NFL Old School Game of the Week: Bledsoe's Record Day Leads Pats To Comeback Win over Vikings

Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe completed the most passes and attempted the most passes in a single NFL game in the Patriots' 1994 meeting with the Vikings.

When most NFL fans think of Drew Bledsoe, they often see as the Wally Pipp to Tom Brady's Lou Gehrig, as the quarterback who got hit and was replaced by a man who would lead the New England Patriots to five Super Bowl titles in the next 16 years.
But for a long time, Bledsoe was considered the greatest quarterback in Patriots history as evident by his performance in a Week 11 game against the Minnesota Vikings during the 1994 season which turned the fortunes around for the Patriots.
Bledsoe had been selected with the #1 overall pick by the Patriots in the 1993 NFL Draft as seen by some Patriots fans as the savior to their fledging franchise which had been to one Super Bowl since its inception in 1960.
Bledose had a solid rookie season as he went 5-7 in his 12 starts and threw for nearly 2,500 yards and 15 touchdown passes.
With Bledsoe heading into his second year and Bill Parcells as the head coach, New England fans had high hopes for the 1994 season.
But the Patriots entered the Minnesota game on a four-game losing streak, dropping their record to 3-6 and making a trip to the postseason seem unlikely, especially with the Vikings coming into Foxboro.
Minnesota was 7-2 and seemed to have the look of a Super Bowl contended thanks to their quarterback Warren Moon and all-pro wide receiver Cris Carter.
With the Vikings rolling and the Patriots stuck in neutral, it certainly seemed like Minnesota would take care of the Patriots rather easily, especially since New England had been held to three field goals in the last two games.
And for much of the first half, it did not seem that the recent trends were going to change.
The Vikings received the ball to start the game at their 20-yard-line and proceeded to convert on back-to-back 3rd down conversions; the first being a seven-yard pass from Moon to Jake Reed on 3rd & 2 from the Minnesota 28, followed by a 12-yard run by Moon on 3rd & 9 from the Vikings' 36-yard-line.
Two plays later, Moon hit Reed for 38 yards, giving the Vikings a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line when Terry Allen punched it in for the two-yard touchdown to give Minnesota a 7-0 lead with 9:49 left in the first quarter.
After forcing the Patriots to punt on their opening possession, the Vikings got the ball back at their 22-yard-line as their next drive began with a 25-yard pass from Moon to tight end Andrew Jordan.
Eventually, the Vikings would drive to the Patriots' 22-yard-line before settling for a 40-yard field goal by Fuad Reveiz to extend their lead to 10-0 with 2:33 left in the first quarter.

Vikings quarterback Warren Moon would complete 26 of 42 passes for 349 yards and throw one touchdown.

The score was still 10-0 early in the second quarter when it appeared the Patriots had the Vikings pinned back at their four-yard-line.
But that is when Moon connected with Reed for 32 yards to give the Vikings a 1st down at their 36-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 11 from the 35-yard-line, Moon fired a deep pass for Qadry Ismail, younger brother of Raghib "The Rocket" Ismail from Notre Dame, which he caught to turn into a 65-yard touchdown making it 17-0 in favor of the Vikings with 11:25 left in the second quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Vikings would put together a 13-play, 54-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock and ended with a 33-yard field goal by Reveiz to extend the Minnesota lead to 20-0 with 58 seconds left on the clock.
Up to this point, the Vikings had completely dominated the game running 42 plays for 286 yards of total offense while the Patriots had run only 16 plays for 41 yards and picked up only one 1st down.
Bledsoe's stats were pretty meager too as he had completed only four of 11 passes for 24 yards in the first 29 minutes of the game.
But when New England got the ball at their 32-yard-line following the Reveiz field goal, Bledsoe and the Patriots offense would come to life.
Bledsoe would hit running back Leroy Thompson on back-to-back passes, gaining 15 yards, then connecting with Michael Timpson for 20 yards and a 1st down at the Minnesota 33-yard-line.
Then, Bledsoe found Vincent Brisby for 13 yards, before throwing two incomplete passes to force the Patriots to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Matt Bahr as time expired in the first half to cut the Vikings' lead to 20-3.
While they did not get a touchdown, getting points before the end of the half had to give the Patriots some confidence as they went into the locker room for the halftime break.
But most importantly, they would get the ball to start the second half.
Starting at his 32-yard-line, Bledsoe's first pass intended for tight end Ben Coates was incomplete, but he would connect with Coates on the next play for 10 yards and a 1st down.
Following an eight-yard pass to Timpson, Bledsoe handed the ball off to Thompson who ran for 13 yards and another 1st down at the Vikings' 37-yard-line.
Then after a six-yard pass to Timpson, Bledsoe would fire a 31-yard touchdown pass to Ray Crittenden to bring the Patriots to within 10 points at 20-10 just 98 seconds into the second half.
However, it seemed the Vikings were poised to drive down the field and increase their lead when their next drive began with a 21-yard run by Allen for a 1st down at the Minnesota 48-yard-line.
The Vikings would drive to the Patriots' 40-yard-line until a delay of game and a quarterback sack forced them to punt the back to New England who took over at their one-yard-line.
The Patriots would not pick up a 1st down but get enough yards(eight) to give their punter, Pat O' Neill, some room to deliver a 44-yard punt to the Vikings' 47-yard-line.

Patriots running back Leroy Thompson caught 11 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Then on the next play from scrimmage, Carter fumbled the football after a five-yard catch, which was recovered by Patriots defensive back Harlon Barnett at the Patriots' 39-yard-line.
From there, Bledsoe would connect with Coates on back-to-back completions totaling 19 yards, then connect with Timpson again for 15 yards, to give the Patriots a 1st down at the Vikings' 27-yard-line.
A seven-yard run by Thompson, followed by an incomplete pass, and an one-yard loss by Thompson forced the Patriots to call on Bahr to attempt a 39-yard field goal in hopes of making it an one-possession game.
However, Bahr would miss the kick, keeping it a 20-10 game midway through the third quarter.
The score remained 20-10 well into the 4th quarter when the Patriots had the ball at their 13-yard-line with 5:05 left in regulation and needing 10 points just to force overtime.
That is when Bledsoe and the Patriots went back to their no-huddle offense which had been so effective at the end of the first half.
The drive began with a six-yard pass to Thompson, followed by another six-yard pass, this one to Coates for a New England 1st down.
Bledsoe would go back to Thompson on the next play, connecting with him for a 13-yard completion that New England at their 38-yard-line.
Then after an incomplete pass, Bledsoe found Brisby for 14 yards and a 1st down in Vikings territory at the Minnesota 48-yard-line.
After a four-yard pass to Thompson and an incomplete pass, Bledsoe would hit John Burke for nine yards ans another 1st down at the Vikings' 35-yard-line.
Bledsoe would then find Crittenden for eight yards on the next play and then hit Timpson for 22 yards to give the Patriots a 1st & goal at the Minnesota five-yard-line.
That is when Bledsoe found Thompson in the end zone for the five-yard touchdown to make 20-17 with 2:27 left in regulation.
With all three timeouts plus the two-minute warning, Parcells decided not go for the offsides kick and instead kicked it deep in hopes that his defense would force a three-and-out to give the ball back to Bledsoe with a chance to tie or possibly win the game.
The Vikings got the ball at their 20-yard-line and surprised the Patriots with a pass that worked as Moon hit Jordan for six yards as the Patriots spent their first timeout.
Then after a two-yard run by Allen and another timeout called by New England, the Vikings were faced with a 3rd & 2 when Moon fired a pass for Ismail, only to have Patriots cornerback Maurice Hurst knock the ball away from Ismail, making the pass incomplete to stop the clock and force the Vikings to punt the ball back to the Patriots.
After a 33-yard punt by Mike Saxon, Bledsoe had the ball in his hands with 1:51 left on the clock and one timeout left in his pocket with 61 yards to drive for the game-winning touchdown.

Michael Timpson led the Patriots in receiving yards with his 113 yards on 10 receptions.

But after three straight incomplete passes, the Patriots were suddenly faced with a do-or-die 4th & 10.
That is when Bledsoe found Brisby for 25 yards and a 1st down at the Vikings' 36-yard-line as the Patriots burned their last timeout.
Bledsoe and Brisby would connect again on back-to-back eight-yard completions to give New England a 1st down at the Vikings' 20-yard-line.
Then, Bledsoe hit Timpson for nine yards and then hit Timpson again for six yards to give the Patriots a 1st & goal at the Minnesota five-yard-line.
Even though Bledsoe spiked the ball on 1st down, the Patriots still had two chances to score the game-winning touchdown.
However, Bledsoe could find an open receiver on either play, forcing Bahr to come on and attempt a potential game-tying 23-yard field goal.
Bahr would make the kick, tying the game at 20 with 14 seconds left in regulation.
Moon would take a knee to run out the clock and send the game into overtime where New England won the coin toss and elected to receive.
Starting at his 33-yard-line following a 27-yard kickoff return by Thompson, Bledsoe hit Crittenden for 15 yards to start the drive, which was followed by a four-yard pass to Thompson, then another four-yard pass, this one to Coates to set up 3rd & 2 from the Vikings' 47-yard-line.
That is when Bledsoe completed his 43rd pass, breaking the record held by former Jets quarterback Richard Todd who set in a 37-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, as he found Coates for seven yards and a 1st down at the Minnesota 40-yard-line.
On the next play from scrimmage, Bledsoe would attempt his 69th pass, breaking the record previously held by George Blanda who set in a 1964 Houston Oilers loss to the Buffalo Bills, as he found Thompson for 12 more yards and another 1st down at the Vikings' 25-yard-line.
Seemingly in Bahr's field goal range, the Patriots decided to run the ball on the next few plays as Marion Butts ran for nine yards on the next two plays, which was followed by a two-yard run by Bledsoe and a 1st down at the Vikings' 14-yard-line.
That is when Bledsoe decided to take a shot at a touchdown and lofted a pass toward the left corner of the end zone that landed in the hands of fullback Kevin Turner for the 14-yard game-winning touchdown to give the Patriots a 26-20 win 4:10 into overtime.
After it was all said, Bledsoe had finished the day completing 45 of 70 passes for 426 yards and throwing three touchdown passes with all three touchdown passes coming in the second half as Bledsoe went 37-of-53 for 354 yards as three different players caught at least 10 passes in the game(Thompson-11, Timpson-10, Coates-10).

Patriots fullback Kevin Turner makes the game-winning touchdown catch.

The Vikings would finish the season with a 10-6 record, good enough to win the NFC Central Division and a home playoff game in the Wild Card round.
But the Vikings were stunned by their division rivals, the Chicago Bears, 35-18, handing the Vikings their third straight playoff loss.
As for the Patriots, their comeback win over the Vikings was the start of a seven-game winning streak which gave New England a 10-6 record and their first trip to the playoffs in eight years.
However, the Patriots would lose to the Cleveland Browns 20-13 in their AFC Wild Card game to future Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
As for Bledsoe, he would finish the 1994 season leading the NFL in passing yards with 4,555 and earning the first of his four Pro Bowl selections.
Two years later, Bledsoe would lead the Patriots to their second ever Super Bowl where they lost to the Green Bay Packers 35-21.
Bledsoe would take the Patriots to the playoffs the next two seasons and remain in New England until after the 2001 season when Brady established himself as the team's starting quarterback.
He would spend the next three seasons with the Bills, earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2002, then spent the 2005 + 06 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, until his retirement after 14 seasons in the NFL.
Even though he may be best remembered for being the quarterback before Tom Brady, Patriots fans still love and appreciate what Bledsoe as evident by voting him into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2011 and was an honorary captain for the Patriots before their AFC Championship Game win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.
In an statement prior to that game, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said "Drew Bledsoe played such an integral role in our efforts to rebuild the Patriots. He gave fans hope for the future by providing many memorable moments during his record-breaking career. For a franchise that had hosted only one playoff game in its first 35 years, winning the AFC Championship Game at home in Foxboro and taking the Patriots to the playoffs for three consecutive years were unimaginable goals prior to his arrival".