I sure hope so but I've fell into this trap before so I'm holding off on cracking that champagne just yet.
Most 37 year old QB's who suddenly look mortal are suddenly mortal. Maybe Brady is an exception to the rule but he hasn't looked this human in a long time.
I think we are witnessing the true legacy of Spygate. Bellichek has been so insistent on proving how smart his is that he's systematically dismantled his team and inexplicably refused to put talent around a once in a generation QB. As much as I am jealous of the success, if the Jets ever luck into a HOF QB in some random round and the staff is too headstrong to put weapons around him just because they need to prove how smart they are, I'd be fucking pissed. As should Pats fans. That lineup is inexcusable.
I'd argue that in terms of pure arm talent, Brady has always had the better arm. Manning has always thrown a large amount of ducks, I don't know how he does it, but they always seem to be ducks that are on target and on time. I don't see Brady throw ducks at all, he still has good zip on the ball from what I have seen. Manning's supporting cast is far superior, no doubt. I don't know what the Pats are doing, they should be in win now mode. Trading Mankins made no sense to me.
I would say Peyton's arm is weaker than Brady's now. Pats have a weak division so they can probably win the AFC East still. Probably the weakest they looked since 2009 when they struggled to win on the road.
Weaker arm for sure, Peytons offense has adapted to him though, he couldnt operate the offense he did in the Colts days though. His offense now is more brains than physical ability.
I'm not saying Brady can't still be a decent, or even a GOOD QB, but he has CLEARLY declined. He's not an elite top 5 QB anymore.
This, Brady has always had one of the strongest arms in the league, he still probably does, what he's lost, it appears, is his touch on deep passes. It was never his strongest suit, but its entirely gone now. He can still throw a perfect spiral 70 yards down field though, Peyton is luck if his duck makes it 40, he just somehow manages to get it in the right spot despite it looking like its spinning end over end half the time. He also has far better receivers as a whole. Edelman would easily be the Bronco's #2, but the Pats don't have a DT and until Gronk is confident in his knee again JT is playing all around better. LaFell last night showed good speed and burst but he gets no separation, he caught contested balls and broke tackles for all of his yards. Amendola has lost any ability to separate, he played fine last season, he's still being used in a similar role, he just isn't getting open, and when he is open, Brady has already made his read and written him off. That's partially on Brady, but it's also on Amendola for not proving he can be consistent and earning the look. The OL is the biggest culprit, and in the rare moments they give Brady time to throw, he still feels hurried because he's come to expect it at this point. He has trust in Edelman and Gronkowski, nobody else. Not the OL, not Amendola, not the 2nd year receivers, MAYBE LaFell, he's always thrown to LaFell, they just havent connected until last night. But otherwise, there is 0 trust, and while I don't blame him entirely, he certainly hasn't looked like the Brady I've watched for the past 10 years in his prime. He's changed. Whoever made the comment about Denver surrounding Peyton to win now and The Patriot's to win tomorrow nailed it. While I normally 100% agree with the Patriot's philosophy, you need to make exceptions when you have one of the best QB's to ever play, if you're not going to give him the weapons, at least give him the steel wall that he's had in front of him for many years. 2013 and 2014 to date have been hard to watch along the offensive line. And it's not just Scharnecia leaving, the line sucked last year while he was still coaching, the talent has just been declining. Vollmer is a great RT, Solder was a great LT until this year (maybe he declined due to bad OG play, hard to say), the C and RG position have both been a mess, last night a pair of rookies got the start at those spots. That's how bad its been. Garapollo did look pretty good though under duress last night. Accurate, quick decisions, quick release. For the record, it was mostly against the Chief's top defense, they were just playing a passive defense. He still carved them up. Kid looks like he could be legit, he showed more in 10 minutes last night than Mallet had shown in 3 seasons.
Some of it is on Brady, some of it is on Belichick the GM for the lack of talent on offense. They have one first round pick on offense, and it's a badly under-performing LT (Solder, who has looked just awful). It's so hard to tell right now exactly what's causing what. Does Brady look off because they can't protect him? Are guys not getting open? There are so many things wrong it's difficult to pinpoint just one. We'll find out. Winning cures all, but if things continue they way they've gone, the Patriots will finish somewhere close to 9-7 at best.
While I'm always an optimist, I think the next 5 or 6 weeks will tell the story on Brady and the Pats. I'm anxious to see how Brady reacts (on the field) to being put out to pasture by alot of the media (including a couple ex-teammates). Brady in his heyday would use this stuff as fuel for the fire. I blame BB for alot of this, but not for the reasons most here have posted. I blame him for not making McDaniels give this Offense an identity. They come into games now thinking they're gonna surprise teams with their nifty play calling. It isn't working! Brady has done more with less offensive talent in the past (OL excepted), and I think not alot of folks are talking about one of the biggest issues. Since McDaniel has been back as the OC, the offense as a whole has not played as well. The gameplan against the Chiefs was awful! If ever there was a game that they should have come out running Ridley down their throats it was this one. Instead, he doesn't even play until the 3rd series and 11 plays total! That's unacceptable! BB would have reamed Weiss if he was calling as bad a game as McDaniels has alot lately, and he better get his OC straightened out soon!
Division winning record tho. I think the Patriots need to run the football a little bit more. You guys should have kept Blount.
Probably, yeah... it's not like he's done a lot in Pittsburgh, but he brought some attitude to the run game that they seem to be missing right now. '
I thought resurrecting this thread on its anniversary would be interesting. Clearly Brady is not dead yet. Congratulations to those who reserved judgement. LOL on those who buried Brady prematurely like many of the media did.
