Coming off a horrible defeat to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, Tom Brady was looking to get back on track and help the New England Patriots get back on top. 

However, things turned horrible in the Patriots season's first game after Brady went down and hobbled off the field with a clear knee injury. 

From there, the Patriots were faced with another season of having to play without their starting quarterback. 

Here are the meaningful moments from "The Dynasty: New England Patriots" Episode 5: Torn

Super Bowl XLII

The Patriots had become the enemies across the National Football League after Spygate. But they proved everyone wrong and used the negativity as motivation, going on to be undefeated up until the Super Bowl. 

However, when the clock hit zero, it was the New York Giants who were named the champions. And the Patriots were forced to go home with nothing.

“Losing the 2007 Super Bowl was devastating. I was like, ‘What the F***.” That year we dominated, we destroyed teams," Brady recalled. "How did we lose? And if there’s one game in history that I’d change, it's that game. But we can’t change it.

“I think what you realize about football and about life is you never have it quite mastered. It was a tough lesson for me to learn.”

Tom Brady goes down

Looking to bounce back, Brady was ready to go once the 2008 season came around. In the first game, the Patriots hosted the Kansas City Chiefs, but Brady went down in the first quarter after being hit. 

The quarterback would normally have hopped right back up, ready to keep going. 

But instead he remained on the ground in clear pain. And eventually, he had to be helped off the field. 

“I got hit just as my foot was planting. My knee got completely crushed," Brady said. "I always said that whenever I got hit I was the first one up. That was my only way to really display toughness was when I did get hit, I was going to make sure that they didn’t know that it hurt. But it just, the pain just kept going. It was super intense. The doctor ran out and checked my knee and I could just tell by the look in his eyes. I knew what it meant.”

After the game Patriots owner Robert Kraft went to visit him and he remembered exactly what he saw. 

“Postgame, I went to visit Tommy and his leg was propped up on pillows and he was like a young man sobbing,” he said. 

But he decided to try one final time to get back on the field and play despite having torn his ACL. 

“It was tough. It was a really tough moment. It was a big injury. My ACL tore. You know, you watch a lot of other quarterback’s ACLs over the years and it's a season-ending injury," Brady said. "But I went into coach Belichick’s office and I said, ‘I want to play. I’ll find a way to fix my ACL at the end of the year. I’ll just put a brace on it, I’ll tape it, and then I’ll just play the whole season.'” 

However, things didn't workout like that and instead he was sidelined. 

Déjà Vu

For Brady, this was a tough moment as he started to fear for his job. 

At that point, he had led the Patriots to three Super Bowl championships, but if he had learned anything, it's that his job was not secure despite his accomplishments. 

Brady knew that better than anybody considering how he actually got his starting role. 

“I don’t think Tommy had missed a game in all the seasons since he started playing and now he’s done for the season," Kraft said. "I think his own vulnerability really kicked in big time because he had observed over the years the modus operandi of our head coach. All players were expendable.”

And nobody knew this better than Drew Bledsoe. 

“I think that there’s probably an element for Tom of how he got his job that has driven him," Bledsoe explained. "Like, ‘Wow, I was there with Drew, and Drew was the guy. He came off the field for a second and next thing you know, he didn’t have his job anymore. I can never come off the field because that next guy might be waiting in the wings.’”

From Backup to Starter

Similar to how Brady was thrown into the game after Bledsoe went down, Matt Cassel was now in a similar situation. 

And the media was not being kind to him, instead pointing out one thing that was bound to make all fans worry. 

“Every major media outlet wanted to make sure that everybody in the world knew that I hadn’t started a game since I was in high school," Cassel said. 

But Belichick had faith in the quarterback and made sure to show him just how confident he was that Cassel was the guy to now lead the team. 

“I remember the pressure I felt before I took the field," Cassel said. "Coach Belichick walks up to me and goes, ‘Matt, we’re not bringing anybody else in. So don’t worry about all the naysayers, all these people that are going to question what we’re doing at the quarterback position. You’re going to be fine. Just stay the course.'”

And in his first game taking the field as the official starter without Brady, he led the Patriots to the a win over the New York Jets. So when Belichick spoke to the team after the game, he knew exactly what to say. 

“Cassel, I know you haven’t started a game since the f***ing seventh grade, but you started one today,” Belichick told his players after that game, while also handing Cassel the game ball. 

And that earned a chuckle and a cheer from the whole team. 

Football Mortality 

While the Patriots season continued, Tom Brady was forced to watch from home. And that was really hard for someone who devoted his entire life to the game he loves. 

At first, he tried to prove that he could heal quickly and get back in no time. But he did too much and caused a very severe infection in his leg after the initial surgery, prompting another surgery. 

“I lost a lot of weight. I was very gray. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sit. I just couldn’t move my knee, it was so swollen and it was really tough, Brady explained. "But I had great people there for me.”

Along with his family, there was also Alex Guerrero, who was Brady's personal trainer. 

“I remember flying out to help him with his ACL recovery. Those were some tougher days. There were a lot of days that an athlete, an elite athlete, who’s done it at a high level will sit and think. They have a lot of time now," Guerrero said. "You think about the mortality of your sports career. ‘Alex, what if this is it? What if my knee is never the same?’ He was in his most low state thinking he’ll never play again.”

The Belichick Way

No matter what the players were able to accomplish, Belichick was the best at humbling them. And Donté Stallworth said it best. 

"One of the big things that I’ve come to understand is that, no matter what the score was, we received humble pie from Belichick,” he said. "He cared more about what we didn’t do right because everything is geared towards winning. Most of the coaches in the NFL are coaching football and he’s coaching warfare.”

But that was because of how he grew up, having spent time with his father, who was the football coach at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. 

“It was totally a kind of military type of environment on a football team. So I just kind of thought that was the way it was supposed to be," Belichick explained. "I never really saw much different than that. I think it had a big influence on my upbringing, on my life, but also on my coaching career.”

"Every battle is won before it is fought" -Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

“If you’re not mentally tough. You can’t play in that program. It’ll destroy you.”

Matt Cassel wasn't kidding. Belichick was tough on his players. But it was because he wanted to get the best out of them. However, some of his comments were harsh. 

“One time, I don’t see a corner blitz and I get absolutely annihilated on my back. Belichick comes in and is like, ‘Cassel, can we figure out the corner blitz because I don't want to have to write your mother a letter that says, Dear Mrs. Cassel, we’re writing to inform you that your son is dead because he’s a dumba** and didn’t see the corner blitz,'" Cassel remembered. 

But at least he laughs about it now. 

And during the first half of the dynasty, those players understood that and wanted Belichick's coaching because they knew there was nobody better. 

“It’s a hard life to live. It’s hard, man. And sometimes, the young guys just don’t get it. I always tell players, you got to be able to look outside the box and realize why he’s doing it," Tedy Bruschi said. "I’m gonna get upset, I’m gonna get pissed off. But I still know it’s the best for me. And that’s how we’re going to win, and consistently win.” 

Tom Brady returns

Matt Cassel and the Patriots had managed to finish the season with an 11-5 record, but the Patriots traded Cassel to Kansas City Chiefs and went back to Brady the following year. 

But coming off a serious injury is tough. And he got off to a shaky start against the Buffalo Bills to start the 2009 season. However, he went over to the sidelines and Belichick told him to "settle down." From there, he looked like himself again. 

“In that game, Brady looks really good. That was a sign that he was back," Former Boston Globe columnist Michael Holley said. "So if you’re a Patriots fan, you’re saying, ‘Brady and Belichick together again. This team will get back to the Super Bowl.’” 

The season continued, and the Patriots earned a spot in the playoffs. But when New England took on the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card game, they were "beat from the first snap" as Ernie Adams said. 

So now the focus was on the 2010 NFL Draft.