By Josh Anderson, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent

Tom Brady is back!(Courtesy KeithAllison/Flickr)

Most Patriots fans couldn’t believe their eyes when they looked at the score going into the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills. For just the fourth time in their last 54 games, the Patriots were losing going into the final fifteen minutes of play. Their high-octane offense had been put on choke mode by a seemingly inspired Buffalo defense and now they were losing to the Bills. Let me repeat that so it sinks in: The Bills.

The same team that fired it’s offensive coordinator just over a week ago, signed the high-flying and high-maintenance receiver Terrell Owens and has had only two winning seasons in its last six. For the first three quarters, the Buffalo Bills showed little signs of their dysfunctional past as they made all the necessary plays to take a one touchdown lead over the heavily favored Patriots going into the fourth quarter.

But when the stars align over Gillette stadium and a player like Tom Brady goes from frustrated to motivated to determined, incredible things can happen. The last three minutes of Monday’s game reminded the entire Patriot nation what we love about our team. After an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brady to tight end Benjamin Watson, the Patriots forced a turnover on the ensuing kickoff. With just over a minute left on the clock, Brady engineered a three-play, 31-yard drive that ended with another touchdown strike to Watson.

Brady’s game-winning performance reminded us of the quarterback we’ve grown to miss after The Injury sidelined him all last season. He appeared calm, cool and collected and did exactly what he needed to do to win. He threw the ball with crisp precision and showed no ill-effects from his surgically repaired knee. Whatever rust was left on his throwing arm must have wore off as his 39 completed passes tied a career high.

Few teams have a playmaker with the poise and talent of Tom Brady, which is exactly why the Patriots are one of the most loved – and hated – teams in the league. Very few teams have defenses that can put them in a position to win coming from behind, and even fewer have a quarterback who can rally the offense and take advantage of the opportunity. In week one, five teams attempted scoring drives in the last two minutes of the game and ended up losing. The Patriots erased an 11-point deficit with just over two minutes left, the largest come from behind victory in the fourth quarter since 2006.

Everyone loves a winner, and everyone hates a winner. Game-winning drives make it easy to cheer on our team and elevate our favorite players to the status of heroes. However, the same good fortune makes it even easier for other fans to hate the Patriots for their winning ways. Call it jealousy, call it unfair, but if you think that the fans of the other 31 teams in the league were praying for a Tom Brady miracle fourth quarter, than you’re sadly mistaken. By stopping the underdog Bills from pulling off the biggest upset of Week One, the Patriots reassumed the role of the league’s most loved and hated team in dramatic fashion.

The Patriots were supposed to win, as they were definitely the stronger team on paper and had the incalculable benefit of home-field advantage on a Monday night. A Bills victory would have been an upset unmatched by anything seen since the Patriots met the Giants in the big game two seasons ago and, well, we all know what happened.  The Patriots thrilling victory Monday night was an unlikely time for the Patriots to show their true character. Such game winning performances are usually reserved for playoffs and games of huge importance against arch-rivals, not against a team that was a 12-point underdog.

Monday’s game was an instant classic and a great way to jump-start another season of football. Sure, the Patriots have some kinks they need to work out, and there were still be questions about Brady’s knee throughout the season. However, there’s little doubt that when it comes down to the wire and the game is at the point of do or die,  he is still able to prove to even his most vocal opponents why he is the league’s premier playmaker.

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