Spent some time after today's loss looking over the old 2001, 2003, & 2004 Playoff / SuperBowl DVD's and compared Brady's throwing motion to games from this season. I went into this exercise troubled by the belief that Welker, Hernandez, Gronkowski, Tate, Woodhead, Deion Branch, and Edelman were at least the equivalent of the old receiving corps.
I was surprised to find his footwork, throwing motion, arm slot, arm strength, and weight distribution all seemed identical. What I did find, was obvious, and jumped right off the screen at me. The old Brady, often seemed to have less time to throw then he does now. Amazingly however, the old Brady would make a half step left or right, shifting in the pocket to avoid the rush, then step forward toward the line of scrimmage as the pocket collapsed, often behind him. This would often result in Brady taking an awful hit, but also gave the wide receiver the extra second to get open.
That trademark intra pocket shifting and stepping up and throwing into a collapsing pocket has nearly vanished. Pressure with "2010 Brady" instead is much more likely to result in moving backwards out of the pocket, with throws out of bounds or at the receivers feet. It would seem a near certainty that the knee injury of 2008, has resulted in a more cautious approach, necessitating wide receiver separation much quicker than in the SuperBowl years.
