Chris Hogan Burns Former Team, Silences Brady Deep Ball Critics
Kevin Hoffman - USA TODAY Sports
Its an overstated fact that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has already cemented his bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Yet, despite knowing the inevitable, one of Brady’s biggest criticisms in his twilight years continues to be he “can’t throw the deep ball” ever since Randy Moss was lining up from 2007-2010.
Which leads into Sunday’s game versus the Buffalo Bills and the surprising trend that continued.
For the third time since his return from suspension, Brady aired the ball out long and deep to Chris Hogan, who hauled in a “rainbow pass” for a 53 yard touchdown score.
In three deep passes to Hogan this season, Brady is now perfect with 159 yards passing.
Brady to @ChrisHogan_15 for 53 yards and a touchdown!#NEvsBUF https://t.co/RDIJGDQNrG
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 30, 2016
On WEEI’s Kirk and Callahan morning show Monday, Brady was asked about Hogans skill set.
“He’s definitely deceptively fast,” Brady said “He’s got a very smooth stride. He’s got kind of a long gait, so he can cover a lot of ground once he gets going. He’s very efficient…The mark of a great player down the field is that when the ball is in the air, they can track the ball looking backwards or up in the air, and still continue to not lose speed as they’re running down the field,” said Brady. “That’s a hard thing to do.””
Hogan’s final line against the Bill saw 4 catches for 91 yards, but as NESN’s Doug Kyed also pointed out, “Statistically, Brady had his worst performance of the season in the vertical passing game Sunday, going 3 of 8. He came into the game 10 of 13 on passes that traveled over 15 yards, but it was clear that rate wouldn’t persist for the rest of the season. Yet Brady threw deep for 124 yards with two touchdowns against the Bills.”
So is the Brady deep ball, BACK?
Well it is safe to say its showing signs of a resurgence as Brady gains more confidence in Hogan. Through 8 regular season games, Hogan has already hauled in five passes of 35 yards or more but will have a big test against the Richard Sherman and the Seahawks secondary following the bye week. In the meantime, Brady is sending more shivers down the backs of defensive coordinators throughout the NFL.
On next play, Brady threw a Jeff Blake-looking bomb to Chris Hogan for 53-yard TD on third-and-13. One of best deep throws of Brady's career
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) October 30, 2016
Unexpected resurgence in beautifully thrown Tom Brady deep balls – might have to give him September off every season.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 30, 2016
Posted Under: Patriots Commentary
Tags: Chris Hogan Richard Sherman Tom Brady
