They also seem to forget to mention that defense often comes at the expense of offense. Brady had some good defenses to be sure. Better than Rodgers or Brees on the whole, but the trade off was paid for them. In his early wins he had Brown, Branch, Patten and Givens. Brown was really good in 2001 but fell off pretty hard shortly after and become a role player. Patten and Branch were okay #2 options, but could rarely stay healthy at the same time during that early run. As for Givens, he was out of the league a year after leaving the Patriots. He wasn't awful, but it's clear Brady made him and not the other way around. I know Givens got injured mid season after leaving the Pats to go to the Titans, but before he did he barely got over 100 yards in 8 games.
The point is this. Brady had good Ds, but it cost him star talent in those early wins. If Rodgers or Brees wan equally good D's maybe they should try to get by without the likes of Adams or Thomas eating up a huge amount of cash.
As for those later championship runs, how many runs was Gronk in dominant form for? The only one I can think of is 2014. Edelman would be a good WR anywhere, but he wouldn't be as good without Brady. After them what did he have in those later runs? Amendola sure, he never got over 700 yards in any season. Lafell for one run who had his best year with Brady. Even being force fed in Cincy after AJ Green went down, he couldn't equal his output here. More detail is possible, but the point is simple. You can't have everything. And those rare years when you do, you have to cash in. Rodgers and Brees fans complain that their QBs couldn't have super star offensive players without a top tier D, and when they do have a good D to go along with their star players on offense they failed more than not. What else needs to be said?
Another argument for Brady is that he had to become a gunslinger in some of those games in the early years. So, he did have a great D, not very good WRs, and still managed to sling the ball around like crazy (I'm referring to 2003-2007).
2003:
Indy Colts, 24 points, 237 yards
Carolina SB, 32 points, 29 first downs, 354 yards (the second highest total in history for a SB at the time)
2004:
Pittsburgh, 41 points, 207 yards, 130.5 passer rating (opening quarter bomb for 60 yards to Branch)
Philly, 24 points, 236 yards, 110.2 rating (Deion Branch SB MVP)
2005:
Jax, 28 points, 201 yards, 116.4 rating
Denver, 341 yards in a loss, threw two key interceptions, the Ben Watson/Champ Bailey play
2006:
Jets, 37 points, 212 yards, 101.6 rating
Chargers, 24 points, 280 yards, 3 INTs, huge upset victory, Troy Brown strips the ball on an INT to seal game, "Lights Out" on the Chargers logo
Colts, 34 points, 242 yards, still the worst loss in Patriots history since Raiders 1976. Game was stolen.
2007:
Jax, 26 completions-28 attempts, 262 yards, 141.4 rating (Brady broke NFL records for consecutive completions this game)
San Diego, 21 points, 209 yards, below 10 degrees temps during game (Brady declares on the stadium mic, just minutes after final whistle, "Sorry I sucked.")
Giants, 266 yards, 82.5 rating (second worse loss in Patriots history since Oakland 1976).
I look at these playoff performances and I conclude that during the years in which the Patriots D was stellar, Brady was slinging it in 7 out of the 12 playoff games they played, including in 2 of the Super Bowls.
