Bill Belichick sorely needed a victory once upon a time.
The legendary New England Patriots head coach celebrates his 68th birthday Thursday, and the NFL marked the occasion by digging into its archive and unearthing a worthy gem for your viewing pleasure: Belichick’s first win as Patriots head coach.
New England was off to a rough 0-4 start in the 2000 NFL season when it visited the 2-2 Denver Broncos on Oct. 1 for their Week 5 matchup.
The Patriots stormed ahead of the Broncos, largely thanks to the two touchdown passes Drew Bledsoe threw to Troy Brown in the first quarter and the one he threw to J.R. Redmond just before halftime. The Broncos made the scoreline more competitive in the third quarter, but Bledsoe effectively put the game to rest near the end of that period when he found Terry Glenn in the end zone for his fourth touchdown pass of the afternoon.
On Bill Belichick’s birthday, we take you back to his first win as the @Patriots head coach. (Oct. 1, 2000) pic.twitter.com/8pHmm0GcMY
— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) April 16, 2020
The winning started in Denver, and the rest of Belichick’s career as Patriots coach is, as they say, history.
The NFL’s birthday tribute to Belichick follows the Patriots’ photo-driven shoutout and a heartfelt Instagram post from his girlfriend, Linda Holliday.
