The Tom Brady Era Is Ending

[Rooks]

How can you make that determination with this line?

Only last season he was routinely pulling miracle 4th Quarter wins out of his behind and now he's all washed up? Give him a solid line and real weapons, if he's still playing like crap I'll agree with you.

Just like last season though, Brady is missing wide open passes with good protection.

 

[BadMoFo]

Former New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said Tuesday that quarterback Tom Brady looks "scared to death" when he drops back in the pocket to pass.

Harrison, a former teammate of Brady's and current NBC Sports football analyst, told WEEI 93.7 FM in Boston that it "hurt" him to see the Patriots struggle as badly as they did in Monday night's 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

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The Patriots' offensive line played musical chairs in the loss as left tackle Nate Solder, right tackle Sebastian Vollmer and others were swapped out and moved around at various points during the game. Brady was sacked twice, threw two interceptions and was unable to establish himself in the pocket.

To Harrison, the problem with the Patriots' offense isn't as much Brady as it is those who are protecting him and the players he is throwing to.

"Tom Brady can still play," Harrison said. "But when you surround him -- there's a reason why Brandon LaFell was let go [by Carolina]. He's not a great player. He's a young guy, and he has to make his way in this league.

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Charlie RiedelTom Brady was sent to the bench with 10:34 remaining in Monday's blowout loss to Kansas City.
"And Danny Amendola, you look at him, no one ever said he was a great player. He's always been hurt. The history is behind it. Rob Gronkowski obviously coming off that ACL injury, he's been hurt. So it's not like when you look at the Patriots on paper they just have all these weapons and teams are afraid of them."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick pulled Brady after his second interception was returned for a touchdown by Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah with 10:34 left in the fourth quarter. Rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took over in his first NFL regular-season action and drove the Patriots 81 yards for a touchdown.

"Whether Bill pulled [Brady] because he's afraid he was going to get injured, or Bill was trying to send him a non-subtle message, as a player your mind kind of starts playing tricks on you and you start thinking like, 'What's going on?'" Harrison said. "But at the end of the day, Tom needs to play better. The offensive line needs to protect him, but Tom -- we've said it week in and week out -- he's missing opportunities that are there; he's just floating the ball in the air."

Brady looks frustrated to Harrison, who sees trouble ahead for the Patriots (2-2) in their next matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.

"I think it's one of those situations where Brady, he's really, really frustrated," Harrison said. "He doesn't have any confidence in his offensive line. And unfortunately, they're meeting one of the most complete teams in the National Football League."

 

[dales804]

@BadMoFo, you can't post a whole story here. Need to link to it but you can put a snippet of the article in the post.

 

[grux]

Tom Brady is declining but isn't done. No quaterback is going to be successful behind our offensive line.

 

[Rooks]

Yea you HAVE to fix the O line to... it's clearly one of the worst.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Just like last season though, Brady is missing wide open passes with good protection.

First off, every QB makes bad throws here and there.

Next, did he consistently get good protection or was he taking hits previously? If the QBs hand is off a few inches the ball could be off several feet, repeatedly taking hits will mess with your mechanics.

 

[bruce_w]

Ok, most of you are all over the OP. But he sees there is some kind of problem here. Most people see that something is wrong with Brady. Well there is and I noticed it start sometime last season and is has gotten much worse. In my not so humble opinion the problem is with his throwing mechanics coach. Some time after his long time coach/guru Tom Martinez passed away Brady began working with Tom house. House is a well known baseball pitching coach and is also well known for teaching "linear mechanics". And indeed there is an article from last season where House states that Brady is "too rotational". Saying that a QB is too rotational is like saying a beer is too cold. There is a lot more to this but ironically Tom's hard work and effort to prolong his career is actually shooting him in the foot. Please Bill, keep House away from Jimmy G, the kid looks great.

 

[PatriotSeven]

Yeah I really don't know what you mean....I and a lot of other people didn't even begin to fathom TB was going to end up becoming TB until at least AFTER he was starting in his 2nd Superbowl, and kids today are ready to proclaim his replacement after a few snaps in meaningless situations and smiles. I think the Colts getting insanely lucky with Luck has made some people really get the wrong idea about how rare QB's like TB and Peyton Manning truly are.

The chances of JAG or any other QB replacing TB ending up being a suitable replacement for him that will lead to the success we are accustomed to enjoying, is slim. And for the record I'd still take Peyton over Luck even today. And I'd take Luck over JAG. And finally, for the record, I'd still take TB over any of them for the foreseeable future.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I'm torn. We've been through bad stretches before. There's a dearth of weapons at TFB's disposal. We all know this. Protection is inconsistent.

But something is starting to feel different for me.

Until last night he was not throwing the picks. And for two games, the D was willing to take care of the game on their own if necessary. Last week they went on a tackling strike. The O line went through stretches of competency. Brady could not mash up mint leaves and mix a mojito back there like Alex Smith could, but he had time to find somebody. We kept hearing about who Brady "trusts."

Brady's no longer the guy that can will forward a team without weapons, and the loss of Mankins may have him feeling personally at risk. That ain't good - whether it's true or whether it's a species of sulking.

A benching to get the draft baby some playing time is a shot across the bow as of right now. We'll see where it goes from here. PatriotSeven, I'm usually the guy saying I'd take Brady over the alternative. For now that still holds. He's earned a long leash, and his receiving options aren't exactly Moss, Welker, Gronk, Hernandez, and [your name here]. If this O-line were the five layers of credit protection, his identity would have been stolen numerous times and hocked by russian hackers on the dark net. All that's understood. But if we don't see changes, this will be the season when we start somebody else. It doesn't hurt that draft baby's forte is a lightning fast release.

Here's to seeing changes (and I mean in Brady's play).

 

[saspack]

Garoppolo, Garoppolo we want

 

[saspack]

Garoppolo

 

[IllegalContact]

How can you make that determination with this line?

Only last season he was routinely pulling miracle 4th Quarter wins out of his behind and now he's all washed up? Give him a solid line and real weapons, if he's still playing like crap I'll agree with you.

He didn't say that....

He's not washed up, but he's not a long ball guy anymore....

As for last year, for some reason they're not doing the things that helped protect him last year.....they should

 

[Snake Eyes]

He didn't say that....

He's not washed up, but he's not a long ball guy anymore....

As for last year, for some reason they're not doing the things that helped protect him last year.....they should

The long ball needs 1) protection to allow the time for the receiver to cover the space and for the QB to properly step into the throw, and 2) a receiver who is fast, can track the ball, and get it at the highest point. I love me some Edelperson but a deep threat he is not. Thompkins and Dobson could be, but I'm not sure they'll see the field before Grop is the starter.

 

[IllegalContact]

The long ball needs 1) protection to allow the time for the receiver to cover the space and for the QB to properly step into the throw, and 2) a receiver who is fast, can track the ball, and get it at the highest point. I love me some Edelperson but a deep threat he is not. Thompkins and Dobson could be, but I'm not sure they'll see the field before Grop is the starter.

The long ball needs an arm that can get it there.......without that, the rest is fluff......I dont think Brady has that SRM any more even with time to set up

 

[Snake Eyes]

The long ball needs an arm that can get it there.......without that, the rest is fluff......I dont think Brady has that SRM any more even with time to set up

You don't think Brady has enough arm, are you serious? I keep on hearing about how often he overthrows receivers, must be because of his weak arm.

 

[Snake Eyes]

The long ball needs an arm that can get it there.......without that, the rest is fluff......I dont think Brady has that SRM any more even with time to set up

You don't think Brady has enough arm, are you serious? I keep on hearing about how often he overthrows receivers, must be because of his weak arm.

 

[IllegalContact]

You don't think Brady has enough arm, are you serious? I keep on hearing about how often he overthrows receivers, must be because of his weak arm.

OK......you're right

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Garoppolo

Is our backup....and?

 

[Joker]

Is our backup....and?

and he's gonna have one helluva sweet Pats polo shirt in the Pro Shoppe when he gets the starting job.

 

[Snake Eyes]

But something is starting to feel different for me.

I think this may be the first time I agree with you

I heard an interesting theory on the radio today, the idea is that when the org traded Mankins they lost Brady, his faith in them is gone.