Saturday’s Den: 13 quarterbacks who started a game for Bill Belichick

13 quarterbacks have started an NFL game for Bill Belichick:
13) Brian Hoyer (0-1)— Started 39 games in his 11-year career (16-23), playing for seven different teams. His only start for New England was a 26-10 loss at Kansas City in Week 4 this year. 

12) Eric Zeier (1-3)— Georgia alum started 12 games (4-8) in a 6-year NFL career, playing four games for the ’95 Browns, Belichick’s last year there. He later played for Baltimore. Tampa Bay. 

11) Drew Bledsoe (5-13)- Was the New England starter ahead of Brady when he got hurt in 2001; Bledsoe was was 101-98 as an NFL starter in his 14-year career, throwing for 45,946 yards, 257 TD’s. He finished his career with Buffalo, then Dallas. 

10) Bernie Kosar (11-18)— Went 56-58-1 as an NFL starter in his 12-year career, going 3-4 in playoff games. Cleveland released him after six starts in 1993; Dallas picked him up and he backed up Troy Aikman as the Cowboys won a Super Bowl. Cowboys’ other backup that year was future NFL coach Jason Garrett. 

9) Todd Philcox (2-3)— Syracuse alum played five years in the NFL, for three teams; he went 2-3 in five starts for Cleveland in 1992-93, throwing for 7 TD’s, running for one. 

8) Jacoby Brissett (1-1)— Is 12-20 as an NFL starter; went 1-1 for the 2016 Patriots, including a 16-0 loss in Buffalo, which is the last time New England didn’t score in the first half of a game. Brissett is still the backup QB for the Colts; this is his 5th year in the NFL. 

7) Mike Tomczak (4-4)— Played 15 years in NFL for four teams, going 4-4 as the starter for the ’92 Browns, his only year in Cleveland. The Ohio State alum was 42-31 as a starter in the NFL, and was 3-2 in playoff games (2-1 with Chicago, 1-1 with Pittsburgh).

6) Cam Newton (6-6)— Is 74-61-1 as an NFL starter; this is already his 10th year in the NFL. Is 3-4 in career playoff games, winning 2015 NFC title; he’s won more playoff games than Joe Namath, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins. Is 6-6 as New England’s starter this year.

5) Mark Rypien (2-1)— Went 47-31 as a starter in a 10-year career, winning the Super Bowl with the ’91 Redskins. Rypien went 2-1 in three starts for the ’94 Browns. His nephew Brett Rypien started a game at QB this year for the Broncos.

4) Jimmy Garoppolo (2-0)— Is 26-9 as an NFL starter, going 15-4 for the 49ers last year; he is in 7th NFL season. 2016 Patriots won both games he started for them. New England got a 2nd round draft pick for him when they traded him to San Francisco in October, 2017.

3) Vinny Testaverde (16-15)— Played 21 years in the NFL for seven teams; he could write a hell of a book. Went 9-4 as starter for the ’94 Browns, winning a playoff game against, ironically, New England. Cleveland’s defensive coordinator that year? Nick Saban. Testaverde was later a backup for the 2006 Patriots, but threw only three passes in three relief stints. 

2) Matt Cassel (10-5)— Wound up 36-45 as an NFL starter in his 14-year career, but didn’t make the playoffs in his one year (2008) as New England’s starter. He started one playoff game for the Chiefs, a 30-7 loss to Baltimore in the 2010 postseason. 

1) Tom Brady (249-75)— You may have heard of him; he’s won six Super Bowls and currently lives in Tampa. He was also a 6th round draft choice, meaning New England passed on drafting him five times before they finally took him.

If you’re scoring at home, that is 249-75 with Brady, 60-70 with everyone else.