady.
“It seems like the tougher it gets, the better he plays,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. Referring to his team’s 28-20 victory against New England on Oct. 16, Shanahan said, “For him to throw the ball the way he did against us, I thought was amazing. He took some shots and never shied away from it.”
While games against the Broncos and Carolina Panthers, both losses, may have been the most physically punishing, Brady’s most depressing contest may have been a 26-16 loss to Kansas City on Nov. 27 when Brady threw four interceptions – three of which were tipped.
The tough luck didn’t seem to affect Brady as much as the team’s 6-5 record. Had they resided anywhere but the mediocre AFC East, the Patriots would have been in danger of missing the playoffs. Regardless, the way things were going, even if they made the playoffs, it seemed their stay would be brief – an idea that seemed truly distasteful to Brady.
“You’re not going to go 14-2 every year. You just try to do the best with what you’ve got,” Brady said after the Kansas City game. “We haven’t gone out and played as well as we’d like, but we still have a lot of goals ahead of us.”
“Coach on the field”
The Patriots have lost only once since that day, in a meaningless regular-season finale against Miami. In New England’s five victories since the end of November, only once has Brady’s passer rating dipped below 93. Only once has he thrown fewer than two touchdown passes.
As a result, despite the turmoil, New England finds itself in a familiar place – playing for the opportunity to win yet another Super Bowl. As to the extent of his role in this season’s march on Detroit, Brady plays it coy.
Brady is one of the most accomplished postseason quarterbacks in NFL history. He hasn’t lost in 10 playoff games and has won three Super Bowls. But ask him what it is about the postseason that brings out the competitor in him, and he speaks of a locker room of players who look forward to the challenges inherent in the playoffs.
Similarly, the idea of Brady serving as the Patriots’ de facto offensive coordinator is met with a hint of reticence.
“I don’t think I’m doing too much more talking with the guys; I don’t think so,” he said Tuesday. “I think my responsibilities continue to evolve. As a player in my sixth year … a lot of the things I worked through in my first five years are coming easier.
“The role expands with the amount of responsibilities you have, with what they ask me to do. Those things expand. I’m really trying to be the coach on the field. That’s kind of my role. That’s the role of the quarterback in this offense. If guys have questions, I’m the one they ask.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
