Starting over

Brady? Bledsoe? Belichick isn't naming Patriots' QB

PITTSBURGH -- Soon enough, it'll be time to summarize the wild and woolly outcome of Sunday's AFC Championship Game, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers, wouldn't you know it, proved themselves incapable of playing catch-up ball at Heinz Field.

But first, a couple pressing questions right off the top:

Has a Super Bowl week ever passed without a starting quarterback and his head coach actually speaking to one another?

And when was the last time a Super Bowl-bound head coach had to deal with the question of who next week’s starting quarterback will be?

SI's Don Banks Looking ahead: Don't look now, but the Patriots are back in New Orleans for a Super Bowl. And you know what that means: A blowout's on the way. Here are three observations leading up to Feb. 3.

Brace yourselves, football fans. That's what we're in for this week in New Orleans. Welcome to the NFL's latest Roman-numeraled championship game. It'll be one part Super Bowl, two parts soap opera. Tom versus Drew, with an even more intriguing undercard of Bill versus Drew. For all the marbles. And this time, you better believe it's a tad personal.

Say what you will about New England's thoroughly stunning 24-17 upset of top-seeded Pittsburgh on Sunday. Just know this: It had to end this way for these plucky and unpredictable Patriots. I mean, was there any more fitting conclusion?

QB Quandary Click the image to launch the clip Drew Bledsoe's performance in the AFC title game has left Bill Belichick with a big problem. Start Video Plus Visit Video Plus for all the latest video and audio.

Tom Brady turns an ankle. Drew Bledsoe comes to the rescue. Bill Belichick gets to pack for his first Super Bowl as a head coach.

You want rich? That's the chocolate mousse of potential storylines. Just call it a Tale of Two Quarterbacks, with Brady's ankle injury representing the ultimate twist of fate.

I don't know about you, but somehow I expect the Patriots' little quarterback melodrama to dominate the news coming out of New Orleans this week. Brady, Bledsoe and Belichick might sound like a team of lawyers, but Sunday there were enough words of equivocation offered up by those three to make me believe it might take congressional hearings to determine who's going to be New England's starter next week.

"Obviously, this is the biggest game there is and everybody wants to play in this game," said Bledsoe, when asked how he would handle a return to the bench next Sunday. "That would be a hard situation."

Brady didn't bite either. When asked his left ankle sprain, he offered: "I'm feeling good. That's about as much as Coach wants us to say. ... I know I'll be prepared if they tell me to start," he said. "If he [Belichick] says, 'You're starting,' I'm starting."

But let’s be honest. If Bledsoe is the choice, the Patriots head coach probably won't be saying much of anything directly to his starter. He'll probably pass a note under the door for Bledsoe. While the two communicate on a limited basis, there has been little for them to talk about since Belichick handed Brady the starting job a few months back. Bledsoe has treated his boss, and the lingering topic of his future, coolly ever since.

"We'll have to talk about that later, Jim," Belichick curtly told CBS's Jim Nantz, when the studio host asked him about his quarterback situation amid the on-field postgame celebration.

Thanks, Bill. But that wasn't all of Belichick's insights on the situation. There was more to come later in his off-camera press briefing.

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"We'll take a look at Tom's situation and we'll make an evaluation there," Belichick said, starting to loosen up. "We'll talk about that and make the decision later on in the week. We'll just have to wait and see."

Wait and see. That's what we've had to do all year with Belichick's Patriots. Wait and see what develops next. Wait and see if they can surprise us once more. Wait and see if their saga can get any more improbable.

But what could top Sunday, when Brady had his storybook season sidetracked late in the first half, landing the Patriots' forgotten man back beneath the glare of the brightest spotlights?

"The bottom line is that going into the playoffs, I don't think any other team could say that they had two Pro Bowl quarterbacks, especially not a $100 million backup," Patriots safety Lawyer Milloy quipped. "We like our chances whoever we throw out there. ... I don't care [who starts]. We believe in both."

For Bledsoe, who hadn't played in a game since suffering a chest injury against the New York Jets on Sept. 23 -- more than four months ago -- Sunday's dramatic developments brought forth some rarely seen emotion. As the game's final seconds ticked off the clock, Bledsoe fought back tears in his own huddle.

"It's been a very long year, personally," Bledsoe said. "The team has been playing great and I've been doing everything I can to try and help Tom and try to help the team. But it's been a very long year. It started all the way back in training camp with the loss of my quarterback coach [Dick Rehbein], who passed away [from heart disease].

"Then to start out 0-2, and to get injured, and then not be able to get back on the field, all of those things. ... But I have to say that I had gone through in my mind and had envisioned this scenario being the case for the past week, because that's what you have to prepare for. But to have that happen, and to be kneeling on the ball at the end of the game and to be going to the Super Bowl, it's just a little overwhelming."

Bledsoe was far from overwhelming statistically. He finished just 10-of-21, for 102 yards. But when he entered the game with New England leading 7-3 and driving at the Steelers 40 in the final two minutes of the first half, he gave his team an immediate spark, completing his first three passes and running once for four yards (the run earned him a cut on his chin, assuring him that he was indeed back in the game).

Bledsoe's final completion of that drive was for 11 yards and a touchdown -- New England's only offensive TD of the day -- to receiver David Patten, giving the Patriots a 14-3 lead they would never lose.

"He stepped in there cold in the second quarter when Tom rolled his ankle and made a couple of big plays, big throws," said Belichick, coming as close to gushing about Bledsoe's performance as he could bring himself. "I'm glad we had him [Sunday]."

So was Brady, who entered Sunday with a 12-3 record as the Patriots' starter. Right up until he rolled his ankle on a sack by Steelers safety Lee Flowers, Brady had been the on roll of a lifetime. But Bledsoe the backup delivered the same product that Brady the backup had: Victory, pushing New England's winning streak to eight games.

"I feel great for Drew," Brady said. "It's awesome. ... You know, when Coach made the call to stick with me, it was hard for him. You see him go out there and obviously it did not affect him [Sunday]. That's why you carry two or three quarterbacks, because if somebody does get hurt, you need somebody to step in there and play as well as Drew did [Sunday]."

Ah, but will Drew or Tom play next Sunday in the Superdome? That's the delicious -- and wholly unexpected -- question that will fuel the festivities on tap this week in New Orleans.

"You play this game to play," said Bledsoe, leaving little doubt of where he stands on the coming debate. "It feels that much sweeter when you are on the field. ... To have that situation play out the way it did, it's an emotional high."

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.

 

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