Tom Brady is not the weakest link

[Pats_AZ]

I keep hearing about how pressuring Brady is the key. i would like to disagree. While i do believe that pressure on the QB is a good way to disrupt the passing game, i am not convinced that pressuring Brady disrupts him as much as people say. People are saying if you hit him he gets rattled and starts getting sloppy, but from what i can see this is not the case. Tom dosen't seem to lose composure after getting hit like other QBs (ie Manning, Romo). He still makes his plays and avoids pressure better than anyone else i have seen and his decision making in these situations is amazing. this game against the Ravens, they got pressure on him but his accuraccy or decision making didn't really come down and it was more his receivers dropping passes than anything else. I honestly don't think pressure on Brady does as much as the mediots or "experts" gives credit. what do you all think?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I agree. Mauling his WR's seems to be the best approach if you can get away with it, and even that only works if the drop the catchable ones. Pressuring Brady only seems to work in spurts anyway as the Oline and QB will eventually adjust to thwart the pressure. It can throw off their ability to establish a rhythm early or for a time, which is when the D needs to step up and buy some time because they usually can re-establish it once they get the pressure figured out.

 

[Xzibit23]

Pressuring any QB is disruptive and makes them uncomfortable...its kinda pointless for all these "experts" to be pointing that out as a strategy for defending the Pats. Duh. No team plans on playing the Patriots without putting pressure on Brady, he's almost a guarantee to find the open man with given time, moreso than any other QB in the game. Baltimore and Philly weren't the first teams to employ that strategy, they were just the first to employ it with a level of success.

 

[aluminum seats]

Pressuring any QB is disruptive and makes them uncomfortable...its kinda pointless for all these "experts" to be pointing that out as a strategy for defending the Pats. Duh. No team plans on playing the Patriots without putting pressure on Brady, he's almost a guarantee to find the open man with given time, moreso than any other QB in the game. Baltimore and Philly weren't the first teams to employ that strategy, they were just the first to employ it with a level of success.

Well said, and it bears repeating. It drives me up a wall to hear the talk about the key is to "pressure Brady" as if Brady were uniquely vulnerable to getting pressured, or to somehow suggest that he wilts under pressure. Both ideas are absurd--he does a tremendous job of eluding pressure, and doesn't retreat and throw off his back foot when he is going to get hit (like, for Eli Manning, for example). Then, when he does get whacked, he gets up and does it again.

Sure, try to pressure Brady, like you should with any QB. But unlike most other QBs, it wont' affect him that much.

 

[BradyManny]

The teams that have had the most success against the Pats have done it by doing the opposite of blitzing - they've been dropping more into coverage. Of course, the best strategy is to cheat and maul our receivers, like the Ravens and Eagles have.

The only team so far that has the speed and talent so far to blitz and live to tell about it is the Colts.

 

[arrellbee]

Mike Reiss did his usual stellar job of giving us great information on so many things including some very technical aspects of the game. (Keep the info coming Mike ! ) One interesting conclusion for an opponent's defensive coordinator might be - stick with just a 4 man rush. Very interesting - and just about the OPPOSITE of what the national media is calling out as the "blueprint" for beating the Patriots.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2007/11/pressure_breakd.html

The Eagles' pressure of Patriots QB Tom Brady has been well documented following Sunday's game. The Eagles did a nice job of disrupting New England's passing game at times.
When breaking down the Eagles pass rush, however, it is clear that this wasn't a "jailbreak" type of situation where they were blitzing on every snap.
What made the Eagles plan effective was the way they mixed the rushes, as they truly blitzed (more than four rushers) 50 percent of the time (30 times on 60 dropbacks).
Here is our breakdown of the Eagles' pressure, and what the Patriots did against it (passing stats include sacks in the "attempts" category):

Three-man rush
3 of 3 for 26 yards
Add one dropback for a Tom Brady 12-yard scramble
Four-man rush

13 of 26 for 168 yards
Brady sacked once (seemed to be coverage-based more than as a result of pressure)
Randy Moss offensive pass interference call came against four-man rush
Five-man rush

11 of 17 for 88 yards
Brady sacked once (right tackle Nick Kaczur doesn't hold block on Juqua Thomas)
16-yard pass to Jabar Gaffney, which sealed game, came against five-man rush
Six-man rush

4 of 7 for 40 yards
Add one dropback for a Brady 5-yard scramble
Seven-man rush

3 of 5 for 58 yards
Jabar Gaffney's 19-yard touchdown came against seven-man pressure
Brady sacked once when Eagles overloaded left side and rusher came free
NOTE: On quick receciver screens, there is some gray area as to whether a defender is rushing or dropping back because of the quick change of direction.

 

[apricissimus]

I keep hearing about how pressuring Brady is the key. i would like to disagree. While i do believe that pressure on the QB is a good way to disrupt the passing game, i am not convinced that pressuring Brady disrupts him as much as people say. People are saying if you hit him he gets rattled and starts getting sloppy, but from what i can see this is not the case. Tom dosen't seem to lose composure after getting hit like other QBs (ie Manning, Romo). He still makes his plays and avoids pressure better than anyone else i have seen and his decision making in these situations is amazing. this game against the Ravens, they got pressure on him but his accuraccy or decision making didn't really come down and it was more his receivers dropping passes than anything else. I honestly don't think pressure on Brady does as much as the mediots or "experts" gives credit. what do you all think?

I see your point, but I'd say that pressuring Brady is still necessary, though not sufficient, to beat the Patriots. When Brady has time, the Patriots are practically invincible, so in that sense it really is very important to put pressure on the QB. If you don't, you don't have a shot.