For the longest time, there has been this notion that Tom Brady is somehow a system quarterback. You hear this not just from silly casuals like some of you, but from football “pundits” and other former players. When people talk about Peyton Manning and his accomplishments, everyone loses their pants over him. They never let you hear the end of it and they gloss over most of his flaws on and off the field (playoff choke jobs, sexual harassment incident, and potentially HGH).
With Tom Brady, a lot of clowns begrudgingly give him praise and try to snub his legacy anyway they can. Don’t give me this silly deflategate nonsense. The Colts had a slightly deflated football in 2014-2015 AFC Championship that was not reported on. Aaron Rodgers openly expressed how he has had the football manipulated as well. Case and point:
Face it, you Brady haters throw shade because you can’t understand how a 6th round quarterback that came into the league with such little athleticism has been successful. He doesn’t do the over top signal changes, calls, and audibles that you’ve seen Peyton do when watching NFL Films. You love his “Omaha” calls nonstop at the line of scrimmage prior to when they hike the ball. The bottom line is that Brady, Brees, and Rodgers do a lot at the line scrimmage as well. Brady deciphers defensive coverages, sees where the blitz is coming from, and makes any necessary audibles.
His strength is how he identifies those matchups and exploits them. If he has a small corner covering a tight end, he goes there. If he sees a slow linebacker covering a running back out on the flat, he goes there. It doesn’t look flashy and over the top in the pre-snap so all you clowns think that he isn’t doing anything special to be great. He obviously doesn’t the speed, the escapability, or the raw arm strength to just run to his right and chuck it up 50 yards. As a result, you’re looking for something more obvious to “decipher” how great he is. His game is more subtle.
Some of you actually think that Brady somehow plays in the same offense every year. It’s a stupid assertion. He started his career playing with Charlie Weiss. It was a balance offense that emphasized running to set up the deep play action pass.
Brady would throw 20 plus yard toward the corner of the field on play action. People dubbed him a game manager. However, they forget that the team wasn’t built on offense for him to put up the numbers that Peyton was putting on that time.
Most of their star players such as Mike Vrabel, Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law, and Rodney Harrison were on defense. His best players on offense in the early 2000s were Matt Light, Troy Brown, and Cory Dillon for one year. Troy Brown was his best receiver while Deion Branch had a solid two year stretch. There weren’t any great all-stars to throw two. Dillon at running back was around for a few years. He wasn’t given the green light or supporting cast to put up crazy numbers until 2007.
In the mid-2000s, Josh McDaniels became the offensive coordinator. Brady put up crazy numbers and threw 50 touchdowns when they finally gave him great players like Randy Moss and Wes Welker with decent supporting receivers such as Jabar Gaffney. Prior to that, he was throwing to guys like Rasheed Caldwell in 2006. I bet none of you know who that is.
His weapons were barren in 2006 and still gave them a lead in the AFC Championship on road against Peyton Manning and all of his weapons. That is why they finally gave him Moss in 07.[the_ad id=”527″]
Some of you will bring up how the Pats went 11-5 with Matt Cassel in 2008 as if that’s worth anything. Congrats. Cassel inherited a team Brady went 16-0 with, but the best he could do was go 11-5 against a weak schedule. Remember, Matt Cassel faced the NFC West at its low point and went up against quarterbacks like the San Francisco 49ners’ very own J.T. O’Sullivan. Wow that’s amazing.
You know it’s too bad Cassel couldn’t beat any good team he faced. The Pats had their butts handed to them by the Chargers and got wrecked at home by the Steelers. (Brady has never lost a home game to the Steelers.
He has a 115.1 passer rating against the Steelers as a whole. That is the highest passer rating of any starting quarterback against any individual team since 1991.) The defense played out of their minds but lost a close game to the Colts that year because Cassel couldn’t make a play late in the game. But no guys, let’s keep bringing up Matt Cassel.
By the way, Josh McDaniels left after 2008, so Brady had another coordinator. In 2009, Bill O’Brien wasn’t promoted to offensive coordinator yet so Brady had to hold a lot of responsibility while coming back from a torn ACL and with only two good players to throw to (Welker, and an aging Moss). Obviously, O’Brien was still heavily involved in the offense without the OC until 09, but it was still another offense Brady worked in.
Once again, his personnel changed as Moss left and Gronkowksi came. The offense that they ran emphasized on short to intermediate timing option routes based on the defensive looks. As a result, it was imperative for Brady to diagnose the looks he was getting and for him and the receivers to be on the same page. It led to him becoming the MVP in 2010.
Following that, Bill O’Brien left as well. Josh McDaniels then returned. Some of you might say that Brady is fortunate to be returning a former coordinator. However, it was likely to happen. McDaniels is good but Brady made him look better than what he was. It was only a matter of time until he flamed out and returned back to where he started. Furthermore, there have other seasons where Brady has played with not much or with a revolving door of players.
In 2013, Welker signed with the Broncos, Hernandez was in jail, and Gronk missed most of the year. Other than Edelman’s emergence, Brady was throwing to rookies Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins, and Josh Boyce. Most of you again probably don’t know who any of those guys are. That’s my point and he still took them to the team to the AFC Championship. New guys come and go. In 2011, Chad Ochocinco was there and left. In 2012, Brandon Lloyd was there and went. Brandon Lefell played in 2014 and 2015 before leaving. In 2016, he led the Pats to a Super Bowl victory without a healthy Gronk down the stretch.
Also, Josh McDaniels is constantly being criticized by local pundits and fans for questionable play calling on the occasion. Some would say that the Pats went 3-1 in 2016 with Jimmy G and Brissett as a rookie. Cute, but don’t forget it was on a weak schedule. Beating Brock Osweiller, a mediocre Cardinals team, and the Lolphins (Miami Dolphins), isn’t something to go crazy about. Not to mention those 1 and a half games Jimmy G played added with his performance in San Francisco implies that maybe he is a good QB on his own the same way Brady is a great QB on his own.
Also, Brissett played well on a short week before struggling the next week against Buffalo when they had film to take away the easy completions. Jimmy G’s injuries is also a reminder on how durable Brady has been throughout his career. Over the course of his career, Tom Brady has managed to play at a high level while finding ways to improve his game year after. He has worked on his speed, pocket mobility, and deep ball accuracy in the last few seasons. What does that have to do with a system? He’s managed to play well despite the constant changes in personnel and offensive systems. That’s why he’s the GOAT, whether you want to admit it or not.
