Brady Set for "Drastic" Decline According to Some Assistants

[Simpelton]

Schitzophenia. Brady will be MVP and lead Pats to Superbowl one minute, aging man in decline the next

I know you're joking, but that's actually how I expect it to go down. It happens that way to a lot of aging quarterbacks -- on the old form one minute, way off it the next.

If you want to see it that way, the first 2 quarters of the Superbowl may indeed be a sign of decline, even though Brady was able to correct and turn in an epic performance in the end. His short passes were off, his reads were just slightly off and he gave up a pick. These are all the things Tom Brady does not do. Then he fixed it, but this was still a thing that happened.

Remains to be seen if there's more to it than just two bad quarters, of course, but it is something to keep an eye on. At the moment it almost comes down more to what you want to believe than anything else.

 

[Ivan]

Brady's decline will begin when his interception totals begin to go up. That's when we'll start to see it.

Except there is no way they won't go up, he only threw two picks last season.
I'll give credence to decline when his ratios fall below his career average.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I know you're joking, but that's actually how I expect it to go down. It happens that way to a lot of aging quarterbacks -- on the old form one minute, way off it the next.

If you want to see it that way, the first 2 quarters of the Superbowl may indeed be a sign of decline, even though Brady was able to correct and turn in an epic performance in the end. His short passes were off, his reads were just slightly off and he gave up a pick. These are all the things Tom Brady does not do. Then he fixed it, but this was still a thing that happened.

Remains to be seen if there's more to it than just two bad quarters, of course, but it is something to keep an eye on. At the moment it almost comes down more to what you want to believe than anything else.

Are you serious?

You could just as easily have said that the 2015 AFC Championship Game was an example of Brady's age, since that was a similar game with a lot of pressure and Brady being inaccurate. Brady also had an off game versus Houston last postseason, which could have been mistaken (by your rather non-scientific standards) as a sign of decline, except the next week he completely torched the Steelers.

 

[Nehalem]

Keep saying it till it is true. I have said before that IMO 43 will be Brady's last elite year and 44 will be the year he is no longer elite though he has a few good ones here and there.

I think it is fair to say he will not have the quality stats he had last year 14/1 TD/Int ratio and a 112 QB rating is likely not repeatable even if Cooks and Gronk are healthy all year.

I don't think we can use that as a measurement stick.

I would say if he goes below a 4/1 TD/Int ratio or a 100 passer rating you can start to discuss if he fell off.

It is amazing we have to set standards that high and if he goes below it then it is arguably disappointing.

Agree about the 14-1 TD-int ratio. Since it is the best in history. But I think he has a real chance to equal or beat the 112 rating with Cooks and Gronk.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Max was referring to his sex life.

It would have to be up to decline, no? I don't think Max was ever posting big numbers in that area of his life.

 

[Triumph]

The article should read " Assistant AFC coaches HOPE Brady declines in 2017"

 

[Simpelton]

Are you serious?

You could just as easily have said that the 2015 AFC Championship Game was an example of Brady's age, since that was a similar game with a lot of pressure and Brady being inaccurate. Brady also had an off game versus Houston last postseason, which could have been mistaken (by your rather non-scientific standards) as a sign of decline, except the next week he completely torched the Steelers.

The best part is that since we're talking about SIGNS of decline, those all could very accurately be signs of decline. Evidence that his body is giving him a bit less to work with and he's finding other ways to compensate right along.

Which I'm convinced has been going on for at least the last 6 years, but Brady is so good at his core skills that there hasn't been anything the team couldn't deal with yet. Decline is not demise after all. A guy on a pedestal that high has a long way to fall even in decline before he actually starts looking mortal.

The peak of an athlete's physical prowess happens in the late 20's. After that the athletes who stick around are the ones that find clever ways to either adjust their game plans, train themselves, or, let's be honest, cheat their way into staying at a high level.

Brady's been working against the reaper for a very very long time, his technique should be required reading material. He also has the benefit of not actually playing all that much football before he broke into the NFL, far less than most preprofessional quarterbacks, and that helps the latter end of his career a ton.

But everything ends. And in my experience the longer you cheat the reaper the bigger the bill is when it finally comes due. We'll see if I'm right.

 

[Oswlek]

We'll see if I'm right.

Given that there is no legitimate evidence for your position, I'd say it is unlikely.

 

[Tony2046]

The best part is that since we're talking about SIGNS of decline, those all could very accurately be signs of decline. Evidence that his body is giving him a bit less to work with and he's finding other ways to compensate right along.

Which I'm convinced has been going on for at least the last 6 years, but Brady is so good at his core skills that there hasn't been anything the team couldn't deal with yet. Decline is not demise after all. A guy on a pedestal that high has a long way to fall even in decline before he actually starts looking mortal.

The peak of an athlete's physical prowess happens in the late 20's. After that the athletes who stick around are the ones that find clever ways to either adjust their game plans, train themselves, or, let's be honest, cheat their way into staying at a high level.

Brady's been working against the reaper for a very very long time, his technique should be required reading material. He also has the benefit of not actually playing all that much football before he broke into the NFL, far less than most preprofessional quarterbacks, and that helps the latter end of his career a ton.

But everything ends. And in my experience the longer you cheat the reaper the bigger the bill is when it finally comes due. We'll see if I'm right.

I think, and this is my personal 50 year old opinion, that the way age will slow him down is by not being able to recover fast enough from the previous game.

His mind will still work but his shoulder will still be sore during the next game or something along those lines.

Your post applies more to olympiads or Linebackers than it does QB's. QB's are closer to chess players than track stars.

Anyways I think the recovery period will be the issue and not his "physical prowess".

But you're right. We'll see.

 

[ViperGTS]

I know you're joking, but that's actually how I expect it to go down. It happens that way to a lot of aging quarterbacks -- on the old form one minute, way off it the next.

If you want to see it that way, the first 2 quarters of the Superbowl may indeed be a sign of decline, even though Brady was able to correct and turn in an epic performance in the end. His short passes were off, his reads were just slightly off and he gave up a pick. These are all the things Tom Brady does not do. Then he fixed it, but this was still a thing that happened.

Remains to be seen if there's more to it than just two bad quarters, of course, but it is something to keep an eye on. At the moment it almost comes down more to what you want to believe than anything else.

That's a lazy narrative. The first 2.5 quarters of the SB were the receivers not getting any separation, and when they did they couldn't catch a cold. Brady misfired a few times but that was about it. Or the line was a sieve and he was getting drilled.

Once the protections cleaned up, and the receivers started to actually catch the ball it worked. Look at most of the completed passes in the overtime. The check downs to White were wide open, but every other pass was tightly contested. The receivers just actually caught the passes, unlike the prior 3 quarters.

So anyone pointing to the pre comeback offense and saying Brady looked old...isn't looking at the game as a whole.

 

[Joker]

OK youse guys...I got the little sum***** that wrote this POS article...whaddya want me to do?

 

[luuked]

I know you're joking, but that's actually how I expect it to go down. It happens that way to a lot of aging quarterbacks -- on the old form one minute, way off it the next.

For QBs that rely on their athleticism to be mobile or arm strength for deep passes maybe. Brady will not fall off a cliff because of his play style. As long as he can hit those intermediate and short passes he will be fine. Apart from the usual season enders, his biggest danger is that he gets a foot injury and can't use his GOAT footwork to the same level. Then you could see things crashing.

If you want to see it that way, the first 2 quarters of the Superbowl may indeed be a sign of decline, even though Brady was able to correct and turn in an epic performance in the end. His short passes were off, his reads were just slightly off and he gave up a pick. These are all the things Tom Brady does not do. Then he fixed it, but this was still a thing that happened.

Which, you know, could be connected with receivers not getting open and pressure coming into his face. Falcons players even bragged about how they were practicing and setting up the pick 6 play for a week. The thing that tells me that the early struggle was more because of a good gameplan by Atlanta and less because of a sudden decline is that he set a new passing record and everyone of his passes still had more than enough zip in OT. There was no physical issue that limited Brady in this game, just good and fast defense by Atlanta.

Remains to be seen if there's more to it than just two bad quarters, of course, but it is something to keep an eye on. At the moment it almost comes down more to what you want to believe than anything else.

So he could be in decline or he might not be. Great. Don't chicken out of your own take. If you wanna say you saw regression then say it and stand by it instead of making your entire post ultimately pointless.

 

[Simpelton]

So he could be in decline or he might not be. Great. Don't chicken out of your own take.

What's my take again? Seeems someone has a reading comprehension problem.

Frankly this entire page of this thread so far is proving me right. My point is not Brady is declining. My point is Brady might decline in a way that it's easy to either miss, cherry-pick yout way around, or simply deny, exactly because periods of non-Brady play will be bracketed by periods of vintage caliber play.

I really do think that Brady's decline is going to be based on a few more snaps where the guy is a little off, and then a few more, and then a few more, but each time rounding back to form for awhile and then slipping again. Rather than something statistically obvious, it will be something a lot of fans are going to be able to cherry-pick themselves into a state of denial over. They'll credit the opposing defense, blame the receivers, blame the o-line, and cherry-pick stats to believe in in order to ignore the problem. Fans are actually doing that right now and the reactions to my post are *exactly* what I'm talking about.

And they might even be right, decline in the absence of injury is a very nebulous and hard to define thing. It's the susceptibility to and reduced recovery from injury that usually finishes off an aging pro athlete after all. But the fact that it's so easy to blame everyone but Brady is something fans should watch about themselves if there is a slip in play in the next year or two.

All I know for sure is that we'll be having this argument for the entire period of time between now and when Brady retires.

 

[maineman209]

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

It's a safe bet that at some point Brady's age will impact his abilities. Can't blame the media for making this prediction year after year and it will only continue.

 

[deroc5050]

That's a lazy narrative. The first 2.5 quarters of the SB were the receivers not getting any separation, and when they did they couldn't catch a cold. Brady misfired a few times but that was about it. Or the line was a sieve and he was getting drilled.

Once the protections cleaned up, and the receivers started to actually catch the ball it worked. Look at most of the completed passes in the overtime. The check downs to White were wide open, but every other pass was tightly contested. The receivers just actually caught the passes, unlike the prior 3 quarters.

So anyone pointing to the pre comeback offense and saying Brady looked old...isn't looking at the game as a whole.

Thats basically my opinion plus the Falcons brought the heat on Brady. And the same goes for the Texans game.. the Texans got after Brady.

The Steelers game doesn't count because Brady did good.

 

[deroc5050]

It's a safe bet that at some point Brady's age will impact his abilities. Can't blame the media for making this prediction year after year and it will only continue.

I don't see it this year though. Brady looks like he is in great shape. I guess it all depends on how fast he can heal from the bumps and bruises. But if they did have to shut Brady down for a game for two, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

I don't see it this year though. Brady looks like he is in great shape. I guess it all depends on how fast he can heal from the bumps and bruises. But if they did have to shut Brady down for a game for two, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

I agree - hope he plays many more years at this level while proving the doubters all wrong.

 

[Joker]

This thread is absolute proof that winning in the NFL attracts all kinds of free radical "pontificatus blabberatus" sufferers.

 

[Deus Irae]

I know you're joking, but that's actually how I expect it to go down. It happens that way to a lot of aging quarterbacks -- on the old form one minute, way off it the next.

Please give us a list of, say, 10 aging elite QBs who's play fell off a cliff for reason other than injury.