Brady has been deprogrammed

[TruthSeeker]

Protection for Brady should be the #1 priority of this franchise. Give Brady time to pass and he will be perform in great fashion no matter who the receivers are.

Koppen almost got Brady killed today!

Agreed. Brady won SB's with terrible receivers (see SB 36, everyone except Brown was average to below average) and average receivers (Givens and Branch were average, Brady made them good, they did nothing after they left). He also won SB's with average O-Line's, but they were great at protecting him. Brady didn't lose SB 42, his O-Line and defense did. Brady gave us the lead, despite 5 sacks, and the defense choked. Give him the time, like most of 2007, and he disects defenses, no matter who his receivers are. Before yesterdays game, I think he was sacked 18 times all year. Though he must take most of the blame for yesterday's loss, the line didn't throw INT's.

 

[Bill B.]

I think that Brady has been feeling the effects of missing a year of football. Not just the physical part, but the mental part, too. If you look at his numbers, 28 TDS, 13 INTs, 65% passing and almost 4400 yards, you will see that those are typical Brady numbers. But I think he came in with something to prove and tried to do everything himself. Most of his problems were mental mistakes and he tried to force a lot of things that weren't there. Without having an OC or an experienced QB coach around, there was nobody to keep him grounded. I think letting Tom rest up for the offseason will help and he will be back next year better than ever.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I do not think he has been deprogrammed, I feel he is hurt a lot worse then people think. It looks to me like he would rather throw the ball up for grabs than take a sack and a hit. Also the last two weeks I have not seen the ball coming out of his had a bit wobbly, and not in a tight spiral.

If he would rather throw the ball up for grabs then take a hit like you say then its time to look for our future QB - This is not flag football,you have got to be able to take hits AND throw the ball accurately,thats what an NFL QB does.

 

[Kontradiction]

You have to realize that the strategy for playing the Patriots has changed since the SB loss to the Giants. People are getting to Brady much more now....not necessarily sacking him, but getting pressure. Maybe this is because the O-line is aging....who knows. Aren't Mankins and O'Callahan supposed to be the next gen of Pats O-linemen? Maybe Vollmer and Kaczur can't cut it (and Kaczur's getting old now too).

I agree that Brady's gameplan changed with Moss in the mix, but having Welker was probably a huge upgrade to the gameplan. Welker will be back, and Edelman is good, so he hasn't really lost options. I just think that Tom's weaknesses (if you will) are being exposed. But these are the same weaknesses any QB has. You get pressure and force bad throws. He's still the same guy when there's a sustained pocket regardless of who the WRs are.

This is where people need to learn the game a little bit instead of thinking that their favourite Pro Bowler with a famous face is the reason a team has success. Give Brady an O-line and he's great. Hell, give Bruce Gradkowski an O-line and he could probably be pretty good too. Today you saw a Pats team that couldn't get anything going and it was all because they got beat up front. Brett Favre is a great example of this....he's not good this year because he's immortal, he's good because he gets protection and they have a serious run threat.

Wow. I can't believe this kind of analysis on the state of the 2009 Patriots just came from a Jets fan. Bravo on that one, buddy. I also think that a lot of the struggles were the lack of a competent third option at the WR position. 2007 saw this offense become great mostly because of Welker and Moss, but what really made that offense so hard to protect against was the threat of a third home run hitter in Stallworth that was constantly capable of beating single coverage and whom actually demanded double coverage some of the time leaving either one of Welker, Watson, or Faulk WIDE open for big gains. We had somewhat of a viable third option in Gaffney last year (though he was no home run hitter). This year? A career special teamer. Combine that with the breakdowns on the offensive line, the doubling of Welker and Moss, and a quarterback coming back from major knee surgery and it's actually an accomplishment that we managed to go 10-6.

EDIT: But I have to disagree with you about Vollmer. He's certainly not ready yet, but he will be. The guy is still a blue chipper type of prospect and is still raw, but he is improving... steadily.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Agreed. Brady won SB's with terrible receivers (see SB 36, everyone except Brown was average to below average) and average receivers (Givens and Branch were average, Brady made them good, they did nothing after they left). He also won SB's with average O-Line's, but they were great at protecting him. Brady didn't lose SB 42, his O-Line and defense did. Brady gave us the lead, despite 5 sacks, and the defense choked. Give him the time, like most of 2007, and he disects defenses, no matter who his receivers are. Before yesterdays game, I think he was sacked 18 times all year. Though he must take most of the blame for yesterday's loss, the line didn't throw INT's.

the scheme made those WR useful....they would not work in the scheme being used now

Carson Palmer alluded to something at the beginning of the season where Brady would struggle this year even if he was 100% healthy....just the nature of the injury and what it does to the psyche the year you come back.....did not do much but heal during the offseason......since he can work at his game during, the results will be more consistent next year

 

[CMcCartney]

Anybody else notice the number of ducks Brady threw yesterday? Seemed like almost every pass was wobbly, and he usually throws a good ball.. I'm sure this had something to do with the inaccurracy of his passes.. Although we'll never know, I'm hoping his erratic play this year is due to injury.. He had some excellent games and some horrible ones.. He's usually pretty consistent..

 

[BillPower]

I think that seeing Ray Lewis humping Tom's back all day had a lot to do with the outcome of this game

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Anybody else notice the number of ducks Brady threw yesterday? Seemed like almost every pass was wobbly, and he usually throws a good ball.. I'm sure this had something to do with the inaccurracy of his passes.. Although we'll never know, I'm hoping his erratic play this year is due to injury.. He had some excellent games and some horrible ones.. He's usually pretty consistent..

Brady has been HORRID in the past few playoff games.

If you didn't already know,3 of his last 6 playoff games Brady has had 3 INT games in them - 3 of 6 games with 9 picks...something is very wrong,this is not the Brady of 03-04

 

[Kontradiction]

Anybody else notice the number of ducks Brady threw yesterday? Seemed like almost every pass was wobbly, and he usually throws a good ball.. I'm sure this had something to do with the inaccurracy of his passes.. Although we'll never know, I'm hoping his erratic play this year is due to injury.. He had some excellent games and some horrible ones.. He's usually pretty consistent..

I've gone on record at least 20 times since the game ended yesterday as stating that I fully believe that Brady was injured during the Lewis sack in the first quarter. My dad even said it too. Along the lines of, "I've never seen Brady's passes so inaccurate, with zero touch, before. Brady's hurt".

 

[The Dynasty]

Anybody else notice the number of ducks Brady threw yesterday? Seemed like almost every pass was wobbly, and he usually throws a good ball.. I'm sure this had something to do with the inaccurracy of his passes.. Although we'll never know, I'm hoping his erratic play this year is due to injury.. He had some excellent games and some horrible ones.. He's usually pretty consistent..

He only threw one duck yesterday that I can remember. How about his 3rd INT trying to fit it in a tight window to Watson, he fired that ball. I questioned his arm strength because of injuries and maybe that was why they haven been throwing many deep balls, but after seeing him fire that pass and others in the past few weeks its pretty safe to say that his health isnt effecting his arm strength

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Wow. I can't believe this kind of analysis on the state of the 2009 Patriots just came from a Jets fan. Bravo on that one, buddy. I also think that a lot of the struggles were the lack of a competent third option at the WR position. 2007 saw this offense become great mostly because of Welker and Moss, but what really made that offense so hard to protect against was the threat of a third home run hitter in Stallworth that was constantly capable of beating single coverage and whom actually demanded double coverage some of the time leaving either one of Welker, Watson, or Faulk WIDE open for big gains. We had somewhat of a viable third option in Gaffney last year (though he was no home run hitter). This year? A career special teamer. Combine that with the breakdowns on the offensive line, the doubling of Welker and Moss, and a quarterback coming back from major knee surgery and it's actually an accomplishment that we managed to go 10-6.

EDIT: But I have to disagree with you about Vollmer. He's certainly not ready yet, but he will be. The guy is still a blue chipper type of prospect and is still raw, but he is improving... steadily.

It is sad that a troll who may not get all the names and projections right at least sees the forrest for the trees while the locals just want to dump on the OC or the QB put in an almost untenable situation. And I love the revisionist history. Brady had some good receivers in his first six seasons, one of them has a SB MVP trophy to show for his efforts even if his body failed him once he left. Another was a probowler at the end of his career and is in the teams HOF for a reason. He's the benchmark for what a patriot player should be. Patten was a damn good WR albeit in a brief window, and still had value to a couple of other teams as a mentor and safety valve even when he left here. Givens was an above average receiver, just not the #1 Tennessee envisioned before his career ending injury.

Edleman is a gem but he's not Wes Welker three years into this system. Moss is a shell of his former self and absent another outside threat to draw coverage and an OL that can pass block consistently for deep routes he's not much of a weapon you can bank on consistently or down the stretch. Aiken and yesterday's alternate entrant in the whose on 3rd sweepstakes are career ST'ers and 5th or 6th WR's at best. Watson has always been an enigma and Baker was brought primarily as a blocker because this OL has dictated our TE's be that since Dan Graham was here and unhappily injured all the time and longing for a change.

This team is going to have to continue to be a pass first team to succeed in today's NFL. They need to run the ball better but that's on the OL as well as the RB too. Brady needs a deeper arsenal of talented physical functional receivers than what he was asked to work with this season, let alone in week 18...

At the end of the day it all starts and ends in the trenches.

 

[CMcCartney]

He only threw one duck yesterday that I can remember.

I noticed on a lot of the slo-mo replays that a lot of his passes were knuckling all over the place.. Thought it was some indication of an issue with his throwing finger/arm/shoulder. And as much as the media has asked about his health (especially in his interview with the morning d-bags on WEEI), he is pleading the 5th.. Sure sounds like he's hurting, though..

 

[IcyPatriot]

This thread sucks ... in all 3 phases of the game ... it sucks goat balls.

 

[TriplecHamp]

I just want to know what people think about this...
Over his last 3 seasons, Tom has fumbled 22 times, losing 10 of them.
Over his last 6seasons, Peyton has fumbled 21 times losing 5 of them.

now take a look at these two pictures...

 

[Mountain_Commando]

I do not think he has been deprogrammed, I feel he is hurt a lot worse then people think. It looks to me like he would rather throw the ball up for grabs than take a sack and a hit. Also the last two weeks I have not seen the ball coming out of his had a bit wobbly, and not in a tight spiral.

This. I've been saying this all along. We all know he's had multiple injuries, even despite the team's policy to talk little about this topic. This is not even counting his repaired knee. In the last 2 games, he barely ever threw long, and even his short passes were weak at best. Plus, we've all seen the O line become less and less effective ever since 'that' game.

I feel that having played a full season + and given the offseason to heal, he's gonna come back much stronger. I really hope we get him upgraded protection on our O line.

 

[slash83]

When did Brady become a cyborg?

 

[The Dynasty]

I noticed on a lot of the slo-mo replays that a lot of his passes were knuckling all over the place.. Thought it was some indication of an issue with his throwing finger/arm/shoulder. And as much as the media has asked about his health (especially in his interview with the morning d-bags on WEEI), he is pleading the 5th.. Sure sounds like he's hurting, though..

No question hes hurting. He definitely has an injury/injuries, but it is very unlikely that he will reveal what they are. I think they did have an effect on him but not as much as what people think. Look at his numbers that he put up in games towards the end of the season, those numbers arent of someone who is hurt. It was rumored that he was hurt after the hit he took from Ray Lewis, which is a possible. What we do know for sure is the Tom Brady that we saw Sunday was not the real playoff Tom Brady, whether it was an injury or not we will probably never know the answer.

 

[L Bizzle]

I just want to know what people think about this...
Over his last 3 seasons, Tom has fumbled 22 times, losing 10 of them.
Over his last 6seasons, Peyton has fumbled 21 times losing 5 of them.

now take a look at these two pictures...

That, and QB Vision, getting the ball out quicker, are reasons Manning takes less sacks and fumbles than Brady