http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/sports/football/tom-brady-new-england-patriots-cleveland-browns.html 2016-10-09 23:18:29 Tom Brady Returns to Lead New England Patriots in a Rout of the Browns Brady, back from a four-game suspension, threw for 406 yards and three scores, illuminating just how much New England had missed him even as it started the season 3-1. === CLEVELAND — One fan said, “Go, Blue,” referring to Brady’s alma mater, Michigan. Nothing. Another said, “Go, Brady’s suspension for his role in a scheme to deflate footballs ended last week, but his fury lingers. He loves playing, and he had four games taken from him. He loves being with his teammates, and he had four weeks of camaraderie, of teaching and learning, taken from him. He simmered. He seethed. He fought to overturn his punishment and lost, and now the rest of the N.F.L. will incur his wrath. The Cleveland Browns were Brady’s prey on Sunday, and he shredded their defense on New England’s first series — and second, third and fourth, too. On this sunny afternoon, when Brady threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns in his return from exile, the final score was immaterial — except in one sense. The margin of New England’s 33-13 victory illuminated just how much the Brady inherited a team that went 3-1 during his suspension, and that success fueled a perception that he, to some degree, was a product of Coach Bill Belichick’s genius, and that he was interchangeable within an organizational machinery that squeezed multiple victories from a backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, and a third-string rookie, Jacoby Brissett. But the Patriots’ offense functions at maximum capacity only with Brady at quarterback. On Sunday, he maximized Rob Gronkowski’s coverage mismatches to facilitate yards after receptions. He capitalized on New England’s two tight-end sets by connecting again and again with Martellus Bennett, who caught all three of Brady’s touchdown passes. He tormented the Browns with short, precise passes before tormenting them with long, precise passes, like the 43-yarder to Chris Hogan that led to New England’s third touchdown. The difficulty of the Patriots’ schedule increases over the next few weeks, with home games against Cincinnati and Seattle and trips to Pittsburgh and Buffalo, but Brady’s presence has New England in position for yet another postseason march. Whether Brady is branded as a cheat for conspiring to gain a competitive advantage or as a victim of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s broad authority on discipline matters, he has adamantly maintained his innocence in the so-called Deflategate scandal. The nasty dispute with the N.F.L. may have tarnished Brady’s reputation and legacy, so the notion that he viewed this season as anything less than an opportunity for a 12-game spree of individual excellence and New England dominance is absurd. With Brady, 39, the Patriots have reached five consecutive A.F.C. championship games. He has declared a desire to continue playing into his 40s, beyond this 17th season that has been like no other of his career. During training camp, Brady received fewer repetitions than normal because New England needed to prepare Garoppolo for the season. Brady missed the first two preseason games and took his final snaps for a month on Sept. 1, in the Patriots’ exhibition finale. While suspended, he was prohibited from having any contact with the Patriots. In his weekly Westwood One interview, he acknowledged that he had worked on mechanics and pocket mobility and brought in people to hit him with bags and chase after him. He also served as an honorary captain at Michigan, shot television commercials and vacationed in Italy, where he was photographed sunbathing nude. Leaving the paparazzi for the Belichick bunker, Brady did not speak to the news media at all last week as New England exploited a roster loophole. Belichick expressed reservations cloaked in gamesmanship. “How do you get ready for the speed of the game when you haven’t been at the speed of the game?” Belichick said last week. Speaking generally of players who miss time, he added, “Maybe their first game will be the best game, but most likely the third, fourth, fifth, sixth games will probably be better than the first.” That very well could have been an attempt to temper expectations for Sunday. But knowing Brady’s work ethic, competitiveness and ruthlessness, Belichick himself most likely anticipated nothing less than full-scale demolition. About an hour before kickoff, Brady emerged from a tunnel for warm-ups. He jogged nearly the length of the field with Garoppolo before stopping at the 10-yard line to unleash a windmill fist-pump toward a brigade of Patriots fans standing behind the end zone. The Patriots had professed for a week that this was a normal game. This was not a normal game. Across his first three drives, Brady threw two incompletions — and they both came on drops. The 13 passes he did complete went for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Belichick pulled Brady with 6 minutes 2 seconds left, after he had completed 28 of 40 passes, and off Brady went to bask in imminent victory — the first, he undoubtedly believes, of many. The last time New England felt this slighted, after the so-called Spygate scandal in 2007, it went 16-0 before losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl. In the Patriots’ world, the present is all that matters. Unless the past does, too.