That was then: Celebrating what was

E5 Yaz

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From MMQB this morning

8. This post from Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith got my attention on Sunday. The all-time high for touchdown passes in a season by a quarterback past his 42nd birthday is six, by George Blanda in 1970. Barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, Tom Brady will almost certainly shatter that record, which makes me think that we don’t make enough of what Tom Brady’s doing.
 

deanx0

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So this week I was thinking that an interesting trivia question would be in what three cities that don't have an NFL franchise has Tom Brady won a regular-season game? (I am also thinking that he is the only quarterback to claim that distinction...
 

TFP

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So this week I was thinking that an interesting trivia question would be in what three cities that don't have an NFL franchise has Tom Brady won a regular-season game? (I am also thinking that he is the only quarterback to claim that distinction...
There's at least 4. St. Louis, San Diego, Mexico City, London plus I feel like I'm missing another one.
 

BlackJack

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So this week I was thinking that an interesting trivia question would be in what three cities that don't have an NFL franchise has Tom Brady won a regular-season game? (I am also thinking that he is the only quarterback to claim that distinction...
Soon to be four five*, right?
St Louis, Oakland, San Diego, London

*Mexico City

Edit: Added missing one based on other answers above
 

Brand Name

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Of cities to currently have an NFL team (different than what was asked, hence no spoiler), Brady's only never won in two of them: Seattle because of bullshit grounding. N/A for 2000, 04 was (won) in Gilette, 08 was injured, 12 was aforementioned, 16 was in the Blade. That's the lone opponent he has to beat in a given destination, home or away. LA is also there, but only because of no opportunity to do so. These will both change as part of the 2020 pure domination return tour.
Beating the Seahawks in Seattle is the only franchise left to beat in all home/away categories though, since they've won at San Diego in 2010, at St. Louis in 2004.

Anything else Brady and BB have had the opportunity to win? They've done it. Kinda frightening, nobody's come close to this ever, even with less active teams, such as Montana 0-3 in Chicago.
 

tims4wins

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Of cities to currently have an NFL team (different than what was asked, hence no spoiler), Brady's only never won in two of them: Seattle because of bullshit grounding. N/A for 2000, 04 was (won) in Gilette, 08 was injured, 12 was aforementioned, 16 was in the Blade. That's the lone opponent he has to beat in a given destination, home or away. LA is also there, but only because of no opportunity to do so. These will both change as part of the 2020 pure domination return tour.
Beating the Seahawks in Seattle is the only franchise left to beat in all home/away categories though, since they've won at San Diego in 2010, at St. Louis in 2004.

Anything else Brady and BB have had the opportunity to win? They've done it. Kinda frightening, nobody's come close to this ever, even with less active teams, such as Montana 0-3 in Chicago.
Ironically Cassel won in Seattle in 2008
 

tims4wins

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The other irony of 2008 is the Pats kicked the ever loving shit out of the Cardinals late in the year, and then the Cardinals came within a hair of winning the Lombardi.
 

deanx0

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I wasn't considering St. Louis or San Diego because the teams were based there at the time.

I was thinking Mexico City, London, and Champaign, Illinois, where the Bears played for one season while their stadium was being renovated that year, but I would argue that the Bears were still considered the Chicago Bears.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Of cities to currently have an NFL team (different than what was asked, hence no spoiler), Brady's only never won in two of them: Seattle because of bullshit grounding. N/A for 2000, 04 was (won) in Gilette, 08 was injured, 12 was aforementioned, 16 was in the Blade. That's the lone opponent he has to beat in a given destination, home or away.
I think he beat them at a neutral site, though.
 

JohnnyTheBone

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It was a weird game, but that Cardinals team really had no business in the Super Bowl. They went 9-7. The loss to the Pats was one of three defeats by 20+ points during a 2-4 closing skid.
And yet, they were one superhuman James Harrison play away from smashing the Steelers in the Super Bowl. 14-point swing. That is the only single play in NFL history that can compete with Malcolm Butler for greatest of all time. Too bad James couldn't finish out his career as a champion with the Pats, just for the sweet yinzer tears.
 

tims4wins

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Yeah agreed all around. The Cardinals could/should have won that game. And yeah the game vs the Pats was in a storm but...47-7 c’mon
 

Super Nomario

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And yet, they were one superhuman James Harrison play away from smashing the Steelers in the Super Bowl. 14-point swing. That is the only single play in NFL history that can compete with Malcolm Butler for greatest of all time. Too bad James couldn't finish out his career as a champion with the Pats, just for the sweet yinzer tears.
Any given Sunday and all that. Three years later, a 9-7 Giants team with a negative point differential beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Make the dance, sometimes you get hot / lucky at the right time.

EDIT: on closer inspection, the whole NFC was trash that year. The best team was probably the Giants, but they imploded down the stretch. The NFCCG was between the 9-7 Cardinals and the 9-6-1 Eagles. The Panthers went 12-4 with a pedestrian +85 point differential; the Falcons went 11-5 with +66; the (Gus-Frerotte-led) Vikings won the North at 10-6 with a +46. Meanwhile six AFC teams won at least 11 games, including the Patriots, who didn't even make the playoffs.
 
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Van Everyman

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Couldn’t decide whether to put this in the Brady thread or here but it fits better here (with a bonus of Chris Sims getting his head handed to him):


Bears linebacker Khalil Mack said earlier this week that he aspires to be the best ever at his position. Which gave us the fuel for Thursday’s PFT Live draft.

Which current players could end up being the best ever at their given positions?

We exempted Tom Brady from this draft, because: (1) he’s a current player; and (2) he’s the best ever at his position. Beyond that, there were no restrictions.

Simms blew it again, starting with his streak of three missed calls on the #notrigged coin toss. To hear all of the choices, check out the video accompanying this blurb.
 

loshjott

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I wasn't considering St. Louis or San Diego because the teams were based there at the time.

I was thinking Mexico City, London, and Champaign, Illinois, where the Bears played for one season while their stadium was being renovated that year, but I would argue that the Bears were still considered the Chicago Bears.
Getting back to this, Champaign was a good call, nobody got it. You could edit the question to say Which 3 cities that have never had an NFL franchise has Brady won in?
 

BaseballJones

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Couldn’t decide whether to put this in the Brady thread or here but it fits better here (with a bonus of Chris Sims getting his head handed to him):

I'll try my hand at this....

QB - Brady - and if not him, Brees (with another SB win), as he will likely retire with virtually every individual passing record plus two SB titles. Rodgers continues to get tons of love, and if somehow he wins another MVP and/or wins another ring....look out for the Rodgers ball washing.

RB - Barkley - though obviously a LONG way to go...but that guy is amazing.

WR - Nobody, though Antonio Brown will end up with humongous numbers.

TE - Nobody, unless Gronk returns. Gates will finish with an amazing career.

OT - Nobody

OG - Nobody

C - Nobody

*I admit to not really having any way to truly measure the ability of offensive linemen.

DE - JJ Watt - Still has something left in the tank.

DT - Donald - Except for the Super Bowl, he's been utterly dominant for years.

LB - Mack - LT is a ridiculously high bar, but Mack is special. (Mack may be more of a DE than LB though) Von Miller has also had an insanely great NFL career.

CB - Sherman - he isn't the best in the NFL right now, but when his entire career is examined, he will go down as one of the best ever. *THE* best ever? Probably not, but still....unbelievable career.

S - Nobody

K - Gostkowski - No joke. Still going very strong.

P - Nobody.
 

Al Zarilla

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Shaking my head at Brees maybe being a GOAT. One more super bowl win would get him to 2, one third of Tom’s 6. As for statistics, Brees has the advantage of being guaranteed to play at least 50% of his games in a domed stadium. Tom has played a small fraction of his games indoors, maybe a small sample size, but he is still better indoors in spite of all those games being road games. Brees is significantly worse outdoors, which are all road games for him, admittedly. Switch the two wrt to indoors vs. outdoors and I don’t think the stats are close. Brees is a hall of famer, no doubt, but who mentions him as the number one QB of all time?
 

BaseballJones

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Shaking my head at Brees maybe being a GOAT. One more super bowl win would get him to 2, one third of Tom’s 6. As for statistics, Brees has the advantage of being guaranteed to play at least 50% of his games in a domed stadium. Tom has played a small fraction of his games indoors, maybe a small sample size, but he is still better indoors in spite of all those games being road games. Brees is significantly worse outdoors, which are all road games for him, admittedly. Switch the two wrt to indoors vs. outdoors and I don’t think the stats are close. Brees is a hall of famer, no doubt, but who mentions him as the number one QB of all time?
I wouldn't consider either Brees or Rodgers to be the GOAT. I get all your arguments and I agree with you. I'm just saying that there's a chance, if he wins some more titles or MVPs, could get into the conversation. People don't factor in the dome when considering Peyton for GOAT. I mean we do HERE, but nationally that's not part of the conversation. We ALL understand that in Pats Nation, it's Brady and then a long drop-off to #2. But nationally, the conversation looks a little different, as we all know. I mean, it was pretty clear to us that Brady was #1 after his fourth ring. But it took most people nationally til he won #6 to finally cement that, and for some people - Mike Francesa for example - it's still not Brady #1.
 

Al Zarilla

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I wouldn't consider either Brees or Rodgers to be the GOAT. I get all your arguments and I agree with you. I'm just saying that there's a chance, if he wins some more titles or MVPs, could get into the conversation. People don't factor in the dome when considering Peyton for GOAT. I mean we do HERE, but nationally that's not part of the conversation. We ALL understand that in Pats Nation, it's Brady and then a long drop-off to #2. But nationally, the conversation looks a little different, as we all know. I mean, it was pretty clear to us that Brady was #1 after his fourth ring. But it took most people nationally til he won #6 to finally cement that, and for some people - Mike Francesa for example - it's still not Brady #1.
For me, "it's all over", as Johnny Most said when Havlicek stole the ball. Brees will never catch Brady. Brady and Peyton were neck and neck until Tom won 4, 5, 6. Now, he's not in the conversation, so why should Brees, even with another SB title, be in the conversation, tied as it were, in titles, with Peyton? Of course, somebody has to be second, somebody else third, etc., so that's the mention Brees, Peyton, Montana etc., will get. Who does Francesa have for number 1?
 

BaseballJones

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For me, "it's all over", as Johnny Most said when Havlicek stole the ball. Brees will never catch Brady. Brady and Peyton were neck and neck until Tom won 4, 5, 6. Now, he's not in the conversation, so why should Brees, even with another SB title, be in the conversation, tied as it were, in titles, with Peyton? Of course, somebody has to be second, somebody else third, etc., so that's the mention Brees, Peyton, Montana etc., will get. Who does Francesa have for number 1?
It’s all over for me as well. But let’s face it - you and I are Pats fans and yes that comes into play in this conversation. It shouldn’t, as in my view the gap between Brady and anyone else is Grand Canyon-esque. But understand that there are tons of people out there nationally that think differently, as hard as that is to believe.

And there will be people, should Brees retire with 2-3 championships, leading in most all of the major passing stats, who claim he has gotten there, especially if he doesn’t lose a SB (see Francesa’s “Montana has never lost a SB” logic). Now I don’t think Brees will win 2-3 more but that’s my point... IF he does, THEN this may become a conversation nationally.
 

mwonow

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I didn't say Francesa's "reasoning" was sound. But the point is...he's not alone in his thinking.
There are millions who think vaccination is a bad idea, and that Republicans are a good one. Consensus amongst the ignorant =/= a rational POV. Brady is the GOAT; those who don't want to admit it may have company in being wrong, but wrong they are.
 

Rough Carrigan

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Please leave your politics out of it.
I always imagine stuff like that said in the voice of Chris Farley from the Gap Girls sketch on SNL. It makes it funny instead of overbearing. But the thread is to celebrate the Patriots.
 

johnmd20

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Yes but not according to Francesa. “If you’re not the best regular season quarterback, and not the best Super Bowl quarterback, how can you be the best quarterback?”
That line makes me want to puke. How is Tom Brady not the best super bowl Qb in history? I mean, how it even a question?
 

NortheasternPJ

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That line makes me want to puke. How is Tom Brady not the best super bowl Qb in history? I mean, how it even a question?
He can barely win them. He’s bailed out constantly by his kickers! If he was so great they should all be blow outs!
 

Leather

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He can barely win them. He’s bailed out constantly by his kickers! If he was so great they should all be blow outs!
And his blowout playoff wins are because the other team wasn’t very good and shouldn’t have been there in the first place. And his byes aren’t impressive at all because the AFC East is horrible. You can tell because the Patriots always beat them. If the Bills, Jets, and Phins beat NE more often, the Patriots division titles would be more impressive.

Brady really needs to be worse to convince me that he’s any good at all.