Tom was injured, he wasn't practicing after the Chiefs game where he had his arm in a sling and was dealing with a foot injury as well. This isn't opinion like "he looked fine to me."
Look you hate Brady so much that you're blaming their 2019 downfall on his injuries which you're totally embellishing. Brady didn't miss a snap in 2019 due to injury. So he was fine, if he wasn't then he wouldn't have played, that's a fact. What's next?... You're going to say the offense struggled in December because Brady skipped OTA's in April?
The offense struggled in 2019 because the personnel was weak thanks to Belichick.
They lost the week 17 game against the Dolphins because
1) after a
healthy Tom Brady led a go-ahead TD drive to put the team up 24-20 with under 4 minutes left in the game, the defense couldn't stop Ryan Fitzpatrick from matching down the field to put the Dolphins up 27-24 with only 24 seconds and
2) Belichick completely botched his use (or non-use) of timeouts at the end of both halves.
On the Dolphins game-winning drive, once they got beyond the Patriots 30-yardline, Belichick should have started conserving time but instead he let the clock run with 3 timeouts sitting in his pocket. Ultimately the Dolphins scored with only 24 seconds left in the game and the Patriots didn't have enough time left to get into FG range. I guess this was another instance where Belichick supposedly saw something on the Dolphins sideline (the same improbable narrative he fed us after SB 49).
At the end of the first half, after a rush for no gain, the Dolphins facing a 4th-10 from their own 20 with 1:51 left, Belichick with all 3 timeouts left let the Dolphins run the play clock all the way down. Ultimately this resulted in the Patriots getting the ball back with 0:57 left, all 3 timeouts still remaining, yet Belichick chose not to use a single timeout and he just let the half expire.
Belichick's mismanagement of timeouts and the clock contributed to that week 17 loss which dropped them out of a bye. They had to play the Titans in the wild card and they got completely steamrolled by Derrick Henry to closeout the season. Another season Belichick gagged up... we can add it to the list... 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020... quite the list.
Jameis Winston was a turnover machine in 2019, he also led the NFL in passing yards and TD's. Tampa has a better O-Line, better Defense and even better weapons in 2020 with Gronk, AB and Fournette... so better everywhere. Or maybe you didn't see their defense force 4 turnovers the other night and hold Michael Thomas to zero catches for the first time in his career... but yeah... it's all Tom.
Are you following Linda Holliday for rebuttal ideas?
Tampa Bay is not playing in the NFC championship game without Tom Brady. That's correct, I am saying that. They don't win 11 games, they don't make the playoffs, they don't beat WFT or the Saints without Brady. Tom Brady transformed an entire organization in less than 1 year. From losers to Super Bowl contenders. Gronk, AB and Fournette... all signed with Tampa Bay for the opportunity to play with Brady. The team buy-in, the commitment to excellence, motivation and will to win... all stemming from Brady's presence and leadership. It's not just his elite quarterback play, it's his leadership and all of the other invaluable intangibles he brings to an organization. This 'super team' that you keep insisting upon had 1 pro bowler (0 on offense), even though you claim they're "better everywhere" than last year.
I know it's difficult for a Brady-hater to accept but the only position that Tampa Bay is consequentially better is at quarterback. Brady is most responsible for Tampa Bay playing in the NFC championship game this weekend. Just like he was most responsible for the 13 AFC championship game appearances for New England.
Brady was mistake-free and played well in the key moments against the Saints who have an outstanding defense. They don't win that game with Winston still at quarterback. Furthermore if you flipped the quarterbacks (Brady/Brees) then the score would have flipped too.
Your denial that BB drafted Brady is the biggest sign that you dislike Belichick. I'm going to make a factual statement; BB drafted Tom Brady.
At least I'm upfront about my grievances with Belichick. You can't admit the obvious... you hate Brady and you're itching for him to fail in Tampa Bay so you can pounce on the moment. Guess what, it's too late for that. Brady's first season with Tampa Bay has been a huge success already. The rest is gravy. Anything from here on out just makes it better. Green Bay has all the advantages this weekend... location, weather, MVP/pro bowl QB, pro bowl WR, pro bowl RB, pro bowl CB, pro bowl LB, possible Coach of the Year, etc. Green Bay will be overwhelmingly picked to win this matchup.
Keeping saying BB drafted Brady; it's just as pointless each time. BB didn't know he was drafting the GOAT at 199. BB also signed Bledsoe to a 10-year contract one year after he drafted Brady so BB was full-on commitment to Bledsoe as his long term starter. Mo Lewis had more to do with Brady getting a chance than BB. Once Brady became the starter his play made the decision for BB.
Also, now that Brady is gone, BB needs to be demoted to lowercase bb, it's more fitting of his importance.
BB has to reload an entire team, Brady is a player who gets to show up and throw a ball. Comparing records is a joke, Brady's amazing record is largely a result of being surrounded by top O-Line's, Defenses and Special Team's units his entire career... who was responsible for that?
Now you're really going off the deep end... special teams? Ok so Matthew Slater made Tom Brady? Slater's name never would have been uttered outside of Foxboro if not for Brady. Seriously, stick with quoting bb's excuse-making interview with his pal Charlie Weis. That's less offensive.
Brady's the only player who played on all 6 of the Super Bowl winning teams. The rosters otherwise were in a constant state of flux. Brady led game-winning drives in all 6 Super Bowl wins; he led would-be game-winning drives in the 3 losses. He has 9 postseason comebacks and 14 postseason game-winning drives (more than double the second most).
You're comparing Brady's value to entire units (e.g. the defense) which is ridiculous. The question is, who's the most important individual to the success of the dynasty. Brady's value towers over any single defensive player you could name. Same for a special teamer obviously. Same for any other offensive player. Same for any coach including bb.
Seriously, you're essentially arguing Brady's individual value against the accumulation of every other player on the team throughout his entire career in New England. Holy sh*t dude, you
really hate Brady.
