Are we overlooking that Brady shined in the most pressure-packed game EVER?!

[richpats]

Going into the game I was worried for a whole bunch of reasons, more about how Brady would be judged after Sunday night's game. Make no mistake, if he had struggled even a little, his stock would have plummeted in everybody's mind. And he had to do it against a team that he's never really played well against, the same team that picked him 3 times in the playoffs and made him look very mortal. A team that had one of the most feared LB's in the game.

Ok, the honor of 6 successful seasons as a QB, including 3 SB titles, 80 wins and a sure bet to get into the Hall is on the line in ONE game against a feared opponent and people will likely judge your career on this ONE performance since it has been so heavily hyped.

So what does Tom Brady do in this situation? First drive he FLOORS San Diego with an all-passing drive. Racks up 3 TD passes and 80% completion. Gets the Horse-Trailer award. One of his best performances EVER. In one of his most important games EVER.

Spare me any "Peyton HAD to win the AFC title game to secure his legacy" BS - he could have shed the 'choker' label any year. Brady absolutely had to be superhuman in order to silence the doubters. And he was - more than I've ever seen him before

 

[carolinatony]

YES
If we lost we all know what we would have heard from everyone. I believe it was a Big pressure game and he came throught like the Champ he is!

 

[Ring 6]

Brady is 12-2 in 'the most pressure packed games ever'. They are called the playoffs.

In fact he was asked in the press conference to talk about what Bruschi said about this being 'the biggest game they ever played'. He laughed and said 'we've played a lot of big games around here. I think Super Bowls are bigger than this game'.

This was a regular season game. Quite frankly the Jet game was bigger because it was a division game, and the Bills game will be too.
You need to realize that THE HYPE DOES NOT AFFECT THIS TEAM.

Did you listen to Bradys post game press conference?
Basically he said he doesnt care at all about the criticism and hype. He own't respond to it, because he couldn't possibly respond to every negative comment without spending his whole life doing so.
HE TRULY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK, OR HIS LEGACY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. HE TRULY MEANS IT WHEN HE SAYS HE JUST WANTS TO WIN GAMES, AND SHUT EVERYONE UP THAT WAY.

I think the entire team shares that (although Bruschi may be the emotional exception)

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

It was a big September game, but it was a September game and they were the better team going in.

We learned everything we needed to know about Tom Brady in February '02.

 

[richpats]

You need to realize that THE HYPE DOES NOT AFFECT THIS TEAM.

It affects EVERY team, including the Patriots. Why were players hugging Belichick last night if they didn't care about the hype?

BB used the "Carolina is this year's Patriots" hype as motivation for his players in SB38 - think that came in handy?

They aren't robots, nor should they be. They need to be fired up, motivated, with a chip on their shoulder......but still focused on the job at hand (unlike one team whose name begins with a C, ends with an 's' and has an 'harger' in the middle.

 

[Ring 6]

It affects EVERY team, including the Patriots. Why were players hugging Belichick last night if they didn't care about the hype?

BB used the "Carolina is this year's Patriots" hype as motivation for his players in SB38 - think that came in handy?

They aren't robots, nor should they be. They need to be fired up, motivated, with a chip on their shoulder......but still focused on the job at hand (unlike one team whose name begins with a C, ends with an 's' and has an 'harger' in the middle.

You are confusing HYPE with motivation.

Why were players hugging BB? I'll go by what they said: They feel like they are a family, and when one of the family is under the gun, you watch his back.
Thats a far cry from the most pressure packed game a team that won 3 SBs played.

The Carolina comment was not because the media was saying that, it was because the Patriots won as underdogs and now Carolina was trying to turn the tables on them. It was a MOTIVATION TO WIN THE GAME, not an insult that the media like the Panthers.

You are not a robot if you don't care about what the media is saying and you are focussed on playing football.

I disagree that this team needs to be 'fired up' and 'have a chip on their shoulder'.
They are doing everything they do for the result which is winning Super Bowls.
The ultimate reward is a much bigger motivation than finding sonmething to be angry about. Angry teams lose all the time too. A team that is focussed on the goal, and truly understands the goal, and the meaning of achieving is consistent, and executes. They do not need ARTIFICIAL motivation. Winning a SB means a whole lot more than shutting LaDanian Tomlinson's mouth.
Perhaps a lot of NFL players feel the way you say. They need extra motivation, and think that 'showing them all' is what its about. Its not. Its about winning.
If the Patriots had lost 40-0 yesterday and won the SB thats good.
If the Patriots 'showed them' last night, but don't win a SB thats not.

I think that many players, especially the ones who try to draw attention to themselves believe what you are saying. I dont think those players wear Patriot uniforms.

 

[onegameatatime]

First, I thought Bruschi said something like "most satisfying" win, not best or most significant.

I was concerned they would press too hard and be too pumped up.

I thought it would be hard for the Pats to do anything more that could impress me after the 2003 and 2004 seasons, but they keep amazing.

 

[mgteich]

I agree 100%. It is hard for posters to understand that the jets game was more important to the team and its players.

Brady is 12-2 in 'the most pressure packed games ever'. They are called the playoffs.

In fact he was asked in the press conference to talk about what Bruschi said about this being 'the biggest game they ever played'. He laughed and said 'we've played a lot of big games around here. I think Super Bowls are bigger than this game'.

This was a regular season game. Quite frankly the Jet game was bigger because it was a division game, and the Bills game will be too.
You need to realize that THE HYPE DOES NOT AFFECT THIS TEAM.

Did you listen to Bradys post game press conference?
Basically he said he doesnt care at all about the criticism and hype. He own't respond to it, because he couldn't possibly respond to every negative comment without spending his whole life doing so.
HE TRULY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK, OR HIS LEGACY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. HE TRULY MEANS IT WHEN HE SAYS HE JUST WANTS TO WIN GAMES, AND SHUT EVERYONE UP THAT WAY.

I think the entire team shares that (although Bruschi may be the emotional exception)

 

[nukin]

That's because Tom Brady is THE MAN.