Thanks for that. I knew it was awhile. Felt like forever.
I felt this way and said it before in previous years, but there's something to say about getting used to win by being up 10-20 points every game. I have to believe it affected Tom a little bit whenever he found himself in those 4th quarter situations, when every game we were blowing teams away. And not just Tom, but this team as a whole.
So I think this start to this season, and especially Sunday's game is huge not just for us, but for Tom and this team.
He really has not had to be Mr. Clutch in a long time, and I gotta believe it took some time to him to remember how to deal with that. Thank God it came yesterday. It was much, much needed.
Posts like this always remind me of the significant difference between information and knowledge.
Yes, factually, this is correct. However, it relies on a pretty arbitrary (and ridiculous) definition of what "clutch" is.
I understand that people can easily get fixated on inane factoids but if that's your definition of clutch, take Tony Romo, he's your guy. He led the league in 4th-quarter comebacks last season. Of course his team was also often trailing in the 4th quarter...but whatever, all that matters in terms of "clutch" play is what you do in the 4th quarter on the last drive, especially if you need a TD.
The funny thing is people forget about clutch plays based on the final score. What about two weeks after that Cowboys win when the Patriots trailed 17-13 to the Giants with 3:03 left in the 4th and Brady drove them down for a TD and the lead with only 1:36 left? Eli Manning would bring the Giants down for the game-winning score, so does that make Brady's drive not clutch? According to your definition, yes.
Clutch isn't just about scoring a TD on the last drive while trailing in the 4th quarter. Clutch is about taking over in key situations. In fact, true dominant clutch play can last much longer than a single drive. True clutch play can make the last drive absolutely meaningless.
What about late 2011, trailing the Dolphins 17-0 at halftime and Brady leads the Patriots to 27 straight points in the second half to pull out the win? Is that not "clutch" because it didn't happen on the last drive of the game?
Or the last week of that season, down 21-0 early to the Bills, then unleashing 49 straight points? There are no points for clutch because the final score looks so lopsided, but that's only because of sustained consistency and, in my definition, clutch play to continue to build the momentum for the comeback.
Or again trailing the Bills 21-7 in 2012 early in the second half and Brady pushes the team towards 35 straight points to route the opposition. No clutch points because his dominance in the second half was sustained long enough to put the game out of reach. But if he didn't play half as well as he did, we might barely win, hopefully on the last drive, and then I'm sure he'd earn more respect from some posters for being more "clutch." :bricks:
It isn't considered "clutch" by your definition to cling to a 24-17 lead against a playoff-caliber team like the Colts last year and score the first 21 points of the second half on the way to outscoring them 35-7.
And it isn't "clutch" that Brady led his team back from a 31-3 hole against San Fran to tie it up at 31-31, only to see the special teams give up a huge play that led to an easy TD.
You're fixated on the last drive of the game because you believe that's all that counts. But don't forget that all the other drives before that count for the same amount of points and have the same impact on winning or losing.
Brady has pulled wins out of sure losses several times these past few seasons, but you've missed them because you're waiting on that "last drive" magic. And for that, I am truly sad for you. You're missing out on some amazing football.
