Finally, and at last, this is the season we will find out the answer to The Question: Who was more responsible for the Patriots double-decade run of success, Tom Brady or Bill Belichick?
Brady vs. Belichick is now officially the greatest internal rivalry in the history of Boston sports, besting Pedro vs. Clemens, Parcells vs. Kraft, Cherry vs. Sinden, Kyrie vs. the fans, or any other New England blood feud you can conjure.
And right now, Bill is winning.
Brady's character took another hit this week with the report that a rift with his play-caller Josh McDaniels in part drove him out of town: New York sportswriter Gary Myers cites an excellent source that it was a "deteriorating relationship with OC Josh McDaniels" and that "Tom was worn out by Josh after all these years."
WCVB's Chris Gasper affirmed the account, saying the "professional/personal relationship between Brady and McDaniels was more strained than publicly portrayed. Brady found it frustrating that Josh wouldn't install plays TB12 wanted in the game plan last season."
So basically Brady was a petulant Scottie Pippen, who pulled himself out of the game in the NBA's 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals out of spite for the coach not featuring him.
WEEI's Christian Fauria told similar tales of the Brady and McDaniels fracture as far back as January, noting that the roles of the team's young receivers were a key sticking point in game planning between the two this season.
So wait, maybe Brady was a tyrannical Michael Jordan who wouldn't give young teammates any respect.
Brady denied via Instagram that his relationship with McDaniels is strained, which may, in fact, be true; It's possible Belichick gave the Code Red to McDaniels all of last year to marginalize Brady at every turn. Give him no input. Push him further out on the plank. The plausible motive? It was all part of the necessary evil needed for Belichick to achieve complete immortality, i.e. winning without Brady.
And those Brady social media denials are also revealing: First, we've never seen Brady refute reports of his rift with Belichick, so it's further validation of the civil war. Second, we now know these McDaniels reports aren't coming from the Brady camp but rather from Belichick's side to further smear Brady's character.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker this week named his state reopening Phase 1 'The Start.' Belichick's Phase 1 to defeat Brady might as well be 'The Smear.'
And it's working. This latest round of reporting paints The Goat as Tom Baby.
On to Phase 2, 'Cautious'. Lower expectations for the 2020 Pats.
And low they are. Former Snow Bowl hero Jermaine Wiggins is predicting a 6-10 season with a possible 0-4 start. Fellow WEEI personalities are checking in with similar dire forecasts: Chris Curtis says 4-12, Lou Merloni and Marc James echo the 6-10 outlook, and Andy Hart checks in as the optimist at 7-9.
All Belichick has to pull off is 8-8 to look like a miracle worker. And he's made sure to keep almost exactly the same supporting offensive cast around his new quarterbacks, so the Season of Stidham will be nearly an apples-to-apples comparison to Brady's Last Dance.
Next up will be Phase 3, 'Vigilant'. This could mean Ernie Adams working on Spygate 3, or it could just be manic preparation that nobody can doubt Belichick has at work.
As former Pats tackle Matt Light noted on The Greg Hill Show Tuesday, "When you think about the teams that are best suited to come out of this ridiculousness we're in right now as a world, there's no one better suited than Bill Belichick and his staff. They've already got an edge, man!"
And as difficult as the New England schedule might look, their stretch run is manageable. Their final six games include: a home game with Arizona, an NFL gift to stay in Los Angeles for their back-to-back games there with the Chargers and Rams, a non-warm-weather Miami trip, finished off by home games with the Bills and the Jets.
Even a 4-6 start to the season can be saved with a 4-2 finish or better in that final run, and 8-8 just might win the AFC East.
Meanwhile, Brady is bracing for an opener at Drew Brees' place, a bona fide division powerhouse. And Tom can't find an open park in Tampa that will allow him to work out to start preparing.
Back on the Brady character front, former Patriot James Harrison said this week he knew that Rob Gronkowski was returning to NFL life back in November, furthering the sleazy Package Deal Master Plan report that Brady and Gronk were planning this all of last season.
Belichick is petting his dog Nike right now and saying "excellent" in his best Inspector Gadget Dr. Claw voice. I'm sure he's also channeling Sun Tzu and the 'Art of War' code he lives by: "Attack weaknesses, utilize strengths." He's making Brady look worse by the day.
The anticipated greatest battle in Boston sports history is underway, and so far Brady is on the retreat. Belichick is winning.
