How good was Brady in 2001

[sb1]

You could see how tough Brady was from the beginning. His toughness is still so underrated...

 

[scott99]

Cool as the other side of the pillow at the end of SB 36. That was an amazing last drive. Foretold things to come.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

For as long as Bledsoe was the quarterback, there was always some reason for his inconsistency and the offense's problems. Don't get me wrong, Bledsoe was a good quarterback, good enough to win an AFC Championship and receive multiple pro bowl nominations.

However, it became apparent when Brady came in that Bledsoe was the problem - not the coaching, the blocking, or the scheme. It's not that Bledsoe was bad or dumb, it's just that he could not see the entire field the way Brady could. Bledsoe would hold the ball, hold the ball, taking way too long, while the fans piled on the Patriots ownership for not surrounding him with enough talent - not enough playmakers to get open, not enough time afforded him by the line.

Brady really wasn't that great in 2001. I mean, for a guy playing his first season, he was definitely a promising player, but he also appeared to be more of an average QB at best, talent-wise, who merely did a good job not turning the ball over, the ultimate game manager. His throws seemed way too easy to make, as guys always seemed to suddenly be open. What we know now and didn't realize then, is that this was no coincidence and that the offense around him didn't suddenly become better. Brady just made better, quicker decisions than Bledsoe. From that point on, I think the Patriots adapted their offense around that style of play, which is funny that people call him a "system quarterback" considering he basically is the system. Bledsoe certainly could not run the magical system, that's for sure.

 

[Shockt327]

Ignoring the stats and just going off of memory for a bit...
(i.e. sports radio, but pre-messageboards for me)

No one really knew what to think of Brady after the first two games because Belichick tried to use Brady as little as possible to start off; He won one game (vs Indy with the Patten trick play, iirc), but after that it quickly went nowhere for a L. So, the big breakout game for Brady was the OT win against San Diego. The Pats came out throwing and Brady looked damn good. Like really, really good; cause I swear I remember the reaction to it on the radio. It was a monster game, and the knee-jerk reaction was akin to Jimmy G after Miami this past year. It was big. Like, we might really have something here. I know there was a 4 INT game quickly after. But then, Brady followed up on that by having two near perfect games (I believe one was against Atlanta, cause I recall Mike Vick came in late, and I remember the sports radio discussion about if Brady seriously had more potential than the 2001 #1 pick...which, at the time, was a pretty big statement. The hype for Brady was both pro-Brady, and among some, sort of a thinly veiled nose-thumbing of Bledsoe.

And this was the level Brady was playing at when Bledsoe came back, and pro bowl voting happened, etc. Brady was looking damn good in Oct through Nov. I want to say he cooled off down the stretch. But Brady had like, 3 or 4, pretty damn elite games in that 2001 regular season.

 

[RayClay]

He was on a leash. I remember how most passes were low and in front of receiver. He held the ball on the end, like throwing a dart.

 

[jmt57]

FWIW, a perspective on Brady's first start from that point in time rather than with the benefit of hindsight many years later. No mention of Brady's name until the 14th paragraph of the column.

Defense leads 44-13 win over Colts

As if to show its appreciation for the defensive effort, the Patriots offense responded quickly to Indy’s first score of the game. A Manning 10-yard run made the score 23-7, but New England quickly squelched any thoughts of a comeback.

Starting from their own 38-yard line, the Patriots needed just five plays before Faulk’s 8-yard touchdown run pushed the score to 30-7. A 17-yard pass from Tom Brady to David Patten and a 38-yard Brady screen to Antowain Smith set up Faulk’s score.

The production of the running game helped take pressure off of Brady, the second-year player making his first NFL start. He liked seeing his backs pick up big chunks throughout the game.

“As a quarterback, you are glad to be in situations where you don’t have to throw the ball all over the place,” Brady said. “Believe me, I like seeing Antowain bust one down the left sideline. I like seeing the backs of Antowain and Kevin when they are running hard down the field with the ball.”

Brady handled himself well in his starting debut. He completed 13-of-23 passes for 168 yards. The numbers were hardly gaudy, but the important thing was that he didn’t make any mistakes. He had no turnovers and was sacked just once, which came on the first offensive play of the game.​

 

[DarrylS]

As a fan could not figure him out initially(difficult to get an initial bead on him, sports talk was on fire as was the press, Bledsoe was God). My bro in law was in the air force and photographed generals, he accompanied one to Denver who sat with Pat Bowlen, later I talked to him about what he heard and the consensus from that "box" was that they all knew Brady was going to be good..

That was the game where Brady threw 4 int's....and they lost.

 

[1960Pats]

I think people would be out of their mind to suggest that Brady of 2001 was anywhere close to Brady of SB49/51.

Brady was more of a game manager than STAR in 2001.......and we still won......we should be ok with that.

I've learned to live with it.

 

[1960Pats]

The toughest part of 2001 were the Brady/Bledsoe debates. The Bledsoles kept insisting that the Pats would have won the SB with Drew, even though it was obvious that Brady was all around better.

Brady and **** Rehbein were the only two people who knew how good Tommy LomBrady would be. Brady told Kraft and Rehbein told his wife.

All these years later and Tom Brady still says and does all the right things. There just isn't anything to complain about with him, on or off the field. He reminds me of Bobby Orr in that regard.

My favorite memory of all from 2001 was the last regular season game of the year in Charlotte. I convinced my non sports fan youngest son, college age at the time, to go to his first Pats game with me on the way to Georgia.

We were two of about ten thousand Pats fans and took over the otherwise empty stadium on a drizzly day. We even chanted the J-E-T-S chant to help them beat Oakland and give us one more game at the old stadium. As we all know, it worked.

When the Pats went on to win the SB and both my sons were sitting with me watching the ending of the game on the boob tube, my youngest looked at me and asked, "so this is kind of big huh dad?" I looked at my youngest and said, "yes, and all these years the Pats were one fan away."

 

[Simpelton]

However, it became apparent when Brady came in that Bledsoe was the problem - not the coaching, the blocking, or the scheme. It's not that Bledsoe was bad or dumb, it's just that he could not see the entire field the way Brady could. Bledsoe would hold the ball, hold the ball, taking way too long, while the fans piled on the Patriots ownership for not surrounding him with enough talent - not enough playmakers to get open, not enough time afforded him by the line.

I think that's a little hard on Bledsoe. Bledsoe wasn't a bad quarterback, and he wasn't the problem. He just wasn't the solution to the problem in the way that Brady was. Bledsoe was a quarterback who could win football games but would need a lot of help and a great year to win Superbowls. When Brady is gone, and our quarterback is much more ordinary, I think we'll find ourselves looking much more charitably at the Bledsoe era.

We knew what we had in 01, we had a young quarterback with a good base of talent and was demonstrating that he had no fear, was cool under pressure, and could execute on command as long as the players around him did their jobs. Maybe we didn't know he'd be one of the all time greats, but it was pretty obvious that we had a special kid. Most rookies don't carry even a very good team to and through the Superbowl based on intelligence, clock management and execution under pressure in the way TB12 did. He came into the playoffs that season looking like a 10 year veteran and it only got better from there.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

He was outstanding considering what he had to work with:

- Jermaine Wiggins iirc was the #1 TE. Heck we have Gronk now and people still talk about TE like it was a major need before the trade with Indy, what about THAT YEAR?

- Brown/Patten are good as your 2 and 4 options, but as your 1 and 2? Yikes!

- Run game was solid but average, nothing that's going to cover up a weak passing game or carry the offense. Even today's Brady I am not sure would throw 30 tds with that cast ( I think he threw 18 in 14 games so that's around 20 if u prorate it to a full season). Winning a super bowl and the clutch drives against Oakland/ St Louis makes it an outstanding year.

Yeah he improved by 03/04 BUT he also had Givens / Branch by 03 and Dillon in 04.

 

[Thelonious]

Two things which, I think, have been key to Brady's success were evident in spades from the very start:

1) The more dire, urgent, critical things are, the more intense his focus is. The guy is almost scary focused when the chips are down.

2) (And the contrast with Bledsoe here was striking and welcome) Brady HATES to make mistakes. I'm sure that in his mild gentleman-oenophile way Bledsoe disliked making mistakes too, kind of like a vintner gets all sniffy over a wrinkly grape, but Brady absolutely hated his miscues and then worked like nobody else to prevent a recurrance. I remember when Bledsoe was the qb just knowing that at exactly the wrong moment he would do something stupid. Sorry to be harsh, but that's how it was.

I am sure that Brady is a more savvy, heady qb now than he was then, but these two elements were in place from the start.

 

[Wordsmyth]

I've been viewing a buttload of 01 Pats videos on YouTube. Cool to watch the GOAT in his football infancy.

 

[libra957]

He had some flashes of brilliance. Against the saints, the Rams, Falcons( where he mimicked the immaculate reception),Indy. The other games were just ok. He went several games without throwing a pick, and won a lot. So coming from a 1st time starter at the time that's all you could ask for, so much that he was one of main the stories of the regular season.

 

[zydecochris]

Brady was better in 2001 than people give him credit for. People look back at his stat line and forget how much stat lines have inflated in the last 15+ years. Back then that was a good year for a QB. And more importantly, it can't be overstated that a team that had gone 5-13 over the prior year-plus with him on the bench immediately ripped off a 14-3 Super Bowl-winning run, starting the moment he got his first start. That cannot be a coincidence. He wasn't just an immediate, huge improvement; he was an immediate, huge improvement over Drew Bledsoe, who at a minimum was by no means a bad QB.

This. As you say, to go from 5-13 to 14-3 and a Super Bowl? Wow. Even then, Brady did what was needed to win. Nowadays he slings it around, in 2001 he didn't need to.

IMHO, you could put 2001 Brady on about a third of the teams in the NFL and they would become the leading contender to win the Super Bowl assuming that 2016 Brady isn't on the Pats. And, just like 2001, the team with 2001 Brady would just keep winning games that they really shouldn't win.

 

[1960Pats]

I think that's a little hard on Bledsoe. Bledsoe wasn't a bad quarterback, and he wasn't the problem. He just wasn't the solution to the problem in the way that Brady was. Bledsoe was a quarterback who could win football games but would need a lot of help and a great year to win Superbowls. When Brady is gone, and our quarterback is much more ordinary, I think we'll find ourselves looking much more charitably at the Bledsoe era.

We knew what we had in 01, we had a young quarterback with a good base of talent and was demonstrating that he had no fear, was cool under pressure, and could execute on command as long as the players around him did their jobs. Maybe we didn't know he'd be one of the all time greats, but it was pretty obvious that we had a special kid. Most rookies don't carry even a very good team to and through the Superbowl based on intelligence, clock management and execution under pressure in the way TB12 did. He came into the playoffs that season looking like a 10 year veteran and it only got better from there.

Not all of us knew what we had. I had many arguments with Bledsoles who thought that Drew was better, even AFTER the SB win.

I will always appreciate Drew Bledsoe for his class. If he didn't handle his demotion so well it would have split the locker room in half. His ability may have been overshadowed by his penchant for forcing the ball at the worst times, like many of the greats. Brady has never had that problem, even in the beginning when he was raw.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Brady was a system QB then and he's a system QB now . . .

Wait, this isn't the Colts board. Never mind.

 

[Simpelton]

That's a hell of a system

 

[IllegalContact]

He was solid but he had help....he did his job

the defense gave up more than 17 points 4 times the entire year...his job was to not screw it up and he was good at that

 

[Thelonious]

Yeah yeah, he was fine, but he was no Rex Burkhead. You're talkin' apples and oranges there, Mister.