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| Back-to-Back? The challenge facing the 2004 Patriots was the same challenge that faced the 2002 Patriots - can they repeat? The question was will they fare any better or fail miserably like their 2002 counterparts? The offseason did not begin as smoothly as possible as Ty Law went on several national shows and demanded to be traded as his high cap number made him a possible salary cap casualty. As that died down and the Patriots moved on towards the draft, the Patriots made a bold move to bolster their team. They acquired Corey Dillon from the Bengals for their second round draft pick. A move some questioned as Dillon was perceived to be a malcontent and seeming to be an anti Patriots team player. They last bit of offseason news had to deal with the change, or more correctly the enforcement of the pass defense rules. The biggest proponent for the change would be the team the Patriots beat in the AFC Championship game and their first opponent, the Indianapolis Colts. The AFC Championship rematch lived up to all the preseason hype as the Patriots used a last minute Willie McGinest sack to push a Mike Vanderjagt field goal back and the Colts' kicker missed his first kick since December 2002. The Patriots followed the momenteum of their opening victory over the Colts by winning their next four games to push their record to 5-0 and set-up a division showdown with the unbeaten and 5-0 Jets. The Patriots would push their NFL record winning streak to 21 games with a hard fought 13-7 victory. The following week the Patriots would travel to 5-1 Pittsburgh. After jumping out early 3-0, the Patriots would surrender 21 straight points before the first quarter ended as the Steelers convincingly ended their winning streak 34-20. Already down one starting cornerback, the Patriots entered November against several pass happy teams without Ty Law, as he would join Tyronne Poole on the sidelines with a broken bone in his foot. The injury would cause him to miss the remainder of the season. Traveling to St. Louis, the Patriots surprised the pass happy Rams 40-22 and followed the victory by shutting down Buffalo 29-6 and the Chiefs 27-19. The Patriots would easily dispatch playoff contender Baltimore 24-3 and push their winning streak to 6 with victories over the Bengals and Browns. This set-up a showdown with suddenly downtrodden Miami. The Patriots seemed in control with a 28-17 lead with under four minutes left when the Ghosts of Miami past came on to haunt the Patriots as Tom Brady self destructed in the last few minutes and the Dolphins came from behind for an improbable 29-28 victory. The Patriots would travel to New York and clinch the division crown by dispatching the Jets 23-7. The AFC East crown was theirs, but homefield advantage was lost on the Miami field. The Patriots headed to the playoffs with an easy 21-7 victory over the 49ers. Corey Dillon, the perceived malcontent, would finish the season by only making noise where it counts, on the field, as he rushed for a Patriots' record 1635 yards and inched closer to the 10,000 yard career mark. he also helped the Patriots end a 17 year drought of failing to average 4 yards a carry as a team. After the bye-week, the Patriots would have a rematch of the 2003 AFC Championship Game, as the Inidianpolis Colts would again venture to Foxboro. Much like 2003 season, the Colts came in seemingly unbeatable and the near unanimous choise to advance to the 2004 Championship Game. However, 53 Patriots had another idea as the 4th most prolofic offense in league history was held to 3 points as the offense led by the forgotten Tom Brady led 16, 15 and 14 minute scoring drives to a relatively easy 20-3 victory. With the victory over the Colts, the Patriots would travel to Pittsburgh for the second time in four years to face the Steelers int he AFC Championship game. Unlike the last time, this meeting was being billed as a battle of heavyweights as the 15-2 Patriots clashed with the 16-1 Steelers. The Patriots took an early 3-0 lead following a Ben Roethlisberger interception. Then on ensuing Steelers drive, the Steelers attempted to convert a 4th and 1 on the Patriots 40 when the defense rose to the ocassion and stuffed the run and stripped the ball from Jerome Bettis. On the first play of the next Patriots drive, Tom Brady hit a streaking Deoin Branch for a touchdown and 10-0 lead. The Steelers would cut the lead to 10-3 after a poor Josh Miller punt set the Steelers up in the Patriots end of the field. Tom Brady and Deoin Branch would again connect on a long pass, this time 45 yards, to set-up a David Givens 9 yard touchdown catch that gave the Patriots a 17-3 lead. In the closing minutes of the first half, the Steelers were driving for a score to cut into the Patriots lead, when Rodney Harrison stepped in front of a Roethilsberger pass intended for his tightend and raced 87 yards to the Patriots endzone. The Harrison TD gave the Patriots a 24-3 halftime lead. The Steelers, the owners of the best record in 2004, would make a second half run at the Patriots, but a Corey Dillon 25 yard TD run and Deoin Branch's 23 yard run would seal the 41-27 victory and give the Patriots a chance to defend their Superbowl title. In the weeks leading upto the Superbowl, most of the talk was on Terrell Owens and his effect on the game. Little of the talk was on two of the three best teams in the NFL and that for once, media pundits, at least a majority of them, had picked the correct Superbowl match-up: Eagles vs Patriots. The game did not start like the two beast teams were playing. Neither team could generate much offense and when they did, they sabotaged their chances with penalties or turnovers. Late in the first quarter, Philadelphia began driving for a score, helped by a 30 yard catch and run by Terrell Owens. Who showed no effects of his injury as he finished with 9 catches and 122 yards. After one interception negated by a holding penalty, Rodeny Harrison killed the first scoring drive of the game when he intercepted Donovan McNabb on the very next play. In the second, the Eagles final broke the scoreless tie, by driving down the field for touchdown and 7-0 lead. The score seemed to awaken the Patriots as they matched the Eagles scoring drive with a lengthy drive of their own. Unfortunately, the Patriots drive ended at the Eagles 13 as Brady fumbled the ball on a play action pass. After holding the Eagles on their next possession, the Patriots benfitted from a poor punt and tied the score right before half as Tom Brady found David Givens on the right side of the endzone. With the score tied at 7, the Patriots started the second half with the ball and proceeded to march the ball down the field and took a 14-7 lead as Tom Brady found Linebacker/tightend specialist Mike Vrabel in the endzone. The pesky Eagles would tie the score late in the third on another lengthy drive. On the ensuing Patriots' drive, the Patriots again mounted another lengthy drive and this time Corey Dillon punched the ball in for a 21-14 lead. After holding the Eagles on their next drive to a three and out, the Patriots again drove the field, this time for an Adam Vinatieri field goal for a 24-14 lead. With time running out, the Eagles started driving down the field only to have the drive end on a diving Tedy Bruschi interception. After holding the Patriots the Eagles cut the gap to 24-21, but the 13 play drive consumed too much time as the Patriots allowed alot of underneath passes. The Eagles would get the ball back with under a minute left, but 96 yards to go for a winning touchdown. Rodney Harrison, ended the game three plays later with his second interception of the game. Deoin Branch was named MVP of the Superbowl for pacing the Patriots' offense with 11 catches for 133 yards. The Patriots back-to-back titles allowed the Patriots to be annointed a dynasty by becoming the second team in the Superbowl ERA to win three Superbowl in four years. Unfortunately, the Superbowl was also the last time the Belichick-Crennel-Weis trio coached together. Colts 27-24 1-0 Buffalo 29-6 8-1 @Cardinals 23-12 2-0 @Chiefs 27-19 9-1 @Bills 31-17 3-0 Ravens 24-3 10-1 Dolphins 24-10 4-0 @Browns 42-15 11-1 Seahawks 30-20 5-0 Bengals 35-28 12-1 Jets 13-7 6-0 @Dolphins 28-29 12-2 @Steelers 20-34 6-1 @Jets 23-7 13-2 @Rams 40-22 7-1 49ers 21-7 14-2 AFC Divisional Playoffs 1 2 3 4 F Indiapolis 0 3 0 0 3 Boxscore/Recap New England 0 6 7 7 20 AFC Championship Game 1 2 3 4 F New England 10 14 7 10 41 Boxscore/Recap Pittsburgh 3 0 14 10 27 Superbowl XXXIX 1 2 3 4 F New England 0 7 7 10 24 Boxscore/Recap Philadelphia 0 7 7 7 21 |
| 2004 AFC East W L T Pct. PF PA Patriots 14 2 0 .875 437 260 Jets 10 6 0 .625 333 261 Bills 9 7 0 .563 395 284 Dolphins 4 12 0 .250 275 354 |
| Passing Att Cmp Pct. Yards TDs INTs QBRtg Tom Brady 474 288 61 3692 28 14 92.6 Rohan Davey 10 4 40 54 0 0 57.9 Adam Vinatieri 1 1 100 4 1 0 122.9 |
| Rushing Att. Yards AVG TDs Corey Dillon 345 1635 4.7 12 Kevin Faulk 54 255 4.7 2 Patrick Pass 39 141 3.6 0 Cedric Cobbs 22 50 2.3 0 Tom Brady 43 28 0.7 0 Rabih Abdullah 13 13 1.0 1 Bethel Johnson 2 8 4.0 0 David Patten 1 5 5.0 0 Larry Izzo 1 0 0.0 0 Rohan Davey 4 -1 -0.3 0 |
| Receving Rec. Yards AVG TDs David Givens 56 874 15.6 3 David Patten 44 800 18.2 7 Deion Branch 35 454 13.0 4 Daniel Graham 30 364 12.1 7 Patrick Pass 28 215 7.7 0 Kevin Faulk 26 248 9.5 1 Troy Brown 17 184 10.8 1 Christian Fauria 16 195 12.2 2 Corey Dillon 15 103 6.9 1 Bethel Johnson 10 174 17.4 1 Jed Weaver 8 93 11.6 0 Dan Klecko 3 18 6.0 0 Ben Watson 2 16 8.0 0 Mike Vrabel 2 3 1.5 2 Rabih Abdullah 1 9 9.0 0 |
| Sacks: McGinest 9.5, Vrabel 5.5, Colvin 5.0, Seymour 5.0, Green 4.0, Bruschi 3.5, Warren 3.5, Harrison 3.0, Wilfork 2.0, Banta-Cain 1.5, Phifer 1.5, T. Johnson 1.0 Interceptions: Wilson 4-51-0, Bruschi 3-70-0, Brown 3-22-0, Gay 2-23-0, Harrison 2-12-0, Samuel 1-34-1, McGinest 1-27-0, Phifer 1-26-0, Poole 1-21-0, Banta-Cain 1-4-0, Law1-0-0 |
| Kicking XP XPA FG FGA PTS Adam Vinatieri 48 48 31 33 141 |
| 2005 |
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| 2004 |
| Coach: Bill Belichick |
| Pro-Bowlers QB - Tom Brady DT - Richard Seymour K - Adam Vinatieri ST - Larry Izzo RB - Corey Dillon LB - Tedy Bruschi |
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| Statistics Offense Rushing: 524-2134-15 (7 of 32) Passing: 3588 (11 of 32) Total: 5722 (7 of 32) Points: 437 (4 of 32) Defense Rushing: 405-1572-9 (6 of 32) Passing: 3400 (17 of 32) Total: 4972 (9 of 32) Points: 260 (2 of 32) |
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