2018-2019 NFL Season Thread Football • Page 982

Belichick leaves New England to prove that he was the one behind their success the entire time. Tom Brady is alone at the helm of the Patriots for the first time in his career. Belichick leads the Browns to their best season in franchise history. Baker Mayfield is an MVP candidate. Myles Garrett is the DPOY. The 14-2 Browns secure a first round bye and appear to be unstoppable. But there's one obstacle left for Belichick to overcome. Brady didn't flinch. The Patriots finished 13-3, one game behind Cleveland. With both teams securing first round byes, the answer to who deserves the credit for hoisting banner after banner into the banisters remains unsolved...for now. The Browns make easy work of Mahomes and the Chiefs while the Patriots, true to form, defeat the Steelers to advance to their ninth consecutive AFC Championship game.

Bill and Brady don't speak before the game. They don't look at each other. BB betrayed Brady and cast him aside for a younger, less annoying QB. The game starts. Baker and the Browns strike first. 7-0 Browns. Brady takes the field. Three and out. The Browns get the ball back and trot down the field and score, this time led by Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson. The Pats start conservative this time around but to no avail. A stripped ball by Myles Garrett is returned for a touchdown. The first quarter ends 21-0 in favor of Cleveland. Tom is fading while BB is rock hard. The Pats defense shows up in the second quarter, holding the Browns to only six points. But Brady is still shaky. He can't get anything going. Gronk is being shut down. Edelman can't get separation. Gordon is dropping everything. Nothing is doing. With one minute left in the first half, they get a stroke of good luck. James White takes a screen pass to the house. 27-7 Browns. The Pats get the ball to start the second half though! Could this be a classic Brady comeback? We'll find out after the break.

As they head into the lockers, the cameras approach the two men on separate sides of the field. Bill is reserved, he praises the young Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett for providing leadership on the field and executing his vision. He says they just have to come out in the second half and keep doing what they're doing. Brady, on the other hand, is humbled. He takes the blame for his team's failures during the first half and walks solemnly into the lockers. After a short break, the teams return to the field and the second half is underway.

Things could not have gotten worse for Brady. Two plays into their opening drive, he throws an interception which is returned to the five yard line. Distraught, he falls to his knees on the sideline and begins to weep, believing all hope to be lost and himself to be a fraud whose success is tied only to Bill Belichick. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his head. He looks up. It's Dont'a Hightower. He wipes Brady's tears and tenderly whispers, "we got you." The Patriots defense takes the field. 1st and Goal, Baker Mayfield throws it to Antonio Callaway on a fade but they can't connect. The next two plays are rushes from Chubb, both for no gain, both stopped by Hightower. He looks at Brady on the sideline and nods. Brady vows to himself that he will win this game for his team, not just himself. But the Browns field goal makes it 30-7 with ten minutes left in the third quarter. Next possession. Brady starts to get into a rhythm. Gronk makes a stellar block for Gordon, who takes a short pass for a gain of 32. Ultimately, their momentum is silenced by a sack from Larry Ogunjobi. The Patriots are left with a decision on 4th and 14 at their own 45. Brady looks at Stephen Gotskowski. Stephen Gotskowski looks at Brady. They are in sync. They know. The kicking team takes the field and Gotskowski drills the 62 yard field goal to cut the Pats deficit to 20. With only six minutes remaining in the third, Belichick is content to get conservative with his playcalling, letting Chubb manage the clock. The Browns drive down the field and it looks like they are about to put the final nail in the coffin when Trey Flowers knocks the ball out from Duke Johnson. There's a scramble for the ball. There's pushing and shoving. At the bottom of the scrum, Danny Shelton has the football. The Patriots have a spark. Brady takes the field. 1st and 10. Incompletion. 2nd and 10. He throws an absolute dime to Julian Edelman who goes untouched for a touchdown. 30-17 Browns. The Browns march down the field in three plays but are stopped in the red zone once again. It's clear the momentum has shifted. A field goal from Imnot Googling brings the game to 33-17 as the quarter ends.

15 minutes to go. The legacy of two of the greatest men in NFL history hangs in the balance. Brady and the offense trot back on the field. Brady throws to six different receivers on this drive, with Chris Hogan being the one to find the end zone on a gutsy 4th and Goal call. 33-24. The Browns get the ball back. New England drained the clock for them. They got seven points closer but it cost them seven minutes to do it. Content with running the ball, the Patriots turn to their defensive line in hopes of shutting down the Browns running game which, up until this point, has been very effective. Instead, Belichick lets Mayfield come out swinging. 17 yards. 35 yards. 20 yards. Mayfield is throwing darts left and right and the Browns are moments away from putting the game away. Until a tipped ball off the hands of Jarvis Landry is intercepted by Jason McCourty and returned for 62 yards. Brady walks out on the field, a new sense of confidence flowing through his admittedly gorgeous veins. One play. One pass. One score. He finds Josh Gordon on the sideline, who makes a man miss and takes it to the house. Five minutes left in the game, the Patriots find themselves down by only two. 33-31. Belichick does not take this lightly. He calls out all the stops on what he hopes to be the final drive of the game. With rushes from Chubb, Johnson, and two short passes from Mayfield, the Browns are 90 seconds away from a Super Bowl appearance. But they can't quite finish the drive. With 38 seconds left on the clock, the Browns attempt a field goal, which would make the Patriots need a touchdown to win it. The kick is up....WIDE RIGHT.

The Patriots take over on their own 30 with half a minute to go. Brady takes a knee. He prays. He slips his hands inside his pockets and strokes his MAGA hat. The offense takes the field with only one timeout left. Brady throws a dart to Edelman. It's incomplete. He throws a deep ball to Gronk, who goes up and makes a remarkable one handed catch. They hurry to the line. Brady goes to spike it. Fake spike! He tosses it up to Gronk once again. He trucks through Jamie Collins and is finally brought down at the Cleveland 25. This is it. They are in field goal range. Brady calls a timeout with just six seconds left on the clock. The field goal unit takes the field. The game is in Gotskowski's hands....or is it? The ball is snapped to....wait.....what....Brady. Tom Brady is the holder. Brady has the ball! Gronkowski is out wide. He's open! Brady throws it up. No time left on the clock. He catches it in the end zone! Patriots win it! Tom Brady has done it! The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl and Bill Belichick is headed home.

Confetti rains down. Tears are shed. The Patriots embrace their fearless leader. Finally, at last, the two men make eye contact across the field. Knowing he cannot escape this confrontation, Belichick strides gracefully up to Tom for the post-game handshake. Brady leans in close, almost as if to hug his mentor. He takes something out of his pocket. A gift for the man who coached him all these years. The cameras zoom in close to catch this tender moment between the two former friends, now estranged. And the last thing Bill Belichick hears before the dagger pierces his heart - "the bannisters send their regards."

 

We aren't signing WHO?

 

the hardknocks heartbreak kidddd

 

is this erotic fan fiction

 

I gotcha, I definitely didn't watch this season so I had no clue, my bad haha

 

Tom Brady actually wrote this entire fanfiction while in the pocket

 

hahah yeah i guess every season they make you fall in love with a guy and then crush your heart as they cut him in the final episode. he was that one this year.

 

What the hell did I just scroll over

 

I have yet to read a word of a @CarpetElf post, I just guess at what he says and hope I'm right

And I'm not gonna start now with that essay of shit

 

that esssay was beautiful

 

This is a god damn roller coaster

 

True friends

 

Defilippo was pretty awful as our OC in '15. McVay/Taylor and Flores are the most intriguing for me.

 

The Jimmy Haslam effect.

 

When I read Zac Taylor this was the only thing that came to mind

 

Dan Campbell is the perfect Browns hire

 

He’s not sad anymore

 

Raining in Toledo

 

Cassanova McKinzy is the best made up name *chefs kiss*

 

Brogan roback

 

While it’s the correct decision for Cleveland and makes them better, firing Hue and promoting Gregg Williams instantly makes them unlikable and impossible for me to root for

 

That's fine. We don't need any more bandwagon fans anyway.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Can we stop saying bandwagon fans for the Browns? Everyone's going to get dysentery.