That made him a good QB, not an elite one. He grew into being elite.
And it doesn't change the fact that the defense carried this team in 2003. You aren't going to win many games scoring 9-12 points on offense and the Pats won all three they had in 2003. Why? Because of the defense. Again, the offense was efficient, but other than a handful of games and , it wasn't anything special that year.
A clutch QB cannot win unless they are put in positions to be clutch. That is my point. Without that defense, the Pats would have lost a third to half the games they won probably by multiple scores. A game manager who is clutch with a crappy defense is just a subpar QB. They never have the opportunity to be clutch.
I am not saying Brady didn't play a big role in 2001 or 2003, but when you look at the season as a whole the majority of the credit goes to the defense and Belichick, not Brady. In the other Super Bowl years, you can make the argument that Brady is the biggest reason the Pats won those years.
Looking at those 9-12 offense point total games misses a lot of context. The Patriots often played conservative, mistake free football with an emphasis on field position and running the ball. Why? Because they knew the defense would hold up. It’s like the Super Bowl that year against Carolina. When the offense needed to answer the call, they did. I have little doubt that the offense would have scored a lot more points throughout the season with a lesser defense, including those games.
When Brady finishes third in MVP voting and is widely regarded as one of the best QBs in football, that means a lot more than looking at his stats and point totals in hindsight. He was absolutely considered an elite QB in 2003, coming off that remarkable run in 2001 and leading the league in TD passes on 2002.
Take a look at these two charts from 2003. The Patriots were (well, Brady was) indeed efficient and didn’t turn the ball over much despite scoring enough points in 14 of 16 games
while having a terrible running game.
One more chart from 2003. These are the top 16 scoring offenses in the NFL for points scored. Notice that of the top 16, the Patriots are dead last in rushing yards/attempt. But in addition to that, only
three other teams averaged less than 4.0 YPA. Which other three? The Indianapolis Colts, who had Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Edgerrin James; the St. Louis Rams, who had Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Marshall Faulk; and the Tennessee Titans, who had Derrick Mason (not that he’s a superstar but had 12,000 receiving yards in his career.)
Epilogue: Charlie Weis turned out to be a mediocre offensive coach, despite the narrative that he was the genius behind the team’s success in 2003; Deion Branch was a huge bust in Seattle; Antowain Smith was replaced the next year by Corey Dillon; none of the Patriots offensive linemen made the pro bowl. Neither David Givens, Bethel Johnson, or David Patten did anything outside of New England.
