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It's still early.....but it seem like the Patriots past success has more to do with...
Brady looks really good on his new team......and the Patriots are struggling without him.
I still think Belichick is an outstanding coach....but Brady is possibly the best QB ever.
Comments
I think Brady needed to leave and be successful for his legacy. He is on a mission to prove that he was the constant that had NE contending for 20 straight years.
I agree that Brady has cemented his legacy. The Patriots have had a lot of people opt out this year.
Look at who is playing WR and TE for the pats and tell me Tom Brady would be doing any better?
Tom Brady went from a Yugo to a Lambo. It's really not an apples to apples comparison.
Put Cam on Tampa and I'd bet they'd have a similar record.
Agree about the talent differences.
But Pats have had a talent issue the past two seasons.
I still believe Belichick is great......and had a significant impact on the past 20 years.
Just think what Brady is doing......especially at his age......is incredible.
Brady has always been at a talent deficit on offense. I always thought Peyton’s numbers were always a bit inflated because he had Reggie Wayne and another receiver I’m blanking on right now for most of his career! Then he moved to a team with Thomas, welker, sanders. He also made people better so I’m not diminishing him, but it seems the pats have always felt good with Brady having lesser talent on the outside and then spending money on D and gronk as a matchup nightmare when healthy. Always worked so obviously no complaints from their fans
Brady is playing great don't get me wrong, but he has greater arsenal of weapons now than he has ever had in New England. Chris Godwin gets separation on pretty much every play, Evans is one of the best 50/50 guys in the NFL, and Gronk obviously still has it. That's just the main guys. Fournette and Jones looking good and the line is giving him time. I won't forget to mention that their defense is giving him a ton of time of possession. they are playing phenomenal. All that being said, His arm still looks great right now. He's still able to fire it in there and drop it in the bucket.
New England is dealing with a ton of issues, Lot of Opt outs, Lot of covid, Lot of injuries on the O-line. Cam Hasn't looked the same since having covid. Tom is obviously one of the greatest Qbs ever, but two weeks ago he forgot it was 4th down. lol What I am getting at is I am going to give Bill Belicheck the benefit of the doubt here. He's done a lot of winning without Tom
Brady is still the man, keep him upright with those weapons at his disposal and he is lights out. Cam meh.... mediocre qb on an mediocre team right now. Bill is a great coach but Cam can’t tie Toms shoes.
Come on.....I don't think Cam is a great QB.....but I think it's ridiculous to suggest that Cam can't tie shoes.
he might have those Velcro strap ones.
Definitely interesting question to ask in the eternal "who made who?" debate with BB & Brady, but I think the chaotic nature of this season makes it difficult to say definitively that it was more Brady than BB just yet (not claiming you're declaring that per se, @texdawg , but many are on local talk radio here)
Opt Outs: Pats have a league-high 8 opt-outs, including defensive captain Donte Hightower and starters Marcus Cannon & Eugene Chung...every team is trying to manage COVID but the Pats were missing three starters on the COVID injury list this week: Sony Michel, Shaq Mason & Derek Rivers.
Offseason Preparation: every team had to adapt/figure out how to navigate the modified/truncated preseason, but for teams like NE where you're trying to get a brand new player to the organization up to speed on the offense, personnel, playbook, etc. at the most important position, it's a tall order; especially since Newton & Brady are two very different types of QBs. I know the Dawgnation family understands this challenge all to well.
Skill Position Talent: responsibility for that the lack of weapons for whoever is playing QB this season after Brady's departure can definitely be assigned to Bill Belichick-The-GM; but from an on-field performance perspective, it's a tall order to have an interception-prone QB with a career of accuracy issues coming off shoulder surgery to be effective throwing to this depth chart:
Strength of Schedule: an imperfect calculation for sure, but CBS Sports ranked New England 1st in their toughest schedule calculations. Tampa Bay was tied for 16th toughest along with the Colts. Full article/list can be seen here: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2020-nfl-strength-of-schedule-rankings-ravens-and-steelers-have-it-easiest-patriots-face-roughest-ride/
Brady - throwing to the likes of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Cam Brate, Gronk and supported on the ground by Ronald Jones, Shady McCoy and Leonard Fournette. And Antonio Brown is on the way in Week 9...I'd say it would be difficult for Brady to not make the playoffs with this roster.
In the end - and I'm admittedly 100% incapable of being objective on this point - I'm convinced Brady is the GOAT and the Patriots are worse without him this season; but I think Belichick gets a pass this year for the reasons listed above before I'm personally ready to say Brady was the main reason they won all those years.
He went to Florida and Auburn so...
Great post.
I don’t like Brady because he likes Trump. /s
TBH, I haven't paid either team any attention this season but I find the question intriguing. Strange time for Brady to go it alone being so late in his career. If he wins the SB I don’t know how anyone could argue his goat status. This coming from a 49er fan who grew up watching Joe Montana.
Kidding right ? Brady proved year after year it didn’t matter who he was throwing to.
Cam may be 5-2 as a Buc, but Brady would be 5-2 as a Patriot
That was the narrative pre-2007. Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman were all pretty good.
Is there anyone as good as 2014-16 Edelman? How about Gronk?