Listen, i’m not saying his time isn’t coming to an end at the elite level. But one poor season in 23 years does not call for some of the revisionism occurring here lately. Arguably, the defences he’s still producing (2022, 2021, 2020) have kept the Patriots from rebuilding properly. It isn’t easy in this league to escape from 8-8 hell without a franchise QB.
“Brady made him”. You can use whatever stat you want here, but let’s use the most basic one. Points allowed per game. Of course there are influences here. Time of possession, special teams, ability to generate turnovers. But at its most basic level this is what determines the result of a game.
Brady had 20 seasons as a Patriot. He had a top 10 defence in 17 of them. In 3 super bowl victories, the Patriots played 3 of the top 15 offences in NFL history. 01 Rams, 16 Falcons and 18 Rams. 17 points, 22 points(pick six), 3 points. Even throw the record breaking 04 Colts in there, 3 pts. If we change to PTS per drive, he still has 15 top 10 defences!
Manning had 4, Rodgers had 3, Brees had 2. All three had great ball security and time of possession.
Is Brady the GOAT, yes. His consistency in clutch moments puts him ahead of the likes of Peyton and Rodgers. Did he make Bill the greatest defensive mind in history, no!
Brady record when scoring 20+in the playoffs: 32-4. Rodgers is 12-9 in this statistic for a direct comparison.
Average finish in points per drive among notable QBs
Brady: 9th
Rivers: 15th
Peyton: 18th
Rodgers: 18th
Brees: 20th
Mahomes: 20th
And we are trying to pretend Bill didn’t give Brady a significant advantage over his peers? Another 2 super bowls as a DC.
Agreed, it’s foolish.
His legacy goes beyond New England too. Coached the Browns to their most recent playoff win before Baker’s, has a Super Bowl gameplan in the Hall of Fame, and Bill Parcells (a HoF coach) never won a playoff game without BB on the staff.
His personnel decisions have put the current Patriots in a rough spot, but people forget how dominant the Pats’ defenses were in the first part of the dynasty. They faced a bunch of MVP caliber QBs and BB’s scheme gave them absolute fits. Not to mention he held MVP Mahomes scoreless for a half and completely locked down the 2018 Rams in his last SB run.
If you want to give Brady the greater share of credit for the dynasty, that’s fine—Belichick himself has said it’s a player’s game. But acting like any other coach could’ve led the Pats to their dynasty and thinking BB just had his thumb up his ass in the film room for 20 years is completely disingenuous and disrespectful to his legacy and impact on the league.