Perspective on T.Brady's Super Bowl 53 performance

[brdmaverick]

Look, I'll be the first to admit that based on the 'eye test' Tom Brady didn't play his best game in Super Bowl 53. He has a habit of playing other-worldly and therefore has raised the bar so high that it's tough to meet expectations. He still played 'good enough' and made key throws in crunch time to get the job done, so that's all that matters.

For all the haters out there, though (no necessarily on this board), I thought this was an interesting comparison....

In SB 53, Brady went 21/35 for 262 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT

and in SB 41, P.Manning went 25/38 for 247 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT AND WON SUPER BOWL MVP

Maybe there was no other clear candidate? WRONG, D.Rhodes had 113 yds rushing and 1 TD

Want to give him a pass because of the rain? ok, perhaps I'll buy that

More to the point is that with Manning winning his first Super Bowl I think the league desperately wanted the storybook ending with him being MVP (odd that they didn't do the same with Favre in SB31).

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

He played better in SB53 than the pizza salesman did in any of his four SBs. Still his least impressive performance, but it all balances out, since he clearly should have gotten the W last year vs. the Eagles. And gave Belichick a chance to redeem himself and balance the TB-BB tandem again.

 

[Soliel]

He had an off game yes but had cooks stayed or Gordon, you could probably add 100 more yards and maybe a touchdown. A lot of the trouble was the Rams defense. They had a fairly good game plan really.

 

[sb1]

Brady was a lot worse in SB51 against a weaker defense before the comeback than he was on Sunday.
First half
3 and out, punt
9 plays, 2 sacks, punt
5 plays, fumble lost
3 and out, punt
12 plays, pick 6
11 plays, FG
Second half
3 and out, punt
Then TD and you know how the rest went.

 

[Guts]

If he was anybody else everybody would be in awe on his 4th quarter drive alone. But since he is Tom Brady a SB game winning drive is not as magical. Just shows how much greater TB is than anyone who has played the game.

 

[sb1]

I remember seeing a leaked media release congratulating Fivehead on his second Super Bowl MVP before the Broncos played the Panthers. It sounds like that’s exactly what the league wanted to happen and they were planning on it.

He was so putrid in that game and Miller was so dominating they had to give it to Miller...

 

[Snooky97]

One thing to remember was the pressure he was facing. We all know TB is better when the rush is coming from the outside rather than the interior. Thats a huge factor for him.

I thought he had a good game. Was he lighting it up? No. He didn't need to.

 

[sb1]

One thing to remember was the pressure he was facing. We all know TB is better when the rush is coming from the outside rather than the interior. Thats a huge factor for him.

I thought he had a good game. Was he lighting it up? No. He didn't need to.

Yep- This was exactly what those Giants teams did to him and the result was similar. Pats have a far better running game to answer that kind of pressure and of course played much better on defense than they did in those other SBs.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

he’d probably be the mvp against the saints

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

outscoring the opposition 49-0 in the 4th quarter and OT of the last 3 super bowl wins suggests an ability to get it done in the clutch!

Wade Phillips had a great game plan, and the Patriots were not going to take risks on O while their D seemed to be in full control of the game. The last two scoring drives were fantastic. Even the big running plays were a result of TB12 making line calls to take advantage of a weak alignment.

 

[signbabybrady]

If he was anybody else everybody would be in awe on his 4th quarter drive alone. But since he is Tom Brady a SB game winning drive is not as magical. Just shows how much greater TB is than anyone who has played the game.

I was in awe!

 

[Chevrolet]

It was a defensive struggle and he was smart enough to take what the defense was giving him. When it really really mattered he led an awesome drive for the winning championship touchdown. That is called clutch.
He made one bad mistake, but it was very early and in a part of the field where it did not hurt the Patriots.
It was a completely different game than aaginst the Eagles the year before (if that is the measuring stick).
He led his team to more points than the #2 scoring offense in the league in the most pressure packed situation in sports. That is exactly what I want from my QB.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Win by 1 point or win by 55 points...
A win is a win.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Julian Edelman was the only receiver that could consistently get open.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Julian Edelman was the only receiver that could consistently get open.

I like when he told TB, they cant cover me.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Haters last year:

"So what that he threw for 500 yards, he couldn't even win because he couldn't even hang onto the ball!"

"He only won because he rode on Belichick's coat tails"

It's so hilarious watching them twist in the wind!

 

[QuantumMechanic]

He made one bad mistake, but it was very early and in a part of the field where it did not hurt the Patriots.

Two bad mistakes. The fumble was all on him and it was luck that NE recovered it.

 

[luuked]

outscoring the opposition 49-0 in the 4th quarter and OT of the last 3 super bowl wins suggests an ability to get it done in the clutch!

Wade Phillips had a great game plan, and the Patriots were not going to take risks on O while their D seemed to be in full control of the game. The last two scoring drives were fantastic. Even the big running plays were a result of TB12 making line calls to take advantage of a weak alignment.

To be fair I think that McDaniels and Brady knew very well already early that they could go to 22 personnel, spread them out and get the mismatch advantage that Brady thrives on to dissect an opponent.

But doing that comes at a cost as you have fewer bodies in to block Donald, Suh, Brockers and Fowler. Fortunately holding that schematic wrinkle in the backhand for the fourth quarter where the pass rush was getting tired worked out perfectly. Thuney had two (!) 1v1s with Donald he won on the scoring drive. You really don't want to risk multiple 1v1s against Donald early in the game.

I would not be surprised if exactly this becomes one of the narrative threads of Do Your Job Part 3. Saying that they knew they had this but didn't want to use it until late in the game when conditioning became a big factor.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I still can't believe hes played in 9 Super Bowls.....

9!

 

[luuked]

Two bad mistakes. The fumble was all on him and it was luck that NE recovered it.

Absolutely. The fumble was him trying to force things and not throwing it away for far too long.

There was also that pass behind Hogan on the drive after the INT which could have been picked as well. I mean it becomes nit picking at some point but sometimes the ball bounces one way and other times the other way.

This time things worked out.