Good S.I. article on Brady's Legacy... Not What You'd Expect to Read

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

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.

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

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

its not the 31st ranked defense

This same Giants team made the best QB in the league, Aaron Rodgers, look positively awful in their game, and the Packers D played badly as well.

If our defense improves just a little bit and we add one more playmaker on offense (personally, I suspect we already have a dynamo on the offense in Vereen as a pass catching back) and we'll be very formidable. People are so afraid of taking on the Packers, but I bet if you asked the Giants who they'd rather face in a game tomorrow, Packers or Patriots, it would be the Packers.

When it comes to the Saints however, I bet neither team would like to face them.

ensoul said:

"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.

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That is a good point and couple the above with a 98 yard drive and 80 yard drive for TD's it becomes more remarkable..

This loss was not due to one or two players, but a bunch of small mistakes.. alone they would not mean much, but in this battle they did; Ninkovich Offside, Mankins Offside, Waters Hold, Welker Drop, the Giants recovering two fumbles, Brady int and safety, Gronkowski playing at about half speed and Hernandez drop.

DarrylS said:

That is a good point and couple the above with a 98 yard drive and 80 yard drive for TD's it becomes more remarkable..

This loss was not due to one or two players, but a bunch of small mistakes.. alone they would not mean much, but in this battle they did; Ninkovich Offside, Mankins Offside, Waters Hold, Welker Drop, the Giants recovering two fumbles, Brady int and safety, Gronkowski playing at about half speed and Hernandez drop.

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That is what it was. Pats had to start with poor field position against a pretty good Giants defense. And I agree, small mistakes all night that added up to the loss. Giants were not perfect but their mistakes really did not hurt them. Every pats mistake or miscue that was made hurt this team one way or another.

What it comes does to is that the Giants are overall a more well rounded and balanced team. You can point to this play and that play but the Giants are a better team than the pats are and most times the better team wins.

Looking ahead Brady has a few years left and I know that BB and Kraft realize this. I am not saying turn into the the Eagles or Redskins and throw money at every FA but if they can spend some money on a couple of key positions (Wide receiver and a push rush) they need to pony up the money.

ensoul said:

"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."

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Of course, Eli gets the credit and is named SB MVP, but you could make the case that he should have shared it with Weatherford the Giants punter. The guy had a great game.

Fball said:

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.

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Look, not to start too much trouble, but how can you possibly blame anyone else BUT Tom Brady for that safety? That was the ultimate definition of intentional grounding.

IllegalContact said:

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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So being ranked 31st in yards given up doesn't matter???

Yards means field position, time of possession, and 3rd down conversions.

It isn't the end all be all to a defense, but yes it makes a huge difference when your limiting the yards of an offense.

brdmaverick said:

Look, not to start too much trouble, but how can you possibly blame anyone else BUT Tom Brady for that safety? That was the ultimate definition of intentional grounding.

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By the letter of the rule yes it is the right call. I just cant believe they threw that flag, I've never seen them throw a flag for intentional grounding on a pass in the middle of the field when the QB wasnt actively being pulled down, especially one that game the Giants points. If the refs didnt throw the flag there I dont think people would have been complaining. By the letter of the rules they should have also thrown a flag for PI on the deep ball to Hernandez at the end of the game but no way in hell they'd ever throw that flag.

edgeofepic said:

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

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I do agree with the people who say Brady's legacy was hurt a bit by this loss. The Pats lost to the same team twice in the SB, and in both games they were favored. In the Rams game they were huge underdogs. Brady is still one of the best ever and might be the best ever when it is done. Fair or not, the record is a public view of where he stands all time. We always talk on here about how stats don't matter, only wins matter, as our argument about why Brady is better than Peyton Manning. So if you are going to use that argument, then it is the same argument even when it is not in our favor.

Michael Holley said that our expectations are to high for the offense and to low for the defense . I agree with him. When Eli is 30-40 for 296 yds/1td and no ints your defense didn't have a great game. I hope BB drafts and signs some quality defensive players this year.

I'm not quite sure where people get the idea that this game showed up our huge lack of talent. Every team is made up of both enormously talented players and just-talented-enough-to-be-on-the-field players. Maybe we have a larger number of the latter category, but we have a good supply of the former as well.

When you look at the number of individual plays or breaks that could have gone the Pats way, any one of which could have won the game for them, you kind of have to agree with BB that the Giants just made a few more plays. Welker catches that pass, Ninkovich isn't inches offside, they don't have 12 guys, Ihedigbo recovers that fumble, Gronkowski is in a slightly different position in the end zone, etc., etc.

Those didn't happen. Doesn't mean there's something fundamentally wrong. Next year will have a team with a lot of different players, and it will be a whole new year. Just as tough to get to the Super Bowl, too, much less win it.