NFL Old School Game of the Week: Bledsoe Comes Off the Bench to Lead Patriots to AFC Title Win

Despite not having played in four months, Drew Bledsoe came off the bench to lead the Patriots to a win over the Steelers in the 2001 AFC Championship Game.

When it comes to the story of Tom Brady, nearly every NFL fan knows how the five-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Super Bowl MVP became the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots as he took over for Drew Bledsoe, who was knocked out of the lineup in the second game of the 2001 season when a hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis sheared a blood vessel in Bledsoe's chest.

But what most NFL fans forget is that Bledsoe came back to help the Patriots in the 2001 AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before that AFC Title game, it didn't look like Bledsoe was going to get back on the field as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that Brady would remain the Patriots' starting quarterback even though Bledose had been medically cleared by doctors and New England stood outside the playoffs with a 5-5 record.

However, the Patriots would win the last six games of the regular season to finish with a 11-5 record and the AFC East Division title, which earned New England the #2 seed in the AFC Playoffs and first-round bye.

In the Divisional Playoffs, the Patriots hosted the Oakland Raiders in a driving snowstorm at Foxboro Stadium when the infamous "tuck rule" came into play, negating a fumble with 1:43 left and allowing for the Patriots to drive for the game-tying field goal, which Adam Vinatieri made from 45 yards out through the snow, to send the game into overtime where Vinatieri made a chip shot 23-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 16-13 overtime win in the final game at Foxboro Stadium.

Even though they had made it to the AFC Championship Game, many NFL experts and fans thought the Patriots' Cinderella run would come to an end in Pittsburgh as they faced off with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After missing the playoffs the previous three seasons, the Steelers returned to the playoffs with a 13-3 record to earn the #1 seed and home field advantage through the AFC Playoffs.

Behind head coach Bill Cowher and quarterback Kordell Stewart, the Steelers defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens 27-10 in the Divisional Playoffs to earn the right to host the AFC Championship Game against the Patriots.

The Steelers were expected to win the game as they entered the game as 9 1/2  favorites and were getting running back Jerome Bettis back, who had missed the previous six games with a groin injury.

With Bettis back and the home field advantage, the chances of a Patriots upset seemed unlikely.

But like ESPN's Chris Berman, "That is why they play the game".

 Most of the first quarter was a defensive stalemate as neither team could put together a drive and were traded punts with the Patriots punting three times and the Steelers twice.

The Steelers' third possession ended in a punt as well as punter Josh Miller's 64-yard punt had the put the Patriots at their 23-yard-line, only to have the Steelers' Troy Edwards get called for stepping out of bounds, drawing a five-yard penalty and forcing Pittsburgh to punt the ball again.

The penalty proved costly as Miller's punt was fielded by Troy Brown at the Patriots' 45-yard-line, who broke a tackle around the 50-yard-line, and then outran the Steelers' punt coverage team for a 55-yard touchdown for the first points of the game, giving New England a 7-0 lead with 3:55 left in the first quarter.

Troy Brown had eight catches for 121 yards and ran back a punt for a 55-yard touchdown.

The Steelers responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive which saw Stewart account for 61 of the 65 yards as he completed four passes for 27 yards and had a 34-yard run to help set up a 30-yard field goal by Kris Brown to cut the Patriots' lead to 7-3 with 13:44 left in the second quarter.

Following another exchange of punts, the Patriots took over at their 22-yard-line and proceeded to drive to the Steelers' 36-yard-line in seven plays as Brady completed three passes for 33 yards and snuck for a first down.

However on 1st down from the 36-yard-line, Brady was sacked by Pittsburgh linebacker Jason Gildeon for a 11-yard-loss, killing the drive and forcing another New England punt.

The Patriots defense would force the Steelers to go three-and-out to get the ball back at their 30-yard-line with 2:42 left in the first half.

On 3rd-and-8 at the 32-yard-line, Brady found Brown over the middle for a 28-yard completion, the longest offensive play of the day for New England to give the Patriots a 1st down at the Steelers' 40-yard-line.

But as the Patriots were thinking about what to do now that they were in Steelers territory, Brady laid on the ground writhing in pain after a hit by Steelers safety Lee Flowers, which resulted in a sprained left ankle for Brady.

As Brady limped off the field, Bledsoe was inserted into the game, seeing his first game action in three months as the Patriots faced a 1st-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 40-yard-line with exactly 100 seconds left before halftime.

The Patriots showed no fear as Bledsoe dropped back and fired a pass on his first play from scrimmage, hitting David Patten for 15 yards and another New England 1st down.

Then, Patriots fans got nervous when Bledsoe scrambled on the next play for a four-yard-run and was hit by Steelers cornerback Chad Scott, in a hit that was eerily similar to the one Bledsoe got that put him on the bench for three months.

But Bledsoe only received a cut on his chin from the hit and came back with a 10-yard pass to Patten for a 1st down, then found Patten again, this time in the right corner of the end zone for a 11-yard touchdown to increase the New England lead to 14-3 with 58 seconds left in the first half.

David Patten catches a 11-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe late in the first half of the 2001 AFC Championship Game.

With three timeouts in their pocket, the Steelers tried to put together a drive in hopes of putting points on the board before halftime as they took over at their 28-yard-line.

Stewart would hit three passes for 38 yards to put Pittsburgh at the Patriots' 34-yard-line with 23 seconds left, but a offensive pass interference penalty on Bobby Shaw took the Steelers out of field goal range and forced Stewart to throw a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half, which was picked off by Patriots cornerback Terrell Buckley to end the first half as New England went into the locker room with a 14-3 lead.

The Steelers got the ball to start the second half, but quickly turned it over to the Patriots when Stewart fumbled the snap on the third play of the second half, which was recovered by New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi at the Pittsburgh 35-yard-line.

After three plays gained three yards, Belichick decided to gamble and go for the 1st down on 4th-and-7 at the Pittsburgh 32-yard-line.

The gamble did not pay off as Bledsoe's 4th down pass for Brown fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Steelers at their 32-yard-line.

From there, the Steelers traveled 52 yards in seven plays before having to settle for 34-yard field goal attempt by Kris Brown, which if he made would make it a one-possession game at 14-6.

But disaster would strike for Pittsburgh as Patriots defensive tackle Brandon Mitchell broke through and blocked the field goal which resulted in a loose ball that was picked up by Troy Brown at the Steelers' 40-yard-line.

Brown ran 11 yards before lateraling the ball to safety Antwan Harris, who then ran the remaining 49 yards to give the Patriots their second special teams touchdown and a shocking 21-3 lead with 9:11 left in the third quarter.

Following the blocked field goal return for a touchdown, the Steelers took over at their 21-yard-line when Stewart hit Bettis for a 11-yard pass, which was followed by a 24-yard pass to Hines Ward, to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Patriots' 44-yard-line.

Then on 3rd-and-9 from the 43-yard-line, Stewart hit running back Amos Zereoue for 19 yards and another 1st down at the New England 24-yard-line.

Stewart would find Ward for a nine-yard gain, that become 17 yards as Patriots cornerback Ty Law was called for a late hit giving Pittsburgh a 1st-and-goal at the seven-yard-line.

Then after another Patriots penalty and a three-yard run by Zereoue, the Steelers had their first touchdown of the day as Bettis punched it in from a yard out, to cut the New England lead to 21-10 with 5:11 left in the third quarter.

The Steelers defense would force the Patriots to go three-and-out on thier next possession and got the ball to start their next drive at the New England 32-yard-line following a 28-yard return by Edwards.

Five plays later, the Steelers were back in the end zone as Zereoue bursted through the middle for a 11-yard touchdown to make it 21-17 with 1:29 left in the third quarter.

Kordell Stewart struggled throughout the AFC Championship Game as he turned the ball over times, three interceptions and one fumble.

The momentum was clearly now on Pittsburgh's side and it was up to the Patriots to respond with a long drive that would result in points.

They got that on their next possession as Bledsoe would complete two big passes, one to Charles Johnson for 15 yards and another to Troy Brown for 13 more, to put the Patriots in Pittsburgh territory as the third quarter came to an end.

After three straight runs by Antowain Smith that picked up 10 yards, Bledsoe would hit fullback Marc Edwards for six yards on 3rd-and-3 at the Pittsburgh 38-yard-line.

A pair of J.R. Redmond three-yard runs helped set up a 44-yard field goal by Vinatieri which pushed the Patriots lead to seven points at 24-17 with 11:21 left in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers got the ball back at their 33-yard-line and were able to drive to the New England 48-yard-line before having to punt the ball back to the Patriots, who took over at their nine-yard-line with 8:20 left in regulation.

The Patriots were able to take almost four minutes off the clock as Bledsoe completed three passes for 29 yards, including a key 18-yard pass to Troy Brown on 3rd-and-11 from the New England 19-yard-line, before punting the ball back to the Steelers who took over at their 22-yard-line with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter.

The drive got off to a good start as Stewart found Plaxico Burress for 11 yards and a 1st down on the first play from scrimmage, but two plays later the Steelers were faced with a 3rd-and-8 when Stewart overthrew a wide open Ward over the middle on a pass that was intercepted by free safety Tebucky Jones, whose 19-yard return gave New England the ball at the Steelers' 34-yard-line with 2:41 left and a chance to run out the clock.

But the Patriots only picked up two yards and when Vinatieri's 50-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, the Steelers were given one more chance as they took over at their 40-yard-line with 2:15 left and one timeout in their pocket.

However, Stewart would throw another interception, this time overthrowing Burress and into the hands of strong safety Lawyer Milloy, who returned the pick 11 yards to the 50-yard-line with 2:02 to go.

And after Smith ran for 19 yards and a 1st down on 2nd-and-11, Bledsoe, who finished the game with 102 yards on 10-of-21 passing and one touchdown, was allowed to take three knees to run out the clock as the Patriots pulled off the 24-17 upset and win their third AFC championship in team history, earning them a trip to Super Bowl XXXVI.

The Patriots dumped water on head coach Bill Belichick following their 24-17 upset of the Steelers.

The Kordell Stewart era would come to an end the following season as Stewart was replaced in the third game of the 2002 season by Tommy Maddox, who helped lead the Steelers to the playoffs.

Then after a 6-10 season, the Steelers used their first round pick to select quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who helped lead Pittsburgh to a 15-1 season in 2004, only to have it end again at the hands of the Patriots in another AFC Championship game loss in Pittsburgh, the fourth under head coach Bill Cowher.

Ironically, the Steelers would return to the AFC Championship game the following season, this time winning it as they defeated the Denver Broncos in Denver 34-17, as they would go on to win Super Bowl XL over the Seattle Seahawks for their first Super Bowl title in 26 years.

As for the Patriots, Brady would return to the starting lineup the following week for Super Bowl XXXVI, where he directed a nine-play, 53-yard drive that was capped off by Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal as time expired to give New England a 20-17 win over the two-touchdown favorite St. Louis Rams and the first of the Patriots' five Super Bowl titles in the 21st century, all with Brady as the starting quarterback.

Bledsoe would be traded in the offseason to the Buffalo Bills, where he threw for a career high 4,359 yards in the 2002 season, before playing two more seasons in Buffalo until his release following the 2004 season.

Bledsoe would sign with the Dallas Cowboys where he would be the Cowboys' starting quarterback until the sixth game of the 2006 season when he was replaced by Tony Romo.

In the offseason, Bledsoe announced his retirement after 14 seasons as he finished his career with over 44, 000 passing yards and 251 touchdown passes.

Even though he may be a footnote to most NFL fans, Bledsoe is still beloved in New England as evident by his inclusion to the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2011.

Bledsoe holds the Lamar Hunt Trophy after the Patriots' win in the 2001 AFC Championship Game.