Interesting comment on Brady/Garoppolo by SI's Andrew Brandt

This isn't an interesting comment. It's an insulting one. Benching Brady is a good way to get the Patriots cursed for a hundred years.

People are down on Brady all of a sudden because Peyton broke the TD record while Brady struggled with rookies who couldn't get open. We lost Welker, Gronk was out, and Hernandez was in jail. After all our injures our team was potentially worse than a true bottom feeding rebuild team, yet Brady still willed it to the AFC Championship game. What kind of ingrateful #^$% would even suggest benching Brady? When he had Gronk the rookie riddled NE offense was #1 in the league last year.

People that say stupid stuff like this piss me off!

Down 24 points to "the best team in the league" at halftime in the wind in the elements. Want Brady on the field, on the bench, or in Buffalo?

The right answer is on the field, period, exclamation point.

Brady retires a Patriot.

This is off season stupidity and irrationally rationalizing our draft

While we're at it, let's bump the old "Trade Brady, keep Cassell" thread.

Put noodle arm Peyton on our Patriot team and Brady on last year's stacked Denver offense.
With nobody open Peyton would of been wilting and quitting and pouting his way to a -7-9 season with us, and Tom would of won his 4th ring with Denver's O making Seattle's "almighty D" look foolish.

Don't doubt me.

Like 35 of Peyton's 55 TD's were five to ten yard dump offs that someone else not named Peyton took sixty yards to the house. Give him a trash O-line, a smurfs, two injured rookies and Blount, and see how far Peyton gets anyone.

I maybe wrong but isnt brady's contracted actually guranteed throught ? That makes the yearly pay not that big a deal I think

Ivan said:

I think Brandt has it backwards, Brady's contract makes it more likely he sticks around not less likely, if his cap hit were 18 million and his play slipping it would put them in a much more precarious place than giving him the money upfront and having a lower hit going forward.

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I agree, but implicit in that is a willingness to accept platooning or reserve status as he grows older, IMHO. TFB does NOT want to be an itinerant QB in his waning years like Montana, Unitas and Namath became.

upstater1 said:

In 2012-2013, the season before last, the Patriots had the 4th highest scoring offense of all time. You're not giving him credit for that.

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And You're not giving him any credit for the help the best Defense he has had since 2009, despite all the injuries. The Defense was Top 5 in the only thing that counts, Points Against. The sacks rose to championship levels; the opposition completion rate fell to under 60%; the opposition 3rd down conversion rate declined to respectable; the 3-and-outs rose.

The Defense was racked by injuries, but was still on the verge of breaking out.

But TFB's completion rate hovered in the high 50% range until the end when it climbed to barely 60%; his sack rate rose to the 40s; his long ball became non existent; his pocket elusiveness lost some luster. His overall QB rating declined into the range of borderline mediocrity. Excuses were offered. Rookie receivers, lack of pass protection, yadda, yadda, yadda.

BB will give the O-line a redo to help. The receivers are more experienced, and that will help. The running game helped last season, and will do even more this season. The healthy Defense will breakout and become dominant. Tom won't have to do as much himself. Brady of 2014 is still a good QB. But he is not the Tom of 2005.

AzPatsFan said:

And You're not giving him any credit for the help the best Defense he has had since 2009, despite all the injuries. The Defense was Top 5 in the only thing that counts, Points Against. The sacks rose to championship levels; the opposition completion rate fell to under 60%; the opposition 3rd down conversion rate declined to respectable; the 3-and-outs rose.

The Defense was racked by injuries, but was still on the verge of breaking out.

But TFB's completion rate hovered in the high 50% range until the end when it climbed to barely 60%; his sack rate rose to the 40s; his long ball became non existent; his pocket elusiveness lost some luster. His overall QB rating declined into the range of borderline mediocrity. Excuses were offered. Rookie receivers, lack of pass protection, yadda, yadda, yadda.

BB will give the O-line a redo to help. The receivers are more experienced, and that will help. The running game helped last season, and will do even more this season. The healthy Defense will breakout and become dominant. Tom won't have to do as much himself. Brady of 2014 is still a good QB. But he is not the Tom of 2005.

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You have the wrong season.

I was talking about 2012-2013.

And then the offseason came, 6 months, during which Brady lost his abilities, apparently.

PATS16N0 said:

Put noodle arm Peyton on our Patriot team and Brady on last year's stacked Denver offense.
With nobody open Peyton would of been wilting and quitting and pouting his way to a -7-9 season with us, and Tom would of won his 4th ring with Denver's O making Seattle's "almighty D" look foolish.

Don't doubt me.

Like 35 of Peyton's 55 TD's were five to ten yard dump offs that someone else not named Peyton took sixty yards to the house. Give him a trash O-line, a smurfs, two injured rookies and Blount, and see how far Peyton gets anyone.

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You could actually see this during the championship game as well. Manning had multiple overthrows and underthrows of his receivers on long balls. Every QB does. The difference being, when you're in a great offense, you get a chance to come back on 2nd and 10, and you still move the chains. When Brady missed Edelman long, the offense sputtered and died. That's the difference right there.

upstater1 said:

You could actually see this during the championship game as well. Manning had multiple overthrows and underthrows of his receivers on long balls. Every QB does. The difference being, when you're in a great offense, you get a chance to come back on 2nd and 10, and you still move the chains. When Brady missed Edelman long, the offense sputtered and died. That's the difference right there.

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This is the point that keeps getting forgotten.

I'll admit that Brady has probably lost a bit athletically. That's how the human body works. Being awesome at throwing the football doesn't change the fact that he's human. He's turning 37 soon.

Sticking with the human theme.. Brady misses long balls. Every QB does. If every NFL game came down to one long TD try, a lot of fans would be questioning the best QBs in the league every week. They all make mistakes. It's all about opportunities and what observers focus on. When you have less to work with, people will focus on the failing of what you had. When you can chuck the ball at Aquan Boldin all the way to a Super Bowl, you get a giant contract. When you have to make one perfect throw or you lose? Declining.

Not only was Brady handicapped by only having ever having worked with Edleman last year, but he never got a chance to get the timing down with all of his Rookie receivers.

Josh Boyce? Injured with a lot of drops. Kenbrell Thompkins? Injured with a lot of drops. Aaron Dobson? Injured with a lot of drops. Danny Amendola? Injured with a lot of drops (I *might* be guilt of exaggerating for emphasis on this one. Correct me if I'm mis-remembering this.).

Look at the one receiver Brady had some previous rapport with, Edleman.

Now look at the other player Brady had some rapport with, Gronkowski.

There's a pattern here and it's not that Brady has lost the ability to make injured Rookie-players great.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...ion-why-rookie-wide-receivers-struggle-in-nfl

I wont pretend that Brady won't or hasnt started to see the affects of his age: he will lose a bit of zip off the ball and maybe lose some mobility (though I imagine a quarterback's pocket presence is 99% a mental thing). Still the quality in Brady that makes others great has a lot to do with his decision making imo and that he will retain long after he is physically unable to continue playing professional football.

AzPatsFan said:

I agree, but implicit in that is a willingness to accept platooning or reserve status as he grows older, IMHO. TFB does NOT want to be an itinerant QB in his waning years like Montana, Unitas and Namath became.

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If he wasn't good enough to be the starter I think he'd just retire.

Look at Brady in the games in which he had most of his primary weapons last season –

Pittsburg – 23/33 69.7%, 432 yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 151.8 QB rating
Carolina – 29/40 72.5%, 296 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 91.3 QB rating
Denver – 34/50 68.0%, 344 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 107.4 QB rating
Houston – 29/41 70.7%, 371 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 104.8 QB rating

These were Brady’s stats in the second half of 2013 – 209/321 65.19%, 2519 yards, 7.84 average, 16 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 99.16 QB rating. Project that out over a full season and it is 5038 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Clearly the first half of the season he struggled adjusting to the new receivers, Gronkowski being out with an injury, and Vereen and Amendola also missing time with injuries, which is to be expected, once he got on track he was as good as any QB in the game. To even suggest Brady is not going to finish his career with the Patriots as a starter seems crazy to me but to think it could happen as soon as 2015 seems completely nuts.

Brady got sacked a lot in 2013 as well, played injured in a few games, and like everyone else mentioned played with a total different offensive turnover yet he still managed to lead the team to the AFC championship game. How about we quit trying to find his heir and just enjoy the few years he has left since he is once in a lifetime player.

Since the start of 2012 –

-New offensive coordinator
-New primary running back
-New third down running back
-New left tackle
-New offensive center
-New slot receiver
-New X receiver (x2)

These players were all on the 2011/2012 roster and contributed –

-Green-Ellis
-Matt Light
-Dan Koppen
-Brian Waters
-Kevin Faulk
-Brandon Lloyd
-Aaron Hernandez
-Wes Welker
-Deion Branch
-Danny Woodhead
-Donald Thomas

Add to that the key injuries to Gronkowski, Vollmer, Amendola, Vereen, and Dobson last season. Now he enters 2014 likely to face a turnover at center and right guard. All of these changes occurring with Brady at ages 35, 36, and now 37 is not ideal for Brady to play at his highest level, and he still overcame it and was one of the best QBs in the league over the years.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Relax. I don't think Tom uses isotoner gloves.

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No gloves....... but Brady does hock fleecy lambskin booties. Ok......now I'm scared. Marino and Elway went big into car dealerships......I can live with a Brady Tesla dealership

He already received the money up front ...
So Gil is technically wrong on the 7 million ...
Brady does not appear to be a thief and run away with that money in a contract demand.

This piece is almost a complete copy of Borges' article the other day. Who plagiarized who?

old 55 said:

This piece is almost a complete copy of Borges' article the other day. Who plagiarized who?

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They plagiarized each other causing a temporal paradox in the space-time continuum. The world as we know it will forever be changed in: 3, 2, 1..

Deus Amat said:

This is Belichick's best draft ever!!! <3 <3

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BelichickFan said:

That is just stupid. Brady likes playing, he's not going to think taking $7M to not play is better than $7M to play. Some people WAY over think this.

We needed a backup for next year who has starter potential either if Brady gets hurt, if his skills diminish or potentially when his contract runs out. We got it.

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Ron Borges is fully responsible for fanning the flames of the "Brady won't be playing at the contract he recently signed" talk, so it's no surprise that it's catching on from other reporters as well. Or vice versa.

Edit: Sorry for repeating some comments in front of me. I am guilty of responding without going through each and every comment, so I see we're all on the same page here.

Borges actually even went as far to claim that Belichick suggested as much in his comments from Friday night when he stated that "we're aware of Mallett's contract situation. We're aware of Tom's age and contract situation." Talk about speculating and twisting words!!!

I believe that Brady will play out his current pact. It practically doubled his guaranteed money, putting him in the range of Drew Brees' latest pact. It also increased his salary in '13 and '14. It's actually a pretty decent tradeoff for a guy in the last several/handful of years in the league. The tradeoff is that he'll be making less per year than the majority of other QBs, but the importance is usually with the guaranteed money. The biggest question of course--is it good enough for a player like Tom Brady?

Count me as one who's in the group who thinks that we needed to replace the backup position due to the Mallett situation + cover all bases for the future. It isn't like Belichick has been afraid to use higher round picks on backup QBs in the past (2008, 2011). I appreciate having a coach who thinks ahead and makes decisions both now and for the future.