Christmas has come and gone and New Years Day is just around the corner. During the 8 days spanning from Christmas morning to New Years morning Go, Titletown will add daily updates to an 8 part series remembering the highs lows and all around heartwarming moments of 2013 in Boston Sports as well as a look ahead to what we might see in 2014. This is not a statistical analysis of these 298 professional sporting events that took place in Boston in 2013, this is a written rehashing and a reminder that we are the greatest sports town on the planet.
Complete Schedule
December 25th- A Year of Leaders
December 26th - Best Patriots Moments
December 27th - Best Red Sox Moments
December 28th - Best Bruins Moments
December 29th - Top Plays
December 30th - Top Games
December 31st - [To be determined] Is the Boston Athlete of 2013
January 1st - The Promise of 2014
These are the top 5 of those moments...
2013 began on a low note for the Patriots and their fans. Just 20 days into the year, a greatly subdued Tom Brady threw just 1 TD and 2 interceptions as the Baltimore Ravens, exacted their revenge from a season ago winning the AFC Championships over the Patriots by a margin of 28-13. Unfortunately for Patriots fans, that loss would kick off a rather painful 8 months for the organization. Two weeks after the Ravens win in the AFC Title Game, the Patriots rivals won it all almost simultaneously beginning the transaction period of the NFL off-season.
By mid-march, Wes Welker had fallen victim to a deteriorating relationship with the Patriots coaching staff as SI writer, Chris Ballard cited the fact that Welker felt that "[Belichick] got on him in a way he never had before, admonishing him in front of the team." On March 12th, he signed a 2 year 12 million dollar deal with the Denver Broncos and their beloved Peyton Manning.
It seemed that that loss stung the most for Tom Brady and although he respected the authority in personal decisions that the Patriots front office possessed it was clear in the wake of the signing that he would miss his 5 time Pro Bowl preforming wide receiver.
“Of course I have feelings. But those feelings are very personal to me,” he said. “I used to get caught up in anger and frustration and disappointment. But I don’t make the decisions. These things aren’t up to me. At some point you’ve got to realize the things that are out of your control. You’ve just got to let go and focus on my job and what I need to do. Because the game moves on, the team moves on. There’s only so long you can dwell on the past. At some point you’ve got to move forward. Like I said, my job for my team is to be the best quarterback, and not the general manager and not the coach and not the owner.”
There was hope for Welker's replacement, Danny Ammendola but as Brady's list of prime targets took yet another hit, things began to look bleak at the very best. On June 26th, Aaron Hernandez was arrested and charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. He was released by the Patriots just 90 minutes after the early morning arrest.
By the end of the summer, the Patriots were a team of question marks resting their entire offensive fate on a cast of young receivers and an injury prone veteran whom Brady had never thrown to in his life. As was constantly true in Foxborough throughout the off-season there was fear and uncertainty as the franchise began to appear to be drifting farther and farther from the talent based rosters of the early 2000's Super Bowl wins.
There were questions and in Week One they were at least temporarily answered as Julian Edelman dominated the Bills defense and Shane Vereen cemented his role as the Patriots all-star utility man gaining yards through both rushing and airborne plays. However, that game came at a cost knocking Vereen out of action with a wrist injury while hindering Danny Ammendola via a groin strain. These injuries have remained prevalent for the entire season to this point and yet the Patriots are a dominant 10-3 gunning for the 2nd seed and a 1st round bye. In the absence of so many clear cut stars, it cannot be stressed how much the emergence of young talent has played a part in getting the team this far.
In 2013 we have gotten to know names like LeGarret Blount and Michael (Hoo-Man) Hoomanwanui while reaffirming our relationship with star kicker, Stephan Gostkowski who leads the NFL in nearly every kicking category this season. It is players like these, and then Tom Brady, that had combined to produce some of the Patriots best moments in this roller-coaster of a season.
These are the top 5 of those moments...
1) November 24th: Patriots overcome terrible first half to beat Broncos in OT
Approximately half an hour into November 25th, Stephan Goskowski rammed a 31 yard field goal through the uprights to complete for the Patriots, the largest comeback in franchise history. After fumbling 3 times in the first quarter, the Patriots came out of halftime trailing 21-0 but ignored the scoreboard simply chipping away drive after drive en route to actually taking the lead as a result of 28 unanswered points. After the Broncos tied the game late however, overtime was inconclusive as to who would win the game meaning that with mere minutes left before the end of the period, the possibility of a tie was imminent...until a muffed punt by the Broncos gave the ball back to the Patriots with time to spare. 31 yards away from the game winner, Stephan Goskowski came onto the field and drilled this one into the history books.
Only one word seemed fit to describe this 3 hour span of football magic. The anatomy of a true miracle.
2) December 8th: Patriots score 14 points in final 61 seconds to beat Browns
Even after pulling within a touchdown of winning the game, there were just 61 seconds left on the clock and the Patriots were forced to kick off knowing that if they did not recover the hardly-ever-works onside kick they would be losers to a Cleveland Browns team that to that point had won just 4 games. They had not recovered an onside kick in over a decade and yet like so many other moments in this season the Patriots did not care. They booted the ball 10 yards off the tee and watched as it bounced off a Brown and fell mercifully into the arms of Kyle Arrington. Tom Brady returned to the field and with fire in his eyes won the game.
3) October 13th: Kenbrell's catch: 18 yard TD with seconds left beats Saints
Kenbrell Thompkins' 18 yard, game winning touchdown reception with 6 seconds left in Week 4's match-up with the Saints was really the first 'never day die' moment of the 2013 Patriots season. In comparison to the Broncos or Browns comebacks, this lone touchdown drive seemed petty and yet at the time it was one of those exhilarating moments that football fans only dream of.
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