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.
Mostly every very good /great QB that won a superbowl in the last 20 years did so with a very good or opportunistic defense:
Big Ben: mid-00s Steelers D, need we say anything more
Peyton: Bob sanders fully healthy year and the best the colts defense ever was. 2015 broncos
Brees: 09 saints led the league in turnovers, had a clutch int of manning in the SB.
Rodgers: Charles Woodson playing at DPOY level
Eli: giants d-line goes super saiyan.
Mahomes: Chiefs defense got better in 2019 than it was in 2018. Last years chiefs defense was no slouch either.
Look brady is great but he’s not 5 super bowls better than Peyton or 6 super bowls better than Brees/Rodgers. Let’s not forget Tampas Defense had a huge role in ring #7 too
Of the years the pats made the Super Bowl, 2011 and 2017 were really the only times they had a bad defense and they lost both times.