What won't be mentioned in most circles is that the final drive was actually Brady's third attempt to win the game in the final 3.5 minutes, and the first two went horribly wrong. It also won't be mentioned that Brady got away with some ugly passes on the final drive and at least one bone-headed decision that nearly cost his team the game.
It began after the Saints took a 1-point lead with 3:29 left in the game. Starting from their own 20-yard line, the Patriots completed one short pass (which should have been ruled incomplete) and then threw three straight incompletions, including one on fourth-and-six, to turn the ball over deep in their own end...
The Saints then kicked an easy field goal to take a 4-point lead with 2:24 left.
The Patriots had plenty of time left, with a timeout and the 2-minute warning at their disposal. But instead of working down the field, Brady tried to hit a home run when he only needed a bunch of singles, throwing an ugly interception on the first play of the drive...
But then the Saints played conservative and ran three straight running plays, using the Pats' final timeout and the 2-minute warning. This let the Patriots get a third crack at a game-winning drive with 1:13 remaining.
As bad as Brady looked on the previous two, he started clicking on the final drive. It started with a 23-yard completion down the middle into Saints' territory as Brady was getting drilled by the rush...
After another 15-yard completion in the middle of the field, Brady had his next lucky moment tafter a bone-headed decision. Instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock with 40 seconds remaining, Brady tried to catch the Saints sleeping and threw a quick pass towards the sideline.
Luckily for Brady, Aaron Dobson was able to battle his way out of bounds to stop the clock. It was a huge risk for just a 6-yard gain that could have cost the Pats 10-15 seconds if Dobson didn't get out of bounds...
If that play doesn't go out of bounds, the Patriots are looking at a much longer pass at the end for the touchdown.
Before Brady's gorgeous game-winning touchdown, he threw two straight incompletions, both of which might have been touchdowns if they were not underthrown...
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These were followed by yet another short pass in the middle of the field on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Brady was able to get to the line and spike the ball with ten seconds left, enough time for two plays. But he would only need one.
On the very next play, Brady took the most of his fortuitous opportunity and delivered a game winning strike with just five seconds remaining (you can see the full video at this link)...
At this point, the only thing that was left was for Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to react to how many opportunities his team gave to one of the best quarterbacks on the planet. "It was probably inevitable that eventually Brady was going to find the endzone..."
