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.
i waited until now to say this so hopefully it doesn't get much attention-
next year, maybe the next 2, are the most consequential for BB now. it's not the best excuse, but they are missing 2 huge talents on defense, one which they spent a decent chunk of change extending, and the other they used high draft capital on. so, a decent amount of resources on a bet that didn't work out due to injuries. not really the best judge of coaching prowess.
i truly believe if this defense was at full strength, it would be enough to be keeping this offense in games like it did last year, and i think without the added pressure of having to go out and put up a lot of points, that the offense would have settled into itself a little bit more by now. do i think this would be a playoff team? probably not, but it depends on how some of those games would have went had they been in it at the end.
now they are in a position where they have a decent amount of cap room, and they will end up with a fairly high draft pick. if they can make some moves in the offseason and go out and get a talented prospect, then let's see what happens next year.
if things are trending upwards with the acquisitions, then i would imagine the second year that they play will be the best judge of BB's decision making. if he doesn't take appropriate steps to put his team in the best position to win with the offseason that's coming up and these dynamics at play, then i think that means BB is going against the age old BB approach of "doing what's best for the team" and that shows he has lost it and the org should move on.