Across two decades of football together, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady gave New England an incomparable trove of championship memories.
And one great football debate.
Maybe it doesn’t matter whether it was the coach or the quarterback who was more responsible for a dynastic run that included six championships, nine Super Bowl appearances, 17 AFC East titles, and 13 conference championship appearances. The conversation raged anyway, from water coolers to radio airwaves and even one-sided documentaries by the team’s owner. It’s an irresistibly fun back and forth, fueled by the fact that Patriots fans come out a winner either way.
For the rest of NFL nation, however, 20-plus years of the Patriots’ ubiquitous playoff presence was exhausting. Patriot fatigue became a real thing, so by the time the franchise finally crashed back to earth, the schadenfreude during back-to-back four-win seasons in 2023 and ’24 was also real, and widespread.
Only now the Patriots are back, and they boast a similarly perfect coach-quarterback partnership that might someday fuel this very same debate.
Read Tara Sullivan's full column at BostonGlobe.com. |
