New England sports celebrate The Patriots and Red Sox complete the impossible in one day

By Collin Trotter
CONTRIBUTOR

Boston sports have always been rich in tradition and excellence, with some of the most historic coaches and players in professional sports history playing in Boston throughout their careers.
The four major sports teams: Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, and Bruins have combined to win 33 championships, seven of which coming since 2001. However, this past Sunday was perhaps the best day for Boston sports in history.

On Sunday, the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox found themselves in severe deficits late in the game, but were able to give their fans reasons to believe in miracles.

In a span of less than five hours, the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox completed memorable comebacks that will energize the city for weeks to come. The Patriots played first, hosting the New Orleans Saints in a crucial game of two juggernaut programs in the NFL.

The Patriots have been battling injuries all season, and some sports analysts have agreed this may be the year someone else comes and wins the AFC East. Tom Brady, the Patriots cornerstone quarterback since 2001, was coming off his worst game of his career.

Kick off was at 4:35 ET, and by halftime, the Patriots found themselves leading the Saints 17-7. Brady was playing well enough, and Patriots defense was holding the Saints prolific offense to only seven points.
In the second half, the Saints battled back. Saints quarterback Drew Brees found wide receiver Kenny Stills in the endzone for a 34 yard touchdown pass, and with 3:29 left in the game, the Saints took the lead 24-23.

Kicker Garrett Hartley added a 39 yard field goal to extend the score to 27-23, and Brady was left with the task of driving the Patriots down the field to win the game.

However, on the first play from scrimmage, Brady was intercepted by Saint’s safety Keenan Lewis with 2:24 remaining. Thousands of Patriots fans flooded out of the stadium, trying to beat the rest of the crowd out by a minute. Little did they know that a minute was all Brady needed to send the Saints home unhappy.

After a Saints punt, Brady got the ball with 1:13 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. He went on to drive the Patriots down the length of the field, winning the game on a 17 yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds left.

30 miles away, a cheer went up at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, as fans learned of the comeback that their hometown Patriots pulled off.

Just a few hours later the Boston faithful would have another game to celebrate, this time from their beloved Red Sox. It was game two of the American League Championship Series, with the Red Sox down 0-1 in a best of 7 series to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers had all the momentum, after almost holding the Red Sox hitless in the first game of the series.

The game started shortly after the conclusion of the Patriots game, and the Red Sox came out struggling. Tigers number one pitcher, Max Scherzer, held the Red Sox to only one run through seven innings of baseball. Pitcher Clay Buchholz, who started for the Red Sox, was unable to match Scherzer, and the Red Sox found themselves down 5-1 heading into the bottom half of the eighth inning.

With the bases loaded and two outs, designated hitter David Ortiz stepped to the plate. Ortiz was given the nickname “Big Papi” for not just his physical appearance but his clutch hits for the Red Sox organization over the last decade.

He sent a home run over the right field wall off of Tiger’s pitcher Joaquin Benoit. Right fielder Torii Hunter flew over the wall in an attempt to rob the home run, but was unsuccessful and an eruption from the Boston crowd echoed throughout the city.

The magic from Sunday night surely gave Red Sox and Patriots fans flashbacks from 2004, when Tom Brady led the Patriots to a Super Bowl title and David Ortiz and the Red Sox won their sixth World Series.
With any luck, Boston fans are hoping for a repeat of 2004, and the Red Sox and Patriots will both bring home Championships.