Two weeks ago, the collective heartbeat of Red Sox Nation stopped its usual October rhythm as Vladimir Guerrero’s two-out single plated two Angels base runners.
The hit, which completed a late-inning comeback and secured Los Angeles’ spot in the American League Championship Series, ended the 2009 post-season for the Red Sox and their faithful as quickly as it had started.
And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Josh McDaniels and the upstart Denver Broncos beat Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, 20-17, in overtime.
It was a Boston fanboy’s nightmare – until last weekend.
With the Celtics season on its way, the Bruins campaign in its infancy and the Red Sox eliminated from the playoffs, Tom Brady and the Pats are looking to erase the painful memories of the 2009 MLB playoffs one touchdown at a time.
Facing some tough competition early in the season, the Patriots and Tom Brady’s surgically repaired knee sputtered out of the gate. But last weekend’s 59-0 trouncing of the Tennessee Titans may have been enough to make Beantown natives forget that baseball’s second season was in full swing.
This weekend, Brady and Co. made themselves at home in London, handing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 35-7 loss.
And yes, it’s easy to point to a combined 0-13 record of the Pats’ last two opponents as the reason for their dominance – but that’s what good teams are supposed to do.
Although it hasn’t quite been the “vintage” Brady of ‘07, it’s been pretty darn good football.
Regardless of his opponents’ record, Tom Brady’s 9-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the past two games has to be a point of confidence for a New England fan base that feared the lingering effects of Brady’s ACL/MCL injury.
The past two “confidence building” games are followed with a bye week and then two challenging conference games – one against the surprisingly resilient Miami Dolphins, and another against the as-of-yet undefeated Indianapolis Colts. That’s when we’ll see what the Pats are really made of.
But for now, at least New England sports fans have something to cheer about.
