I’m continuing my series of the 25 best Patriots players over the past 25 years (in other words, what happened before 2001 doesn’t matter). I feel good about where these guys relate to those from spots 21-25, and as I look ahead to the final 15. I had to phone a friend for one of these, and learned a thing or two researching a couple of the others.
Again, enjoy, debate and share your recollections in the comments.
20. Darrelle Revis: One Patriot legend told me Revis is the single best defensive player he has played with. That was enough for me, even though the cornerback was here for just a single season. It wasn’t all rainbows and ice cream either. Revis was on his own plan and challenged Bill Belichick on a few occasions. But eventually, it all came together and was magic. The Patriots ended their decade-long Super Bowl drought, and the Hall of Fame corner (2023) had a big hand in that.
Revis was a first-team All-Pro that season, the fourth and final time he earned that honor during his career. He had 3 interceptions and, per PFF (you know how I feel about them for some things), allowed 44 receptions. There’s no way it was that high. Revis Island was in full effect for the majority of that season, and he had teammates marveling at his ability to shadow a receiver from start to finish and show no let-up.
“He changed the way our defense played,” recalled Julian Edelman.
It was evident after the second week of the season that Revis still had it. Playing the Vikings at the University of Minnesota’s stadium, he drew savvy vet Greg Jennings for a lion’s share of the reps and erased the wideout. If you ever get a chance to go back and watch that game, it was almost comical the level of domination, and Jennings wasn't some slouch. Afterward, he told Minnesota reporters that Revis was running his routes before he ran them, which showed the cornerback didn’t just win physically but also mentally.
Following his Foxborough experience and the title that came with it, Revis was asked whether he liked his time there.
"No, I did not," Revis said. "You know, I'm happy for the grind and the hustle of winning Super Bowl 49, but you know waking up every day and walking into the facility and having to deal with the tension, you see why they've been to ten Super Bowls. You see the hustle and the grind of it, but at the end of the day, there's other philosophies to win and it doesn't have to be that way."
19. Deion Branch: Much like round one of the list with Troy Brown, we have another all-time clutch player in Branch. Won the Super Bowl MVP in 2004, torturing the Philadelphia Eagles for 11 catches, 133 yards and a touchdown (yes, he outdid Terrell Owens, who was remarkable on a broken leg). The year before, Branch went for 143 yards on 10 grabs and a score against Carolina, and could have easily won the MVP in that one as well.
What was amazing about Branch was that, nearly from the moment he set foot on the field, he and Tom Brady had this connection, and in the early years of the dynasty, the QB leaned heavily on the undersized but silky smooth receiver.
“Deion is a very instinctive receiver,” Belichick said. “He has a great sense of timing, of when the quarterback is ready to throw the ball, when he needs to be open, how to get open. Tom has that same sense of what the receiver would expect him to do and what he should do in certain situations, and that’s almost always what Deion would do. Those guys almost always do what, if you had gone over it, what you would have wanted them to do.”
Of course, Belichick felt it necessary to trade Branch when he wanted an extension. In many ways, it was the right thing to do. Branch wasn’t a quote-unquote number one receiver, but wanted to be paid like one. Seattle did that, and regretted it fairly quickly. However, Branch’s absence on the 2006 team that lost the AFC title game in Indianapolis has been pointed to by many on that squad as the reason they didn’t get another ring.
The Pats got Branch back in 2010 (via trade), and he helped the 2011 team reach another Super Bowl (stupid Giants). He had 213 receptions during his first go-round with the Pats (4 seasons) and another 115 over parts of 3 seasons upon his return. Branch also added 56 postseason receptions (15.2 yards per) wearing a Patriots uniform.
After the Pats won their third Super Bowl in four years, I asked Branch if he thought they were a dynasty (hard-hitting, I know). His response: ‘What do you think?’ Me: ‘Yes.’ Him: “Let’s go with that. I like the sound of it.” His mega-watt smile is seared into my brain.
18. Corey Dillon: What an absolute tank he was in that 2004 season. Acquired from the Bengals, who were very much in their ‘Bungles’ phase, Dillon joined the Pats at the age of 30 and had the best season of his career, rushing for 1634 yards and 12 touchdowns. Yes, he averaged 109 yards per game, stomping mudholes in defenders, both the unsuspecting ones and the guys who knew it was coming but were powerless to stop it. He added another 292 and 2 scores in the playoffs.
Dillon had a reputation as a bad guy/teammate. He didn’t agree with that assessment - shocker - saying he grew tired of the losing in Cincinnati. It seemed he was going to be traded to the Raiders, but then the Pats stepped in.
“The Patriots weren’t even on my radar at the time,” Dillon recalled a couple of years ago. “I was stoked about going to Oakland. That situation just came up out of the blue. I went there and had a sit-down with Bill and (former vice president of player personnel) Scott Pioli, and it was pretty simple. He heard about some stuff that was going on in Cincinnati, and I told him all that stemmed from not winning games. My whole desire and passion was winning football games. So all that negativity and stuff down there was from not winning. He said he understood, and he asked me, “Do you think you could play for us?” I said, “Absolutely,” and that was the end of that. A few days later, I was signing a contract, and I was a Patriot.”
To his credit, Dillon waived $4 million of his salary to make the trade happen (I had forgotten that).
Dillon had two more solid seasons after the joy of ‘04 (combined 1,545 yards and 25 TDs), but soured on his usage and became a bit of a handful (he actually confronted Belichick on the plane after a 31-7 win in Minnesota). He retired after the 2006 season at the age of 32.
17. Randy Moss: I was all over the place when deciding where to place Moss on this list. Based on 2007, he could be in the top 5 (Ditto Drake Maye). But there was always something uneasy about the union, and that bubbled over a number of times, including when he quit on the team during a rainy, early-season game in 2010 vs. Carolina. I don’t have much use for quitters. In fact, I can’t really tolerate it. I’m not sure Belichick was a big fan of that either, but he tolerated it right up until the point he decided Moss the player wasn’t worth Moss the problem. For the record, he was right.
But man, was ‘07 magical, right up until it wasn’t. It was, at that time, the greatest single season by a wideout, ever. 98 catches. Nearly 1500 yards. An NFL-record 23 touchdown catches. He had four TDs in a single game at Buffalo. Moss caught one over two defensive backs in Miami that was laughable. It was almost like a grown man playing with toddlers.
His playoff performance, however, mirrored the rest of the offense. Did you know Moss had just 7 catches on 18 targets in the postseason? I’m sure I knew it at one point, but that was jarring. Of course, he was a fingertip away from capping a perfect season, but Brady’s desperation throw in the final minute just escaped his grasp.
"There's only one Randy Moss that will ever play this game," Brady said back in the fall of 2010. "He's the greatest, probably, downfield receiver in the history of the NFL. Those catches that he makes, where you guys see he runs 65 yards down the field, you throw it and he just runs and catches it. That's impossible to do.
"And I ask him, 'How did you do that?' And he says, 'I don't know, man. I've been doing it for a long time.' He has some special skills that nobody's really gifted with."
After reading that, did I think about moving Moss up the charts? Yep. But I can’t debate this with myself all dang week.
16. Rodney Harrison: An absolute force. Pass catchers put on a pair of Depends before playing the Patriots in Harrison’s heyday, which, oh by the way, wasn’t really his prime as a player. He didn’t join the team until he was 31, and really only had the two elite years before injuries, a suspension and age clouded his final three in NE. But man, were those two seasons something to remember.
Harrison was an All-Pro each of those campaigns (2003 and 2004) and was 4th in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting in ‘03. He had 125 tackles in year one and 142 in year two. He forced turnovers (7 interceptions in 9 playoff games with NE). He recovered fumbles. He intimidated everyone, me included. Hell, maybe me first.
"People have called me a dirty player. I'm a very passionate player," Harrison said at the time of his retirement. "I also understand that this is not volleyball. This is a very violent, physical game, and if you hit someone in the mouth, you're not going to be their friend. That's what the game of football is."
How can you not fall in love with that man?
Loved talking with Harrison because while he could be combative, I always found him to be a truth-teller. Well, except for when he told us no one picked the Pats in a year they were the overwhelming favorite to win a title (and did).