FOXBOROUGH -- The quarterback -- on second thought, upgrade that to the, ahem, franchise quarterback -- surveyed the landscape of third and 9 from the Chicago 25-yard line in a 10-10 game in the fourth quarter, determined his receivers were covered, and did the only thing that seemed logical at the time.
Tom Brady took off. He took off with the league's most ferocious defender, Brian Urlacher, hurtling toward him with the explicit purpose of reducing him to holiday mincemeat.
Brady, you might recall, isn't really all that fast. Urlacher, to refresh your memory, is big, quick, and devastating.
The potential for a truly gruesome collision was unfolding, and the quarterback had a split-second decision to make. He could slide to the safe haven of his newly minted turf, acutely aware that if he did, he would be short of the first down.
"If I slid, my teammates would have killed me," Brady said.
Urlacher surmised Brady was smart enough to realize that not all first downs are worth it. Sometimes, it's wiser to live to see another day. As Brady kept coming, Urlacher hesitated, anticipating the slide, and adjusted his speed to make sure he was in enough control of his body not to draw a flag for unnecessary roughness once he made contact.
What happened next will be remembered for the balance of this season. The quarterback suddenly stopped, juked, and sidestepped the most imposing defender in the NFL altogether.
"He duped me," a chagrined Urlacher said.
By the time Brady gladly sank to the turf relatively untouched, he had gained 11 yards, kept his team's drive alive, and had defied, for the moment at least, the notion that he is not mobile enough to create havoc outside the pocket.
"He's no Michael Vick," offered defensive lineman Richard Seymour, "but he's a very savvy guy who understands the things he can do."
"As a slow guy myself," chimed in Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, "I can tell you sometimes if you aren't running real fast, and you are running right at someone, it can actually help you."
Indeed. Brady stunned everyone by not only eluding Urlacher, but then leaping to his feet and roaring his approval as he signaled another . . . Patriots . . . first down.
"Must be the turf," cracked Brady, in the afterglow of escaping with his life, a win, and a new brand of credibility in his locker room. "That was pretty cool. At least I can tell my kids one day that I shook Brian Urlacher. They probably won't believe me, though."
Sure they will. While yesterday's 17-13 win over the Bears was riddled with mistakes, miscues, and muddled offensive series, when the game was on the line, the quarterback did what he always did when he was amassing those Super Bowl rings a couple of years back: He systematically constructed an offensive assault to win the ballgame.
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