"They missed him. For most of the past year, while attempting to move forward, they missed him.
Patriots players can admit it now.
Tom Brady sat out most of last season with torn knee ligaments, a surreal experience that left players with no choice but to blindly move forward. The blinders came off in last night's opener, allowing them to see what a nation did and realize what they temporarily lost.
Brady is back, a fact he punctuated in the Patriots' dramatic 25-24 win against the Bills in front of a delirious crowd of 68,756 at Gillette Stadium. All the quarterback did was lead an 11-point comeback with 5:32 left.
"It's a great feeling to have that rhythm, that aspect of the game back," left tackle Matt Light said. "He was out there making all the right plays, delivering the ball downfield, those guys were all making huge catches, and we were able to hang in there and get the job done."
With 50 seconds left, Brady found tight end Benjamin Watson in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown to seal the comeback - Brady's and the team's. The defense made it stand with two sacks of Bills quarterback Trent Edwards on Buffalo's final attempt.
Despite an uneven, often-sloppy performance, it was the Pats' 12th straight win against the Bills.
"I'm glad it's over," said Brady, who turned in his 29th career comeback. "I'm glad we're moving on, and I'm glad we got the win."
Perhaps the only negative was that star linebacker Jerod Mayo suffered a right knee injury in the first quarter, hobbling off the field and not returning.
Brady tied a career high in completions, going 39-of-53 for 378 yards with two touchdowns and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. None of it would have been possible without a huge special teams play.
After Brady led an 81-yard drive that also ended with the ball in Watson's hands for an 18-yard score, Pierre Woods stripped Bills returner Leodis McKelvin with the Pats down 24-19. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski dove in and recovered it.
"Can't say more about the kicker, man," Woods said. "He was all awkwardly bent like a pretzel. One of the guys from Buffalo tried to get it, but I pulled him off him. It was chaos."
Even with the large deficit, there was no panic. Certainly not from Brady.
"There's 5:32 left in the game," receiver Randy Moss said, "and you see Tom coming off the sideline. He comes in the huddle talking about, 'We're going to win this game.' "
Moss had 141 receiving yards, and Wes Welker had 93 - both on 12 catches. It all ended with heartbreak for Buffalo.
"I'm frustrated, disappointed," said Edwards, who was 15-of-25 for 212 yards with two scores. "We put, I feel, all our eggs in one basket and to come up one point short is frustrating.""
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