How Tom Brady spent his bye week

[MoLewisrocks]

This is what seperates the merely talented from the consistently elite. The only two of which IMO are Brady and the elder Manning. Most guys work hard to arrive and then don't seem to know what to do to sustain success or realize how much of that is on them. They spend lots of time rolling eyes or shruging shoulders (ok, Peyton did some of that in game, too...) or pointing fingers or defending themselves against everything from bad playcalling to poor roster management to inconsistent teamates and bad calls or bad luck. Brady doesn't waste time on that, he works at getting himself better so he's in a position to push those around him to do likewise in and out of season. Manning does as well although until the injury his work was mostly on his own ability to read and dissect defenses as opposed to mechanics (although he had to work hard on re-establishing those over the last several months).

They say the only thing harder than getting to the top is staying there. QB's who fully acknowledge and grasp that are the rare birds who do.

Brady used bye to study foes - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

 

[Kontradiction]

Good read. I'm not really sure why so many quarterbacks don't do what Manning and Brady do. You can spend time studying and breaking down film to perfect your craft and still be able to enjoy your personal life in your bye week.

 

[PP2]

This thread should have been titled "for those who constantly questions Brady's commitment to the game."

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I think that many folks with successful professional careers do what Brady does on his "off time"...continually think about their job and how they can do better. It's a hallmark of those successful by personal effort, and not simply via fortunate circumstances.

I am enjoying every game of Tom's remaining seasons.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I think it's because for so many the dream is just getting there, and whether it's raw talent or physical drive to maximize lesser talent, once you arrive you've achieved a lifelong goal. Unless you are wired to then reset your goals, or something happens that forces you to, you just tend to want to coast. Rodgers admitted to having a moment when he realized he was going to have to do more. Remains to be seen if it carries over consistently after winning a ring. Guys like Favre who won one and even Drew who got to one often can't muster the single minded focus thereafter. Romo couldn't focus at all on doing the job better once it was handed to him. I think Eli struggled because it came easy to him until he landed in NY. He's still struggling but some freak luck has bailed him out. Rivers remains the same guy he was the day they signed him, albeit with a lot of kids. Never worked on his mechanics or the mental aspects of the game. Ergo he always looks flustered and befuddled when talent alone doesn't prevail. Ditto with Cutler. And with Ben to an extent. Luck looks to have it... Although it will remain to be seen if he can maintain it. The early downs and ups and downs seemed to drive Peyton to effin get a grip on it. He's a control freak and that ultimately drove him to figure it out. Some guys just wait for someone else to figure it out for them and when that doesn't happen they just play out the string as long as they can because they already made their initial dream money and secured the lifestyle.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Here is a perfect example of a coaching staff and a player not knowing how to handle defeat. Coughlin is a fool for calling Eli alone out publicly and Eli is a tool for not publicly backing his doing that. Belichick would never do that but if he did Brady would man up and say he's right, I have to play better - even if he was thinking on what planet... That would then put pressure on the guys who didn't play any better than Eli did to get their act together (although Cruz is probably too distracted by his pending/not pending contract status to really focus on what matters to the team).

Coughlin, Manning disagree on issue with Giants passing game | ProFootballTalk

Coach Tom Coughlin said after the game that the team needs quarterback Eli Manning, who was 10-of-24 on Sunday, to start playing more like the Eli Manning with two Super Bowl rings.

“We’ve got to get him back on track,” Coughlin said, via Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger. “He’s our guy, (and) we’ve got to get him back to the way he was playing a couple weeks ago and do it in a hurry.”

Manning agrees that the passing offense is off, but he disagrees that he’s the guy who needs to pick up his game to put things back in order.

“I feel like I’m throwing the ball accurately when I have opportunities to. I don’t feel off rhythm, no,” Manning said, via Steve Serby of the New York Post. “I think, offensively, in the passing game, whether we’re just running things we feel comfortable with or getting guys winning again so we get guys open, it’s just a combination of … I don’t feel like I’m throwing the ball inaccurate, I don’t feel like I’m missing guys, so I think it’s just a matter of getting back where offensively we’re playing fast and making good decisions and guys are winning and we’ll hit ‘em.”

Every time I think Eli is close to turning the corner he reminds me he's a guy who is more lucky than good.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Here is a perfect example of a coaching staff and a player not knowing how to handle defeat. Coughlin is a fool for calling Eli alone out publicly and Eli is a tool for not publicly backing his doing that. Belichick would never do that but if he did Brady would man up and say he's right, I have to play better - even if he was thinking on what planet... That would then put pressure on the guys who didn't play any better than Eli did to get their act together (although Cruz is probably too distracted by his pending/not pending contract status to really focus on what matters to the team).

Coughlin, Manning disagree on issue with Giants passing game | ProFootballTalk



Every time I think Eli is close to turning the corner he reminds me he's a guy who sold his soul to the Debil for QB skills.

Fixed for accuracy.

 

[RodThePat]

Fixed for accuracy.

If Eli sold his soul to the devil for quarterback skills, he was ripped off. He's just not that good.

 

[aluminum seats]

Every time I think Eli is close to turning the corner he reminds me he's a guy who is more lucky than good.

Very true. You can't take the Super Bowls away from him (unfortunately) but it really is a killer that the guy is 2-0 against Brady in that game--thanks primarily to his defense and a couple of lucky throws. If the Pats could have just pulled out last year's (curse you, Gronkowski injury), 2007 and the helmet catch would be seen even more as the ridiculous fluke that it was.

 

[PatsSox363804]

Here is a perfect example of a coaching staff and a player not knowing how to handle defeat. Coughlin is a fool for calling Eli alone out publicly and Eli is a tool for not publicly backing his doing that. Belichick would never do that but if he did Brady would man up and say he's right, I have to play better - even if he was thinking on what planet... That would then put pressure on the guys who didn't play any better than Eli did to get their act together (although Cruz is probably too distracted by his pending/not pending contract status to really focus on what matters to the team).

Coughlin, Manning disagree on issue with Giants passing game | ProFootballTalk



Every time I think Eli is close to turning the corner he reminds me he's a guy who is more lucky than good.

The only reasons Eli isn't considered more lucky than good are that he plays in NY and he beat the hated Patriots in the 2 Superbowls. His entire game involves playing mediocre for 3 quarters then throwing up prayers in the 4th that his receivers either miraculously catch or he gets a flag for. He's the most annoying "elite QB" to watch for that reason. Every time I watch a Giants game I can't believe we lost twice to that guy then curse Mike Carey and Bernard Pollard.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Every time I think Eli is close to turning the corner he reminds me he's a guy who is more lucky than good.

I think it's the fact that he relies heavily on the long ball, or so it seems. Any little hiccup whether it's him, his receivers, or the officials will cause his game to plummet. I have some honest doubts if the Eli could've even survived in the league pre-2004.

 

[Tunescribe]

Good read. I'm not really sure why so many quarterbacks don't do what Manning and Brady do. You can spend time studying and breaking down film to perfect your craft and still be able to enjoy your personal life in your bye week.

Yes, but they're mostly kids in their twenties still growing into adulthood.

 

[ivanvamp]

Very true. You can't take the Super Bowls away from him (unfortunately) but it really is a killer that the guy is 2-0 against Brady in that game--thanks primarily to his defense and a couple of lucky throws. If the Pats could have just pulled out last year's (curse you, Gronkowski injury), 2007 and the helmet catch would be seen even more as the ridiculous fluke that it was.

I've posted this before, but heck, I'll do it again. Go back to the first Giants-Pats SB. On the play just prior to the Tyree play, Eli Manning threw a godawful pass down the right sideline that Asante Samuel could have intercepted (not, perhaps, *should* have, but definitely *could* have). The ball glanced off his hands for an incompletion and we know what happened next. But let's say that Samuel hangs on to that ball. Here's what that game ends up being for Eli:

16-30 (53.3%), 198 yds, 1 td, 2 int, including one horrific pass (no receiver within 5 yards of the ball) to end the game and clinch a perfect season for New England

THAT would have been Eli's first Super Bowl performance. That's a very ugly game, frankly. It's a QB rating of 57.4.

Instead, the pass goes off Eli's hands, the horrible no-holding-call-Tyree-miracle play, and bing, bang, boom, the Giants win and Eli is the MVP with this line: 19-34 (55.9%), 255 yds, 2 td, 1 int (87.3).

It's unbelievable.

 

[aluminum seats]

I've posted this before, but heck, I'll do it again. Go back to the first Giants-Pats SB. On the play just prior to the Tyree play, Eli Manning threw a godawful pass down the right sideline that Asante Samuel could have intercepted (not, perhaps, *should* have, but definitely *could* have). The ball glanced off his hands for an incompletion and we know what happened next. But let's say that Samuel hangs on to that ball. Here's what that game ends up being for Eli:

16-30 (53.3%), 198 yds, 1 td, 2 int, including one horrific pass (no receiver within 5 yards of the ball) to end the game and clinch a perfect season for New England

THAT would have been Eli's first Super Bowl performance. That's a very ugly game, frankly. It's a QB rating of 57.4.

Instead, the pass goes off Eli's hands, the horrible no-holding-call-Tyree-miracle play, and bing, bang, boom, the Giants win and Eli is the MVP with this line: 19-34 (55.9%), 255 yds, 2 td, 1 int (87.3).

It's unbelievable.

Good you posted again--I've never had the stomach to look at the stats for that game. Jeez.

 

[Kontradiction]

Here is a perfect example of a coaching staff and a player not knowing how to handle defeat. Coughlin is a fool for calling Eli alone out publicly and Eli is a tool for not publicly backing his doing that. Belichick would never do that but if he did Brady would man up and say he's right, I have to play better - even if he was thinking on what planet... That would then put pressure on the guys who didn't play any better than Eli did to get their act together (although Cruz is probably too distracted by his pending/not pending contract status to really focus on what matters to the team).

Coughlin, Manning disagree on issue with Giants passing game | ProFootballTalk



Every time I think Eli is close to turning the corner he reminds me he's a guy who is more lucky than good.

Anybody who watched that game yesterday should agree with Eli, though. He was putting the ball on the mark, but those arms were suddenly getting shorter and shorter after the Clark blow up on Cruz. You can fault him for a couple of throws, the most of which was the boneheaded INT deep down the left sideline that screamed '04-'07 Eli. But his receivers weren't doing him any favors yesterday.

 

[Buchanty]

Anybody who watched that game yesterday should agree with Eli, though. He was putting the ball on the mark, but those arms were suddenly getting shorter and shorter after the Clark blow up on Cruz. You can fault him for a couple of throws, the most of which was the boneheaded INT deep down the left sideline that screamed '04-'07 Eli. But his receivers weren't doing him any favors yesterday.

I agree that his receivers weren't helping him out, but it seems as though he has grown to expect their assistance. He has made some exceptional throws (including the one to Manningham that we would all rather forget). But the dazzlingly accurate ones are hugely outnumbered by the dazzlingly inaccurate ones. I don't remember many QBs who have hit the opposing defenses so well and so consistently in the numbers, and certainly few if any QBs in the top tier. Last night's throw to Ike Taylor in the EZ was a prime example -gift wrapped but the DB couldn't hold on to it. Last years play off against the 49'ers had several examples of the same.

As others have said Brady and elder bro would be chiding themselves for days afterwards; he is so nonchalant it doesn't seem to bother him that he is playing below his coach's expectations. Perhaps he needs that level of objectivity or detachment to survive in NY, but I would still feel nervous for my team with 2 minutes left and a 2 point lead with him with the ball behind center, at least, for as long as he is unaware of his shortcomings

 

[Fencer]

Brady once spent a bye week visiting a girlfriend in NYC -- where you walk around a lot -- while his foot was in a boot.

He later married her, so you can't fault his choice -- but that IS one of the years the Pats lost the Super Bowl.

 

[aluminum seats]

I agree that his receivers weren't helping him out, but it seems as though he has grown to expect their assistance. He has made some exceptional throws (including the one to Manningham that we would all rather forget). But the dazzlingly accurate ones are hugely outnumbered by the dazzlingly inaccurate ones. I don't remember many QBs who have hit the opposing defenses so well and so consistently in the numbers, and certainly few if any QBs in the top tier. Last night's throw to Ike Taylor in the EZ was a prime example -gift wrapped but the DB couldn't hold on to it. Last years play off against the 49'ers had several examples of the same.

As others have said Brady and elder bro would be chiding themselves for days afterwards; he is so nonchalant it doesn't seem to bother him that he is playing below his coach's expectations. Perhaps he needs that level of objectivity or detachment to survive in NY, but I would still feel nervous for my team with 2 minutes left and a 2 point lead with him with the ball behind center, at least, for as long as he is unaware of his shortcomings

I don't think there's any question he has developed into a fairly impressive playmaker at the end of games when his team needs a score. But part of that is the fact that his non-stellar play the rest of the time often leads to him NEEDING to score, when better QB play might have salted the game away.

On what he said after this game, the truth of it is kind of irrelevent. A leader should always publicly put the team's success on his own shoulders....no matter who is really at fault, and no matter what tail-kicking the QB/leader will deliver to his troops in private.

 

[aluminum seats]

Brady once spent a bye week visiting a girlfriend in NYC -- where you walk around a lot -- while his foot was in a boot.

He later married her, so you can't fault his choice -- but that IS one of the years the Pats lost the Super Bowl.

Oh man. Seriously?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

He used to go to NY to hide, small fish in a big pond. Now he seldom leaves his home...

I watched the interview Rodgers did on 60 minutes. He's clearly a gifted athlete and passer and not a bad guy. But he's not the sharpest tool in the shed and it shows when he's interviewed. The chip on his shoulder has led to some defensive insecurities that have and probably will continue to limit him from achieving the level of consistency Brady has.

Tom has an ego, you don't get this far absent one. But he is also secure enough in who he is as a person apart from playing the game he loves that has given him so much exposure and wealth to truly be able to check that ego in order to persue the goal. It's a conscious decision made by an extremely thoughtful guy and made initially when he was a 24 year old backup with virtually nothing meaningful at this level on his resume. Who in a very subtle way is always sending messages which just happen to clearly dovetail with the organization's.

Brady on D&C: 'It's hard to be social again'