He came in off the rumor mill, where he must have been traded and released a dozen times the last few weeks. And it turns out Drew Bledsoe still had at least one more Super Bowl left inside him.
He took a hit and then lobbed a perfect touchdown pass over the Pittsburgh Steelers, floating the ball right to the back of the end zone.
Right back to New Orleans.
And he better enjoy these next few days and make the Mardi Gras parades dance deep into every night. Because as ecstatic as Bledsoe and the New England Patriots were over winning the AFC Championship Game Sunday, they have to know they've used up their luck for the rest of the year.
Fate has delivered them the St. Louis Rams.
Of course it has to be this way. The Patriots always pick the wrong seasons to reach for the stars.
Their improbable run in 1985 slapped them straight into the Chicago Bears, only the most dominant defense of the Super Bowl era.
Their 1996 drive from oblivion sent them careening into Mike Holmgren's Green Bay Packers, who trampled just about everybody they played that season.
And now they get the Rams, who seem quite comfortable describing themselves as the "Greatest Show on Earth." That is appropriate given the way they can score in an instant, breaking teams apart with four wide receivers and an MVP running back running all kinds of directions.
The Patriots? They're just a plucky bunch who don't really do anything wrong, even if they don't do a whole lot that seems very spectacular.
They can run a little bit, throw some safe passes, make tackles and keep teams from scoring all that much. And they have a pretty good kick returner and wide receiver. Five years ago, their secret weapon was Dave Meggett. Today it is Troy Brown.
They're the poster child for much of the league right now.
A team that doesn't take too many chances but manages to minimize the damage of what the others can do. And while that might work against the Chargers, Colts or Falcons, you try to play it safe against the Rams and the scoreboard is going to spark and sizzle trying to keep up with all the touchdowns.
The Patriots keep talking about themselves as if they are some kind of dynasty that somehow stumbled to 5-11 last year.
But as good as they were at turning themselves around, they still are the team that was a missed Jon Hall field goal away from having to play on wild-card weekend.
They are the team that needed a blizzard and a replay, which still doesn't look right, to beat the Oakland Raiders.
And they managed to survive the AFC Championship Game when the reworked circuitry of Kordell Stewart suddenly shorted out in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Oh, sure, there's a chance New England can win this Super Bowl, but it's probably going to take Kurt Warner breaking his ribs and Isaac Bruce pulling his hamstring for the miracle to happen.
And this is unfortunate, for as average and ordinary as the Patriots might be, they are the team you should want to win this game.
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