Why did we lose Tom Brady with 2 games to go?

[Drewwho]

It has to be asked, right?

Tom Brady, my favorite player of all time in the NFL. Best Patriot ever, Best QB I personally have ever seen was not himself in the AFC Championship game and in the Superbowl! WHY? What is up with that?

Tom had an amazing year. Possibly the best season by a QB or even NFL player in the history of the NFL. He was simply amazing for 17 straight game. Then....

He showed little to no emotion in the last two games of the year. The two biggest game of the year. Tom had his head down, looked uninterested, looked upset, mad, distracted. He was unengaged in his surroundings, showed no interest in his teammates.

Hurt? I doubt it! Tom surely had an ankle thing, but it was not the reason for his lack of passion. Even with that said, the injury happened late in the AFCC - so that is not a reason to start the game so lethargic, right?

We have been watching Tom Brady lead this team for 7 years and aside from the beginning of last year when we all worried about his bad body language in losing Branch and Givens, I have never seen him so out of it.

Brady was on the verge of completing the best season of all time as a team and as a player, but he was mentally not there in the last two games - the two biggest games of his life. If not for the defense and injuries to the Chargers, we would lost the AFCC due to Tom's turnovers and overall poor performance. I just cannot imagine why Tom went from being so passionate, so on fire, so dead on accurate to being Rex Grossman. I keep kidding myself thinking, no I am reading way to into this, but I watched that horrible game again and there he was this imposter wearing #12 - that guy was NOT Tom Brady! This teams feeds off of Brady. A guy who could be one of the greatest team leaders in sports history. His attitude is imperative to the success of this team. Why did he not bring it??? He was freaking sulking, yelling at Welker, head down on the sidelines. What the h*ll. I feel so let down by Brady and I hate myself for it since he has given us so much.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Why did we lose Tom Brady with 2 games to go?

 

[Mack Herron]

Unproductive speculation. Might just be it was because he got the crap kicked out of him.

 

[Clonamery]

If you are looking for a Dr. to prescribe medication, you've come to the wrong place.

 

[BelichickFan]

Don't know. Everything was good following his 26-28 performance against Jacksonville. I'll be interested in the responses you get, most of which will be to yell at you but it didn't look like the same guy to me.

The yelling at Welker thing was particularly interesting; even if Welker ran the wrong route he was still wide open to be thrown to.

 

[richpats]

Unproductive speculation. Might just be it was because he got the crap kicked out of him.

Brady looked off even before the game. He usually is pretty relaxed before a game, but Sunday I saw him jam his helmet on his head like he was trying to crack his skull. "Edgy" Tom is something I saw in Denver and we all know what happened then.

 

[363839]

Maybe he's feuding with Giselle.
But I think you're right. He was not on top of his game.

 

[Xzibit23]

Well there were rumors that he had the flue against SD and in the SB he was just getting the crap kicked out of him so that tend to take the wind out of your sails.

 

[oldskool138]

Well there were rumors that he had the flue against SD and in the SB he was just getting the crap kicked out of him so that tend to take the wind out of your sails.

Wait so Tom Brady had a thing that opens a chimney so smoke can go out?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

the OP might have been over the top in some of his choice of language, but, in general, i think it's a fair question when it comes to the super bowl.

until now, i have accepted the "he was getting the crap kicked out of him and was trying to execute a lousy gameplan," but maybe something else was going on. it's a fair question.

 

[upstater1]

Wait so Tom Brady had a thing that opens a chimney so smoke can go out?

Technically speaking, the flue is the actual pipe through which smoke rises. You're thinking of the damper.

Come to think of it, who put a damper on Tom Brady's personality?

 

[oldskool138]

Come to think of it, who put a damper on Tom Brady's personality?

Bridget...

 

[RayClay]

Alien abduction.

 

[Steve1iron]

I agree with DrewWho. I too have been wondering what has been up with Brady. I can understand the flu against the Chargers. But he exhibited no emotion in the Super Bowl. He is the team leader and has always been the guy to pump up the team when needed. He looked pissed off in the Super Bowl, which is not a trait we have seen in the past. There's more to this story beyond "he got his ass kicked" by the Giants.

Beyond Brady, the team just looked out of it for the Super Bowl. There was no emotion when entering the field. I thought initially that "they had their game faces on". But it was more than that. It may have been the pressure finally hitting these guys and the entire coaching staff. Let's face it, the Pats played and acted differently in the Super Bowl than at any point this year.

I've been waiting for someone to write about this.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Against SD he did have the flu. In the SB his Oline made him sick. It's difficult if not impossible to look upbeat when you're getting the snot knocked out of you on one out of every three passing attempts.

And while they held the Giants to 3 on their opening drive, the one that consumed 1/6th of the entire game, that set a tone for the evening that foretold it's ending - a 3 point loss. The offense sat on the bench for upwards of 20 minutes watching that transpire.

PS - we don't throw the ball to the open guy who ran the wrong route. That's called the unprofessional flying by the seat of your pants offense. Teams who employ it win some games, but not nearly enough to advance to the playoffs.

There is ample evidence to underscore why we lost. Deal with it, don't look for imaginary excuses to write it off.

 

[dhamz]

We just can never accept the answers that make sense or give any credit to the opposition on this message board. There is always a conspiracy when the Patriots get beat or play poorly.

Brady had the flu and a high ankle sprain against San Diego. It was also bad weather. He missed a full week of practice prior to the Super Bowl with the injury. Then the Giants D destroyed the Pats offesnive line on Super Sunday pressuring Brady on nearly every drop back and never allowing him to get in a groove until the final drive when the Giants exhausted D buckled. Coincidentally Brady looked terrific on that drive and the Pats scored a TD.

The above paragraph cannot be true though. Sick and injured one game? Coming off an injury and beaten to a pulp by a dominant Dline performance the next? Those aren't real reasons for a QB to struggle. Clearly something else is going on with Brady. After all....DID YOU SEE HIS BODY LANGUAGE?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

We just can never accept the answers that make sense or give any credit to the opposition on this message board. There is always a conspiracy when the Patriots get beat or play poorly.

Brady had the flu and a high ankle sprain against San Diego. It was also bad weather. He missed a full week of practice prior to the Super Bowl with the injury. Then the Giants D destroyed the Pats offesnive line on Super Sunday pressuring Brady on nearly every drop back and never allowing him to get in a groove until the final drive when the Giants exhausted D buckled. Coincidentally Brady looked terrific on that drive and the Pats scored a TD.

The above paragraph cannot be true though. Sick and injured one game? Coming off an injury and beaten to a pulp by a dominant Dline performance the next? Those aren't real reasons for a QB to struggle. Clearly something else is going on with Brady. After all....DID YOU SEE HIS BODY LANGUAGE?

wow! very well written and right on target. brings me back to earth. thanks.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Because despite rumors to the contrary that have been circulating since the Colts game, nobody is perfect.

He had a bad game, he had a bad day. Everyone has them. If the bad day had occurred during anyone of 16 other Sundays this team would be heralded as one of the greatest teams ever.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

It finally dawned on him that he had a great season, but wasn't able to enjoy it. The Belichick way wears thin. Stone faced, getting ready for the next opponent, blah, blah, blah... Gotta take time and ENJOY what you have accomplished. Brady spoke about enjoying it later in life, not the same as being in the moment, and soaking it in it as it unfolds.

I guess the Dungy years wear thin too. Peyton sounded like a defeated man this season, talking about how he prayed to be allowed to win just one because you never know how many opportunities remain...and then pre recording a pep talk about being bummed the season was over. I guess that indicates he's accepted his fate. LOL

At least he got to see his little brother do something in year 4 it took him 9 years to accomplish. The pundits did say coming out of the draft that Eli had the potential to be the better of the Manning brothers QB's.

 

[oldskool138]

This isn't about PM, it's about TB. My feeling is the guy really didn't enjoy football much this year, and I think part of that is due to the way BB runs the show. Tight lipped, guarded, and paranoid. Guys like Favre, Romo, and to an extent, Eli, certainly had more fun this year than those in the Northeast.

And how is this different than the other 7-8 years Brady's been on the team?

 

[Watson's IQ]

This isn't about PM, it's about TB. My feeling is the guy really didn't enjoy football much this year, and I think part of that is due to the way BB runs the show. Tight lipped, guarded, and paranoid. Guys like Favre, Romo, and to an extent, Eli, certainly had more fun this year than those in the Northeast.

You obviously didn't watch the Patriots too much this year. Seems to me they were having plenty of fun. Comparing him to Romo and Favre and their "gee shucks, golly" routine is pointless, that's just not the type of guy that TB is.