edgeofepic

I've thought this all season - how Brady plays admirably despite a lack of conventional talent around him. Not only am I talking about offense (lack of WRs other than Welker) but also the fact that Brady was called upon time and time again to take up the slack for a defense that couldn't shut down opponents.

The gist of this article is that Brady did as best he could.... if anybody's legacy is tarnished it's that of Bill Belichick The G.M. - the guy responsible for putting talent on the field:

Patriots' Tom Brady added to his legacy in Super Bowl XLVI - Michael Rosenberg - SI.com

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Elijah T.

Good article.

We made it to the SB with the 31st ranked defense and no legitimate outside receiver...18 undrafted free agents on the roster...You give Brady the Giants defense and we win that game by two touchdowns.

I hope Belichick looks at the roster, looks at our cap space and makes a couple of big moves this year to get an established playmaker on defense, along with seasoned outside receiver.

We can bring more youth to the defense through the draft, but we have to be bold this year in a strong market of free agents and money to spend.

Watching Brady this year...or the past couple years, you can tell that despite his gawdy numbers he has these moments where he seems off mechanically.. And at times even confused. He's battling nagging injuries and getting older. He's expected to literally carry this offense.

We need to use our young running backs and ease up his responsibilities and open up the outside passing game. Having Josh McDaniels back is a good thing but we need the weapons.

After these two losses I really hope BB and TB get a chance at another one next year....We absolutely should be a more talented team come August.

VrabelJr

Great article. I'll read this over and over and over during the off season.

Fball

Personally, I think that Brady had an outstanding SB, all the more remarkable considering how much rested on his play, and his injury during the game.

The safety call was a flukey, unusual call. I've never seen that before, and I don't see how anyone can "blame" TB for that.

He went 16-16 at one point, and led 2 amazing TD drives.

His INT was one that any QB will throw to a player as talented as Gronk, and expect them to make the play.

His 2nd to last drive should have been game-sealing; the Welker pass could have been better, but was catchable. The Branch pass was one of his few truly bad ones in the game.

He made the throws on the last-minute drive - too many drops by the receivers.

ensoul

"True, Brady only led his team to 17 points. But New England had the worst field position I can ever remember for a Super Bowl team. The Pats started on their own 6, their 29, their 20, their 2, their 21, their 17, their 20, their 8 and their 20. The Patriots played the entire game uphill."

This part makes perfect sense. The defense could not get off the field quick enough to give the pats offense decent field position. I also heard on the radio that the ALL of the giants drives were at least nine plays. Now I am not going to blame the defense for this but it does put into prospective what the offense was dealt with all night.

MoLewisrocks

Nice to see the media aren't all kneejerks looking for attention. Football Outsiders got it too. Brady has a tougher task to perform than Eli did, and they graded out nearly identically. Supporting cast, not so much. Both teams made their share of mistakes, one just couldn't capitalize on the others. That's why they play the games.

Mark.

Had he won, he'd have been Superbowl MVP and talked about as greatest of all time. Because he lost, people are talking about his legacy being tarnished. Great article w/great perspective. Thanks for sharing.

PatsGirl2011

This was Brady's best SB performance, IMO! He was downright amazing at times. To carry a team without a legit #1 WR and a shaky defense to the SB and be one completion away from winning is amazing. Yes, BB needs to do a better job of drafting and putting this team together..seriously. I love the youth movement, but now is the time to really get those high end players who will make an impact. TB has prob 3 more years of playing at this level. It is now or never.

edgeofepic

Glad to see most readers agree... I posted occasionally throughout the season about my concern for lack of talent and depth and was usually flamed by folks with the usual, "As long as we have Welk, Hernandez and Gronk we're all set"... well that's exactly the point, what about when you don't have all of them healthy.

Unfortunately, I think it took this SB loss on the big stage to showcase our "talent" problem. Belichick the coach did a great job getting us to the big game, however Belichick the GM probably deserves most of the blame for that loss.

I'm looking forward to future winning seasons but I'm hoping some of the guys in the front office at Gillette Stadium/Patriot Place will speak up a bit more in the weeks leading up to draft day. I think part of our talent drain is probably attributable to some "yes men" in the organization who were apprehensive about telling BB their honest thoughts about the draft board and free agency moves. I'm hoping Josh - who I think is the BB heir apparent - will speak up when the time comes to do so.

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IllegalContact

so does the 31st ranked defense argument get used only when it works to make someone feel good?

its not the 31st ranked defense

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