Rest in peace Madden. I grew up listening to you. My favorite commentary was of you and Summerall on Thanksgiving day of Vikings- Cowboys. My Vikings blew the Cowboys out.
You guys aren’t reading what he said. This was for the 2000s decade. Packers rivalry was nonexistent, and Steelers ravens was technically late 2000s to mid 2010s
@@mariosnum1fan Packers rivalry existed and only happened every four years. Ravens/Patriots existed too, particularly in the playoffs because like the Packers, they didn't play each other often in the regular season.
@somerandomguy84 Hey man ty for checking in. I called outta work last night. I couldn't leave my wife and kids home with all this going on. So close to us. 4 blocks away from us. I feel awful for these people
The Patriots offense in 2004 never gets enough credit, the power run play-action offense they ran after trading for Dillon was a thing of beauty to watch, and Brady’s deep ball developed into one of the best in the league
The 2003 Patriots was on beast mode! The 2004 Patriots was on rampage mode! They're still the last team to this day to win back to back Super Bowls! The 03 and 04 Patriots team was truly something special!
If Brady had an elite receiver it's very likely the 04 Pats go 16-0. And I'm gonna continue to say it, what Brady did without great receivers in these days is incredibly underrated.
It doesn't take great receivers when Brady is throwing pinpoint perfect strikes all game long. It's ridiculous how many times he beat perfect coverage in this game.
The narrative that Brady had mediocre receivers before 2007 is simply not true, it was only true in 2006, where the actual issue was that Brady’s receivers from 03-04 were basically all no longer on the team. In 2004 the receiving corps was very solid. Deion Branch was one of Brady’s favorite receivers ever, he and Brady were so on the same page with nonverbal reads that Belichick had to stop Brady from throwing to Branch in practice because every ball was going to him. In fact Branch (and Corey Dillon) both missing that Halloween Pittsburgh game was a major factor in the Patriots defeat, and Branch later absolutely torched the Steelers in the AFC Championship For his part, Belichick said that Branch was the quickest in space of any receiver he ever coached. Branch is definitely the best college WR Belichick has drafted (got him and Givens, who was a RB in college, in the same draft). If he never had that stint in Seattle he would have much better career numbers, both his stints with the Patriots were fantastic, with that Super Bowl MVP as his standout achievement. Of course winning that Super Bowl MVP may not have been the best thing long-term, because a year later Branch then demanded a new contract and held out. Belichick wasn’t buying it, crediting the Eagles soft zone defense for Branch’s Super Bowl performance, and traded Branch to Seattle. As much as that hurt Branch’s career (until he later returned to NE) it arguably hurt the Patriots more, as the lack of a top WR was a major factor in their 2006 playoff loss to Manning and the Colts. Of course Belichick fixed that by getting Moss and Welker and the rest is history, with Branch later returning to the Pats following Moss’ departure. David Givens was a very good possession receiver who stepped up huge when Branch injured his knee and missed 9 games. And of course Troy Brown and David Patten were still there from the 01 team. So it was all in all a very solid group in 2004, by 06 though all these guys were gone and the cupboard was bare which became painfully obvious during the playoffs led to the retooling in 07
@@TheLocalLt Brady did not have A. One single 1000 yard season receiver in 2004. And B. A 10 td receiver. His TE we're practically non-existent. May I remind you that Deion Branch, his best receiver, played 9 games. I'm not sure how you look at his receiving room compared especially to Manning and not immediately say it was incredibly mediocre. He had 1 pro bowl receiver from 2001-2006. He carried that offense along side Corey Dillon.
@@jcore0981 Branch would have been a 1k in 2004 for sure, but he wrenched his knee when Belichick put him in on Hail Mary defense and missed 9 games… My one question, did you actually watch the games? If you want one indication of how good the Patriots receivers were in 2004, just look how the offense dropped off the face of the earth when these guys all left in 2006. It turned out Brady cannot “carry” an offense, he couldn’t turn Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney into Deion Branch and David Givens, that’s why Belichick went out and got Moss and Welker. If Branch doesn’t hold out in 2006 and get traded the Patriots no doubt beat the Colts in that AFC title game, ask anyone watching at the time…
2004 Pats are the best of the Super Bowl winning dynasty squads imo. They were complete everywhere except elite receivers. Also to me 04 was Manning’s most impressive season. More efficient that 2013 despite the bigger numbers.
This is probably tied for my favorite TNF opener (since they started in 2002) next to the Packers/Saints shootout in 2011. Great down to the wire context between Manning/Brady in their primes. Awesome choice, and great to see in HD.
No doubt one of the best editions of the NFL Kickoff Game, absolutely wild from start to finish! Corey Dillon, acquired for a 2nd rounder, was an enormous pickup for the Patriots. Not only did he set the team record with 1600 rush yards, he his presence also helped develop Brady’s deep ball and made an already formidable team into an all-time squad. Brady went from having to check down most plays from 01-03 to being able to set up play-action deep balls thanks to defenses having to respect Dillon. Brady ended up leading the NFL in deep pass % in 2004, before winning his first NFL passing title in 05. This 2004 Patriots squad is probably their best team ever (yes including 2007) and had one of the most impressive playoffs runs in NFL history, ending with a second straight Super Bowl title (no team has won back-to-back Super Bowls since)
And this is why I laugh when people say Tom Brady's NOT an athlete or just not athletic whatsoever. He got drafted to play catcher in the MLB for Montreal for crying out loud.😂 Like, yeah, okay when you compare Him and Peyton Manning to the QB's of TODAY, sure I gotcha. These guys nowadays just coming out of college with premium athleticism. However, Coach Belichick had Brady running plenty of bootlegs, roll-outs and reverse roll-outs in his career and STILL exhibits great pocket feet. It's just he's not Michael Vick or Lamar Jackson. Then again, noone else are those guys either.
@@theproperenglishman You're all good man! I was making sure I was understanding you correctly because there are still a lot of people that think Tom needs to stop playing because he's not the same anymore/is too old.😂
Thank you for posting this one!!! Along with the 2003 regular season matchup I think these two games are the most underrated of all Brady/manning matchups. I have vivid memories of watching this game with my family. I recall 2006 being the first year I had HD so it is amazing to see this classic in HD.
McGinest sack on Peyton Manning at 15:48 is the same exact play as the Hightower sack on Matt Ryan at the Falcons Super Bowl causing fumble in 28-3 comeback. It comes full circle.
2004 team was better than 07, for a variety of reasons but most importantly the 07 team played mediocre-to-poor the entire second half of the season, and played its two worst games of the season in the AFC Championship and Super Bowl against decent opponents, while the 04 team was at its best in the playoffs and slaughtered formidable opponents (including putting up 41 in Pittsburgh on the road in the AFC title game)
What about the 2016 Patriots. That year was nothing but good football from them. Solid running game with Blount. Solid defense. Monster TE set with Gronkowski and Bennett. And let’s not forget the solid WR core of Edelman, Amendola, Hogan, and Mitchell.
@@KasanovaKee325 I think the 2014 team, which beat a murderers row of 5 straight division leaders, is probably their second best SB winner, and the 2016 team was essentially a stripped-down version of that squad so I’d have to put them behind 2014 for that reason and for the fact that they played a very weak schedule especially in comparison to the 2014 team. A big factor was Manning’s retirement which essentially left the AFC wide open for the Patriots from 2016-18 when their team got weaker every year but they kept making the Super Bowl each time. But that last year, 2018, Patrick Mahomes took over in KC and they emerged as a major AFC threat, who the Patriots narrowly managed to hold off in the AFC Championship on the way to their last title.
A lot of Indy fans complained about not winning a lot of SBs because of not having a defense at this time. You had some studs on D. Bethea, Freeney, et al. Dungy just didn't have that next level coaching consistency BB does.
Their whole salary cap was spent on their offense, they made up for their undersized defense by being about speed, that’s the Polian formula, it’s the same reason why the Bills always lost in the Super Bowl when he was the GM there: against physical teams, especially on the road, you can manhandle the defense and just play keep-away from the high-powered offense. Belichick and Parcells’ game plan to do exactly that vs Polian’s Bills in the Super Bowl is now the only game plan on display at the Hall of Fame, it was simply a more extreme version of Parcells’ “pass to score, run to win” philosophy. The Giants (with a backup quarterback) ran the ball over and over against Buffalo’s undersized defense and ended up with over 40 minutes of possession time, keeping Polian’s highly-touted offense on the sideline, and that’s the exact formula Belichick used against Polian’s Colts during the Manning era: during the playoff rematch this same year, the Patriots likewise ran it down the throat of the Colts undersized defense for 40 minutes of possession time and held Manning, who set the TD pass record during the regular season, without a TD in the playoff game.
Vanderjagt got blasted for this loss but that horrible sack that Peyton took the play before is what cost them. Turned what would have been a pretty easy FG into a relatively difficult attempt since 45+ yards was no guarantee back in '04. Helluva play by McGinest there.
BTW I know this is weeks in advance, but maybe when the 49ers play the Dolphins this year you can possibly spotlight the 1986 "No Montana no problem game" between the 49ers and Dolphins or the 1995 "No Steve Young no problem game" between the 49ers and Dolphins on MNF. Just a suggestion. Thanks!!!
Other people probably feel the same way about football from the 70's and 80's but for me football from the 90's and 2000 was so much more enjoyable to watch.. I used to love watching games during that time, and now I couldn't care less if I watch any.
Out of all the Patriots super bowl winning teams the 04 team might have been the best out of all their dominant on both sides of the ball and Brady was in his prime too
In 01 the pats won they're 1st Superbowl. I was 21. Then the red sox one it in 04 and all the pats and sox others along the way. Im Goin on 44 now and Brady is retired and now Bergeron. Im certainly feeling my age. But damn am i thankful for being able to experience all that in my lifetime/prime years😊
I was at this game! Wicked weird weather. It was raining as we tailgated, but nice inside Gillette. Toby Keith destiny’s child and Lenny kravitz…Vanderjagt missed the field goal from our seats in the stadium, laughed my ass off 😂 8 months later I was in the navy in boot camp. What a great year! My red Sox won it all! The patriots were a budding dynasty
First Kickoff Game to feature the defending champions I remember watching this in the M-Div berthing onboard the Vinson while we were on pre-deployment workups
Look at how great these receivers look because of the 🐐 Only man on earth who have us looking back saying “they were a good bunch” but they actually wasn’t 😂😂
I'm a Pats fan. But when I hear Micheals call Reggie Wayne "their number two receiver," even I feel insulted. Quit playing like Peyton didn't have two #1 wideouts on the same squad.
Foxborough was always the house of horrors for Peyton. I think he was 2-8 in his career there. His first year was in 1998. Peyton did not win a game in Foxborough until 2005. Holy f
Seems so odd now to see the umpire lining up like an extra linebacker back then 😂 Nfl this time was the best, physical, bigger stronger players grass fields! I miss the old slopp fests. Nice to see cornerbacks being able to get hands on the receivers more.
Colts were the only team that played a cover 2 all game and against great qbs they would get picked apart Imagine a qb knowing what kind of defense your playing every play
Vanderjat cost the colts too many games he's the reason why they lost to Steelers in 05-06 missing field goals wide right. Just imagine the colts having a decent kicker how many super bowls they would of won.
I absolutely hate same-place-finisher games👿👿👿👿. Having this game on Monday night was extra retarded. This game should've aired on NESN (Patriots) and Fox sports net Indiana (Colts) it's devastating, disgusting, embarrassing and humiliating that this game happened in 2004. Same-place-finisher games should only be allowed to air on regional networks such as Bally sports, NBC sports regional networks, AT&T sportsnet. The NFL really needs to get rid of same-place-finisher games altogether or at the very least don't have them be nationally televised but have them be televised by regional networks