Dez Bryant walks off the field with 1:21 remaining in Cowboys’ loss to Packers...

[primetime]

"Choker" is almost always entirely narrative. If Brady hadn't brought the Patriots down the field to win the Super Bowl against the Rams and Panthers, thus cementing him forever as the comeback king, then the 2005 divisional game, 2006 AFCCG, and the playoff losses the last few years would have given him a choker label. He still gets a bizarre and undeserved label for 'choking' in the Super Bowls against the Giants, despite leading potential game-winning drives, including a would-be historically great one on the level of "The Catch" in 2007, in both games.

Note that this doesn't apply to Peyton Manning, who actually usually costs his team the game in the postseason (as opposed to Romo, whose defense usually costs him the game). I'm sort of half kidding there though.

 

[Texxx]

I only hope that the "we should have drafted Bryant instead of McCourty" conversations follow Bryant's lead and take a walk.

Dez Bryant walks off field with 1:21 left in Dallas Cowboys loss | Audibles - SI.com

No question in my mind the Patriots would have beaten the Giants in the last SB and probably the Ravens in last year's playoffs if they had Bryant.

Reason being that I've said time and time again that the Pats lack of a wideout has cost this team in the big games. The amount of attention that Bryant would have caused on the other team's defenses would have freed up the guys like Gronk, Hernandez, and Welker so much easier. No way those games are closer and no way those guys don't score on those drives that hurt the Pats. No way they would have been able to stop that and Bryant would have been at such a sweet price. His development with a player like Brady would have been insane.

Now I only say all of that because I think that Brady and BB are capable of controlling Dez better than any other team. I don't think that other teams get that same production out of Bryant. But we're talking about McCourtney???? Lol! Bryant's value is so much higher that this shouldn't even be a question. The amount of return on investment would have hardly made Bryant a risk at all on this team.

 

[primetime]

No question in my mind the Patriots would have beaten the Giants in the last SB and probably the Ravens in last year's playoffs if they had Bryant.

Or, you know, a healthy Rob Gronkowski.

Who was on the roster.

 

[Texxx]

Or, you know, a healthy Rob Gronkowski.

Who was on the roster.

He played though and was somewhat effective. Bryant at wideout would have just opened up things more. They already had Hernandez as well. Brady is such a wizard at the middle of the field. He has just hasn't had that dominant wideout in a while now. They could have exploited the Giants so much easier. He was sitting right there at the end of the first round. BB definitely didn't go with BPA at that point in time.

 

[primetime]

He played though and was somewhat effective. Bryant at wideout would have just opened up things more. They already had Hernandez as well. Brady is such a wizard at the middle of the field. He has just hasn't had that dominant wideout in a while now. They could have exploited the Giants so much easier. He was sitting right there at the end of the first round. BB definitely didn't go with BPA at that point in time.

He wasn't effective at all in the Super Bowl, and didn't play against the Ravens last year. Against the Giants, his injury made the difference on that later-game jump-ball interception, the sort of pass that a healthy Gronk catches and a wounded Gronk gets outjumped for. They could have put the game away with that catch (or, you know, a Welker catch later on...)

Either way, Bryant doesn't make the difference in either game. And not having McCourty probably would have made a bigger difference last year against the Ravens when the entire secondary besides him went down injured.

 

[Brady6]

No question in my mind the Patriots would have beaten the Giants in the last SB and probably the Ravens in last year's playoffs if they had Bryant.

Reason being that I've said time and time again that the Pats lack of a wideout has cost this team in the big games. The amount of attention that Bryant would have caused on the other team's defenses would have freed up the guys like Gronk, Hernandez, and Welker so much easier. No way those games are closer and no way those guys don't score on those drives that hurt the Pats. No way they would have been able to stop that and Bryant would have been at such a sweet price. His development with a player like Brady would have been insane.

Now I only say all of that because I think that Brady and BB are capable of controlling Dez better than any other team. I don't think that other teams get that same production out of Bryant. But we're talking about McCourtney???? Lol! Bryant's value is so much higher that this shouldn't even be a question. The amount of return on investment would have hardly made Bryant a risk at all on this team.

Do you realize how good Devin McCourty is? McCourty is a top 5 safety and arguably the best in the NFL.

Earl Thomas, Jairus Byrd top list of NFL's best safeties - NFL.com

Devin McCourty Developing into Premier NFL Safety | Bleacher Report

Devin McCourty Playing Like Top Safety in NFL and Other Observations From Patriots-Jets Film Review | New England Patriots | NESN.com

Pro Football Focus rates McCourty best safety in NFL this year | nePatriotsLife.com - New England Patriots Fan Site, Blog, T-shirts

I can tell you without a doubt in my mind Devin McCourty would be the more sought after player by 95% of teams in the NFL. Dez Bryant is not that good and he would not have meant any super bowl win because we would have a gaping hole in our secondary without McCourty. I think you should pay more attention to the game on the defensive side; the Cowboys are 29-33 without a playoff appearance since Dez came into the league. McCourty has also been an all pro and a pro bowler and is on track to do both again this season, Bryant has never done either.

 

[coolguy]

Do you realize how good Devin McCourty is? McCourty is a top 5 safety and arguably the best in the NFL.

Earl Thomas, Jairus Byrd top list of NFL's best safeties - NFL.com

Devin McCourty Developing into Premier NFL Safety | Bleacher Report

Devin McCourty Playing Like Top Safety in NFL and Other Observations From Patriots-Jets Film Review | New England Patriots | NESN.com

Pro Football Focus rates McCourty best safety in NFL this year | nePatriotsLife.com - New England Patriots Fan Site, Blog, T-shirts

I can tell you without a doubt in my mind Devin McCourty would be the more sought after player by 95% of teams in the NFL. Dez Bryant is not that good and he would not have meant any super bowl win because we would have a gaping hole in our secondary without McCourty. I think you should pay more attention to the game on the defensive side; the Cowboys are 29-33 without a playoff appearance since Dez came into the league. McCourty has also been an all pro and a pro bowler and is on track to do both again this season, Bryant has never done either.

Couldn't you make the case the patriots have a bad defense despite him playing good?

The offense is the core to these patriots teams for the 7 years and dez would have made them even better.

 

[pheenix11]

If Tony Romo was my QB I'd have a hard time staying the whole time as well.

He's like watching a plane crash into a train wreck.

 

[varjao]

you have a quarterback like Tony Romo, a coach like Garret and an owner like Jerry and expect what? A good environment?

Listen, things are pretty different in NE. The QB is Brady, the coach is BB and the owner is Kraft who doesn't get involved on either game decisions or draft.
And this is actually a winning franchise. He would be a different person playing here.

What is the verb in english for those guys who teach dogs how to behave, sit, jump, roll, etc..? He would be [verb]ed by BB over here.

Dez over Dmac every day of the week.

 

[varjao]

Also you guys says he's a mental case, well, 50% of NFL players probably are.

 

[primetime]

Also you guys says he's a mental case, well, 50% of NFL players probably are.

No, this isn't true at all. NFL players tend to be pampered manchildren, but that's a far cry from someone who quits on their team, screams at their coach and quarterback, assaults their mother, and so on. An ex-scout called Bryant's background the worst of any player they had ever seen coming into the league.

Bryant's not a diva like Terrell Owens or spotlight-averse like Randy Moss, he's an ultra-talented player with severe anger issues, and I don't think Brady or Belichick would be able to keep him in line. He's like Brandon Marshall before Marshall sought help for his mental illness and emerged as a mature team leader in Chicago.

 

[Joker]

I'd be Son of Sam if I had that moron Tony Nomo throwing games away like used candy wrappers at a post natal Jessica Simpson gorge fest.

 

[primetime]

I'd be Son of Sam if I had that moron Tony Nomo throwing games away like used candy wrappers at a post natal Jessica Simpson gorge fest.

You mean like when the Cowboys lost to the Chiefs in September because Bryant dropped a perfect pass from Romo down the sideline on the last drive of the game?

Romo's got more game-winning drives than Brady over the last 5 years. While that's partly because Brady has had a tendency to not need a game-winning drive, it also says a lot about Romo's completely media-fabricated narrative. If that choker narrative surrounded Brady, people would have looked at the last game (or the Panthers game, despite the bad call) as validation of their narrative and conveniently ignored the Browns or Texans game.

 

[PlainOldEd]

Re: Dez Bryant walks off the field with 1:21 remaining in Cowboys’ loss to Packer...

Yeah unfortunately when it comes to wide receivers great talent is seldom accompanied with great intelligence.

Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Steve Largent. These are the first 3 that came to mind, I'm sure I'm missing several obvious ones.

I don't think it's about intelligence, it's about selfishness.

 

[condon84]

What's funny, is that a lot of other NFL fans call both Belichick and Brady the same you guys are calling Dez when we lose games.