12/21/24
September 17, 2002
Tom Brady: Elite Quarterback?:
A lifelong Pats fan, I've been an ardent Bledsoe guy for a long time (I was p*ssed when they let him go to the Bills and I loved every one of his 463 yards on Sunday), but even I am starting to come around on Tom Brady. I spent a lot of time convinced that he couldn't make the throws that Bledsoe could and that the Pats dumbed down the offense for him, but it's becoming obvious that Brady's already one of the best QB's in the league.
I'm not ready to call him the next Joe Montana, and the New England defense sure has made his job easy, but this guy is getting better every week.
So anyone out there still not think the Pats are for real?
posted by Conquistador to football at 11:14 AM - 5 comments
While I have underestimated the Patriots - I think I need to see this trend go on for 4-6 weeks before I dub Brady as The Second Coming. Of course, when Atlanta made the Superbowl I still refused to believe it. So take that with a grain of salt.
posted by owillis at 03:29 PM on September 17, 2002
Pats are solid, for sure: this is the best division in football right now. That said, the road back to the Super Bowl is a long hill to climb. One of the toughest things the pats are going to have to do is beat everybody else in the division. I would not be surprised to see everybody in the division split, and it wouldn't shock me if the wins all came in away games: it is going to be that kind of season. I gotta say, Brady looks like the real deal, but I'm glad the Bills got Bledsoe.
posted by outside counsel at 05:27 PM on September 17, 2002
I revert to the wisdom of one Bill Simmons: 3. Tom Brady: People spent the entire offseason questioning Brady, wondering if he was a flash in the pan like David Caruso or Edie Brickell, wondering if the Pats made the right move in keeping him over Drew Bledsoe ... and it never made sense to me. Why would Brady struggle this season, with a revamped receiving corps, a year of big-game experience under his belt and an offensive system designed around his strengths? Wouldn't these things help him? And at what point will people respect his Montana-like efficiency -- those ball fakes, the way he moves the team, the way he always delivers the ball in the right spot, the way he always avoid mistakes and everything else? OK, one more time: Why did people think Tom Brady was going to flop this season? And doesn't charisma count for anything? There's a scene in the Patriots Super Bowl DVD that says it all: During the fourth quarter of the Oakland game, after the Pats cut it to three, we see Brady stalking up and down the sidelines, finally stopping in front of David Patten, slapping Patten on the shoulders and screaming, "That's a great drive!" My favorite part of the whole DVD. I always believe that offenses feed off the energy of its quarterback. If the QB seems low-key, scared, hyper, prone to mistakes ... whatever the case, the team usually follows suit. So when a guy like Brady exhibits an endless reservoir of energy and spunk, you can't tell me that it doesn't positively affect the team. And yes, I just used a double negative.
posted by jerseygirl at 03:21 PM on September 18, 2002
I think Brady is better than I thought, but I'm about Pattied out. The CBS crew in Foxboro needed to try kneepads during that game, where NE had a tough time fighting off my sorry Chiefs at home. And no, I don't think TB showed much during last season that led me that he'd be throwing for 300 on a regular basis -- color me skeptical. He's proven a lot of people wrong, which is really the way it should be, as opposed to the hype coming beforehand.
posted by jackhererra at 08:39 AM on September 23, 2002
Mucho respect for the Pats (actually an ever-growing respect). Belichek (sp?) is proving to be an absolute master of defense. I am amazed at his ability to shut down teams. And that Brady's a sport, a good fit for the Pats. As a Colts and Bears fan, I find myself increasingly drawn to the Millers as opposed to the Mannings. Don't get me wrong, I like Manning, but he often tries to be the hero on every play, calling audibles and throwing dangerous passes that get intercepted. Would I rather have Miller than Manning? Probably not, but I wouldn't mind Brady over Manning. There, I said it.