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There has been a lot made this week about how a quarterback making his first NFL start hasn't beaten Bill Belichick since Teddy Roosevelt was in office.* There is no doubt that Belichick is one of the best defensive minds of this generation, but we need to look at the quarterbacks who have fallen victim to Belicheat's evil schemes before we chalk this one up as a loss.
Jeff Howe wrote about just that in yesterday's Boston Hearald. Here are the three quarterbacks who have made their first starts against Belichick:
Three quarterbacks have made their first career starts against Belichick’s Patriots, and they all lost. Luke McCown (Browns, 2004), Matt Flynn (Packers, 2010) and Tyler Palko (Chiefs, 2011) combined to complete 68-of-108 passes (63.0 percent) for 758 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.
The roster of McCown, Flynn and Palko doesn't exactly read like Montana, Marino and Elway.
Jake Locker will get confused and make a mistake at some point in this game. Belichick is too good of a coach for that not to happen, but it isn't like it is impossible for Locker to get his first career win against Belichick.
The key for Locker in this game will be not making the same mistake twice.If he does get baited into throwing an interception, he needs to come back out on the field with full confidence the next time the offense takes the field. If he can learn from his mistakes on the fly in the game, he will be able to put up some numbers against this Patriots defense.
*Dramatization