Tell me more. I had honestly heard it was recovering/on the upswing a bit.
Oh yeah it has definitely been on the upswing. But you have to remember the starting point was "Breaking news - a bomb has gone off in central Birmingham causing nearly £25m worth of improvements"
Birmingham Alabama probably less likely, no?
"System QB"
It's like people saying Lebron isn't an all-time great scorer, despite the fact that he's scored more points than anyone else in history.
Brady's career lasted so long that he managed to be criticized the way like, Bird and Magic are criticized in the NBA. That he played a different style of game than the top QBs do today, so therefore he would never be good in today's game, despite him winning the SB and finishing second in MVP voting just two years ago.
I think it's safe to say that we New England fans did not really take him for granted, really, when he was here. We knew that what we had was special. We knew that was the "golden era" for us. We knew that every year, every game, we were witnessing something amazing.
The throw to Hogan on third and 10, backed up on their own 9 yard line with 2 minutes left driving down to tie that game was also bonkers. The anticipation required, the placement, just ridiculous given the context.
And it also created a sense of urgency once we got into the 2010-2019 window. Every year that went by that they didn't win, we thought it might be "over". We knew that every year might be the last ride. It made for ridiculously stressful seasons and playoff games - because every loss felt catastrophic. But it was worse it!
Yeah, football will probably never be that fun again, but losing with such a weight of expectations breaks your heart to a completely different degree as well. 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2015 destroyed me to varying degrees. It hits different when the standard is that high.
Absolutely correct. I can watch Tom Brady's release on a throw and come up with a 2-3 year window it happened based on his mechanics alone. His arm got stronger throughout the years, and I would argue until I was blue in the face that Tom Brady had one of the strongest arms in the NFL when he was in his mid 30's/early 40's. If folks got to watch him in warm ups and in live action, it was even more evident. Dude had a fucking cannon that developed over his career.
His touch passes were stunning. The GW TD to LaFell in the Ravens divisional game remains, to me, the best throw of his career. Unreal toss.
Yeah, even Favre was throwing wounded ducks out there at the end of his time with the Vikings. I don't think we'll ever see a quarterback age that way again. For as much voodoo bullshit as the TB12 stuff involves, you'll never convince me the care he puts on his body didn't show itself on the field. That wasn't just god given genetics.
Back when Tom Curran actually wrote good articles, he joined a TB12 facility for a couple of months to get in shape and write about the processes and honestly it sounded pretty top-notch, professional and helpful. He did not do all the weird dietary stuff, but the TB12 workout and stretching stuff was quite beneficial to him.
Brady was the first to keep up his level of play to 45 but I don't think he'll be the last by any stretch. If anything he's shown the next generation how to do it. It takes a certain set of circumstances and a damn high level of commitment and discipline, but these guys are already a step ahead with the rules changes. I bet Brady would tell you his first four or so years (the "puffy Tom" years, the legal hits, etc.) took years off the end of his career.
He threw a couple of incompletions to Patterson on that drive too that were right on the money (one was a tick behind, I guess) in tight coverage but Patterson couldn't come up with them.
I think it'll be a long, long, long time before someone is out there performing at 95% of their peak physical skills in his mid 40s again. Not talking about playing at a high level, but throwing the ball as well as they did when they were 28.
No chance, man.
Agreed. While - and I hate acknowledging this - Mahomes is arguably the best QB we’ve seen, it will be almost impossible for him to attain Brady’s production/resume. Too many stars, such as injury luck/management, desire/life priorities, multiple decades of a strong supporting cast/coaching, have to align to even approach Brady’s resume.
Mahomes' start of his career has been statistically on par with Peyton, Rodgers and Brady's best five year stretch, which is insane to think about, but also there is a chance those end up being his best years when all it's said and done. That's exactly what happened to Marino, for instance. He's incredible, but sustained performance is very hard in that league for a reason.
At some point probably sooner than later he won’t have Reid as HC and it’ll be very difficult for them to keep a good team around him. But we’ve seen how an otherworldly QB can make good with less so I fully expect him to have a ton of winning in his future.
He's great but his dances with the sideline and continually extending plays might get him injured at some point.
I don't think losing Reid would matter much with him, I think Kelce is the main piece there. He just gels incredibly well with how Mahomes plays the game, if he starts getting injured or loses a step it could have an impact. But he'll win a ton of games, put up a lot of stats and very likely win a couple more MVPs and at least one more title. He's a special player and to me the Herberts/Allens/Burrows/Jacksons of the world are a clear step behind him. He doesn't have the another all time great talent to contend with, even if the AFC is stacked at the position. To me it's a bunch of Rivers/Roethlisbergers and no Peyton Manning.
I do think the Reid factor is big with Mahomes. That Brady and BBs primes lined up was obviously huge. The other issue with Mahomes is injuries. He had that weird knee cap displacement. How he played last year with that ankle was incredible, but things like that can accumulate. His mechanics are also befitting of a younger player. Not clear how that will age. I'd look to Burrow and maybe Herbert as the guys now with the best chance to play into their 40s at a very high level.
Funny enough, the much larger difference in Brady's favor is in dome performance, in which he has a staggering 109.3 passer rating with 46 TDs in 20 games to Peyton's 99.1.
I expect that Peyton’s outdoor numbers are buttressed (or Brady’s suppressed) by Peyton playing in a higher proportion of hospitable outdoor locations. For instance, Peyton had a healthy dose of playing in JAX, DEN, TEN, SD, OAK, whereas Brady played a ton of shitty weather games in NE and BUF alone, not to mention Miami. Peyton’s Colts were out of the AFC East by 2002 after realignment, so he largely avoided trips to MIA and BUF. I can’t find a readymade breakdown, but I think these are the primary drivers in the closer QB rating.
Agreed, that one stands out. And it's identical to the throw to Gronk setting up the game winning TD in SB53 4 years later
The difference between Brady and Mahomes in terms of overall numbers is pretty close to Roethlisberger's entire career:
Now you guys are all talking my language:
Isn't it also identical to Givens in 2003 in Denver in the intentional safety game?
