| | Brady's the man, but why not play Drew too?
By David Lefort
ESPN.com
Tom Brady or Drew Bledsoe?
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| Bledsoe |
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| Brady |
Bill Belichick made his choice Wednesday night, but the answer to the biggest question of Super Bowl week is right in front of the Patriots' noses -- they just need to think outside the hash marks.
Why not play both?
The Pats selected Brady as their Super Bowl starter, but
that choice does not have to relegate Bledsoe to clipboard duty the entire 60
minutes Sunday. Why not bring in the nine-year veteran for a few plays or series to throw the Rams off and add a little spice to the offense?
If you've got a $100 million cheerleader with one of the top 10 arms
in football -- and one Superdome Super Bowl already under his belt -- why
not use him? Brady has proven to be a better field general than Bledsoe, but
there's no question Bledsoe has a stronger arm and more big-game
experience.
Granted, Brady deserves to be the Pats' starter. After leading the team to 13 wins in 16 starts, there's no way you can bench the kid in the biggest game of his life. But why not throw the Rams a curveball? Belichick has a knack for trick plays that work, and this offense has been effective with both quarterbacks at the controls.
Worried about Bledsoe coming off the bench cold? We all saw how cold he was when called upon at the end of the first half against the Steelers last Sunday. Bledsoe stepped into the two-minute drill after 126 days off and didn't miss a beat, completing 3-of-3 passes, his third a perfectly thrown 11-yard touchdown strike to David Patten.
Bledsoe's dramatic return gave the Patriots the spark they needed before
halftime. New England may be in need of a lift again Sunday against St. Louis, and Bledsoe can provide that jolt in the right situation. He may not be as
mobile as Brady, but the extra zip he puts on the ball may be enough to
exploit holes in the Rams' zone coverage.
Concerned Brady may lose confidence if he's called to the sideline a few
times? Not an issue. Brady has said time and time again his first priority
is winning, not whether he gets his reps. We all saw him on the sideline in
the second half of the AFC championship game, jumping up and down on his
one good ankle cheering on his good friend Drew.
There's no way, you say, a team can win a Super Bowl with two quarterbacks.
But think about it for a minute.
No matter what defensive schemes Belichick throws at Kurt Warner and the Rams, the Patriots are going to struggle to hold the Greatest Show in Turf to under 30 points on the Superdome carpet.
Considering the Rams held Brady's Patriots to 17 points in their first meeting of the
season in November, what chance does the first-year starter have of putting
up 30 points against a tough Rams defense the second time around? After all, for all the magic the Pats have conjured over the last two weeks, they've
only scored two offensive touchdowns in the playoffs.
In most situations, two arms are not better than one. But the Super Bowl
isn't most situations, and the Pats may need to go to their bag of tricks to keep up with the heavily favored Rams.
This is likely the last game Bledsoe will play in a Patriots uniform, why not let him go out with a bang? Or better yet, a ring.
David Lefort is a news editor at ESPN.com and can be reached at david.m.lefort@espn.com.
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SB XXXVI Over/Under
