Brady’s creativity bodes well for Pats’ future

You’re Tom Brady. One of your top wide receivers, Wes Welker, was listed as questionable due to a knee injury before the big game with the Baltimore Ravens. You’re coming off an injury that made you miss practically all of last season. Your team sidelined Joey Galloway before the Ravens game. What do you do?In Brady’s case, you find other options.Brady showed some welcome creativity in the New England Patriots’ 27-21 victory over Baltimore at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, a win that toppled the Ravens from the unbeaten ranks. Faced with a defense that folks from Baltimore brag about more than the Inner Harbor, Brady found ways to solve it.First of all, he wasn’t shy about throwing to his Fab Four running backs, Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk. And the results paid off. Morris caught five passes for 35 yards and Taylor, Maroney and Faulk added one catch each, with Maroney’s going for 17 yards and Taylor hauling in a 13-yarder. Morris in particular stepped up as an unsung hero. When the Pats led by only 24-21 in the fourth quarter and faced second-and-11 at midfield, it was Morris who caught Brady’s 14-yard pass to earn a first down. The drive culminated in Stephen Gostkowski’s 33-yard field goal for the final margin.Second, Brady wasn’t afraid to throw to receivers whose names weren’t Welker or Randy Moss. Throughout the first half, he exasperated fans by ignoring deep threat Moss and tossing incompletions toward ex-Buffalo Bill Sam Aiken. But Brady persevered and Aiken rewarded him in the second half with a 26-yard gain that moved the ball into Baltimore territory.Lastly, the Patriots quarterback showed more self-reliance than Ralph Waldo Emerson, taking it in himself for a 1-yard touchdown 44 seconds into the second quarter that put the Pats back up 10-7 after the Ravens had taken a 7-3 lead. It was Brady’s sixth career rushing score and his first since nearly two years ago (Oct. 28, 2007) when he ran it in twice against Washington.Of course, Brady also did a lot of the things that helped him win three Super Bowls, like throwing long passes to big-name receivers. After he connected with Aiken on that 26-yarder, he found Moss for 20 more. Three plays later, he and Moss teamed up again for their first TD pass of 2009, which gave the Pats a 10-point lead (24-14) and moved Moss past Marshall Faulk for sole possession of sixth place on the NFL career touchdowns list (137). And all Welker did was lead the team in catches with six, for 48 yards.Critics might carp that Brady didn’t hang onto the rock in the third quarter when The Defense Formerly Known as Rex Ryan’s forced him to fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. Critics might also complain that two roughing-the-passer calls – one in the first quarter, and one in the second – helped prolong Patriot scoring drives.Still, considering the reputation of the Baltimore ‘D,’ one lapse all game isn’t too bad. And the refs called penalties on the Patriots, too, including a 15-yard unnecessary roughness call on Mike Wright ? but unlike Brady, Ravens QB Joe Flacco couldn’t take advantage, as he ultimately threw an interception to Leigh Bodden on the drive.So, four games into the regular season, and heading into next Sunday’s matchup against the Denver Broncos at Invesco Field at Mile High, we can say that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the Patriots’ demise seem greatly exaggerated.