That day, the Patriots were missing Corey Dillon, their best receiver Deion Branch, and their starting LT Matt Light. I'll concede Brady had a bad first half, but he still managed to throw 2 TDs in the second half. That's hardly "folding like a cheap suit" as you have described. The Pittsburgh game and the MNF game against the Dolphins were his only 2 bad games of the season, coincidentally the only 2 games the Pats lost. You make it sounded as though these bad performances are the norm, instead of the rare exception. Are you trying to tell me Montana, Marino, Kelly, Manning, Elway never had those games? Look how he played in the playoffs against the best defenses in the league and come back to tell he folded like a cheap suit.
People tend to overlook Brady's ability to move within the pocket to buy extra time that he needs. The Pat's line is small, where the average lineman is less than 310 lbs. Most of the time against an agressive and fast DE, especially on passing downs, they have go to maximum protection where one or both TEs (depends on the play), and the RB will stay back to help block. The way I see it, the 5-6 seconds you mentioned is a bit exaggerated, and it stems from the protection scheme and QB pocket awareness more than the overwhelming talents of the linemen.
Your line was not always this bad. How were they able to pave the way for Ricky Williams to have an 1800 yd season, followed by an 1300 yd season? My point here is that if you guys had Brady instead of Fiedler for the past 5 years, chances are you might have won a couple of superbowls. The Dolphins always had a great D, they had good receivers/TE in Chambers and McMichael, and they had one of the best RB in the league in Ricky Williams. The only thing you missed talent wise was a top QB. Poor drafts and poor QB play, along with conservative coaching (which may have stemmed from the lack of protection from QB position) is what prevented you guys from going over the top.