They celebrated in rain and they celebrated in smoke. Fireworks flashed and the dancing tight end spiked the ball three times as hard as he could. The New England Patriots want you to know they have won four Super Bowls now. On Thursday night they pulled out the trophies to prove it, each gleaming silver in the misty glow. The most recent of them – won earlier this year – was carried by the owner, himself, Robert Kraft, who waved it aloft as if it was Roger Goodell’s severed skull.

When Tom Brady stepped on the field an hour before New England’s season-opening 28-21 victory over Pittsburgh the roar was deafening. He pumped his fist. He waved to the crowd. In his court-suspension of a league suspension he whipped passes past the Steelers as he has done for most of 13 seasons now. And the fans chanted his name.

“Brady! Brady! Brady!”

There’s a perception that the four championships are the result of a master scientist tucked beneath a hoodie mumbling to nerd geniuses through the mouthpiece of his headset. Most of the doubts about the validity of the so-called “Patriot Way” linger because most of the NFL believes Patriots coach Bill Belichick runs a rouge surveillance program, sending minions to rummage through trash cans and spy on practices to gain secret insight into an opponent’s game plan. In many ways, this what the investigations and court battles of the last six months have been about.

While Belichick is undoubtedly brilliant and the Patriot Way might well be equal parts ingenuity and intrigue, Brady’s sprint onto the Gillette Stadium field was a reminder that he remains the most essential element of all the winning here. No matter how devious or obliquitous Belichick might be, no matter how cunning his staff of mad scientists might sound, the biggest reason the Patriots have been winning for the last decade and a half is Brady.

He is to Belichick what John Elway was to Mike Shanahan – the piece that defines the coach’s greatness. Shanahan was a Belichick before Belichick, so renowned for his cleverness that he was known as “Mastermind” in Denver after his second Super Bowl title with Elway. He didn’t become dumber when Elway retired but his brilliance won him only one playoff game in the years after.

What New England must have understood in the time it had to contemplate four weeks without Brady is how ordinary this franchise might have been had an assistant coach named Dick Rehbein not insisted his new boss, Belichick, pick Brady late in the 2000 draft. Great success is often the result of timing and few remember anymore the three horrible events the late summer and early fall of 2001 that ultimately made this franchise possible.

Rehbein died of a heart attack that August forcing Belichick – fresh off a 5-11 season – to help run the quarterback meetings, thus developing a bond with Brady, who was then the backup to Drew Bledsoe. A few weeks later came the 11 September attacks that cancelled NFL games for a week and gave Belichick more intense preparation time with his quarterbacks. In the Patriots’ first game back, Bledsoe was hit in the side, rupturing his spleen, an injury from which he almost died. By the time Bledsoe returned, Belichick was more comfortable with Brady and Brady had shown how great he was going to be.

On Thursday night, Brady was everything he has been for all these years. He pushed New England down the field. He lobbed perfect spirals to his tallest receivers and tight ends. He even dived for a first down. And in the stands the fans screamed his name.

“Brady! Brady! Brady!”

At one point in the third quarter Brady was sacked on a third down blitz. This angered him. He shouted, repeatedly jerking his head forward as he ran to the sideline then simmered as the quarter ended with Pittsburgh methodically moving down the field for a touchdown. When he finally got back on the field, he noticed the Steelers were in the wrong formation to cover tight end Rob Gronkowski. He clapped his hands frantically, begging his rookie center to snap him the ball before Pittsburgh realized the mistake. He hit a wide-open Gronkowski for a pass that went for 52 yards, immediately seizing the momentum lost.

Jimmy Garoppolo, who would have taken Brady’s place if the suspension had stood, might be a very good quarterback but he is not Brady. Nobody is. When Brady leaves the Patriot Way leaves too. These are the glorious years of a dynasty founded from nothing on the side of the road from Boston to Providence.

“It just shows you how mentally tough he really is to be dealing with what he’s dealt with in the past and to be able to come out here and lead us,” receiver Julian Edelman said after the game. “There’s one thing about him, Tom never has a down day.”

Later, the genius coach and his quarterback stood in a conference room together. They presented a great contrast. Belichick wore a blue striped oxford shirt with rolled up sleeves and blue cargo shorts. He looked like he was going crabbing at the shore. Brady wore a tan overcoat with the collar rolled up. He seemed every bit an old-time movie star, impatiently crossing his arms as his coach talked to the media.

When he finally replaced Belichick at the same lectern, he offered little in the way of substance.

“I mean, you don’t really forget how to play football, I think in seven months,” he said in answer to one question. He left the stadium quickly, not lingering to savor any of his night of vindication.

In the stands outside, a chant had filled the night, reminding Brady that in the battle between he and Goodell, he had won – at least for now.

“Where is Roger! Where is Roger! Where is Roger!” the fans shouted.

Before long it turned back to the name that means everything here, the one who invented the Patriot Way.

“Brady! Brady Brady!”

The good times last as long as he is here.