OK, so Brady wasn't good yesterday, and hasn't been "primo" all year. In his 14th year in the league, would it be a shock if he isn't now and never will be again the QB he was 5 years ago, or even last year? I don't think any of us should be shocked, but even if all that is true, so what?
The offense needs balance. They didn't have it yesterday, running 6 times in the second half was not going to cut it. Missing Gronk, Ridley, Vereen, FE#83, and <him> yesterday hurt them more than Brady's inaccuracy. With a defense like Cinci's it is crucial to both be able to attack them on the edges and make them be less decisive than they are normally. They didn't mix plays well, too many negative plays, and not enough speed and power outside the tackles. That just isn't winning offensive football against a D like Cinci's on a day like yesterday, and even with that, if they punch it in when they get to the 1 yard line instead of settling for the FG, I think we may have seen a different outcome.
I love Brady as much as everyone does, and if you read the OP's posts, and most everyone's posts in this thread, I don't think we are doing anything more than raising a legitimate question about whether he is going to rebound. He's given us good reason to worry about this, especially with all the unknown quantities this year, but personally I'm still expecting him, and the team to peak at the end of the year. He's also given me plenty of reason through these 5 games to be confident about that. The only thing that has happened since Game 1 that truly worries me about Game 17 is losing Vince.
I suspect some of this is driven by what Manning is doing. We fall into the trap because of the media hype about him, but until I see him do it differently than he has his entire career (including in college), I'll believe that Peyton will end this year doing what he always has, piling up the regular season stats, crumbling when it gets cold.
Calm down and keep the faith!!