Is Brady The Best System QB Ever?
As I watched the Patriots destroy another playoff bound division leading team in the Chicago Bears, albeit in a blizzard, I thought to myself a few things. A few of those things may be a little extreme and I'll get to that a little deeper into this post, but one of the main things that hit home for me while watching that fiasco in Chicago was; Bill Belichick is the absolute smartest man in football. I don't feel the debate is even worthy of a discussion, as the guy has proved to be so year after year winning with below average talent and turning good players into great players and 6th round picks into Hall Of Famers. Going into the season not many saw the Patriots as a legitimate contender for their own division let alone the Super Bowl. Many felt that this was the year of the New York Jets and that the young and talented Miami Dolphins were there just in case the Jets slipped up. The Patriots, on the other hand, were given the "well, you can't count them out" response. How did this young team respond? They traded away one of the most dominant players this league has ever seen and their only downfield threat in Randy Moss. I, along with many others, responded to this by saying this offense would struggle to move the ball down the field and because of this would struggle to win football games. Belichick of course was way ahead of the field, and since the departure of one of the leagues most feared receivers, this offense went from average to dominant. Deion Branch flipped roles with Randy and has not only fit in nicely but exceeded the production of Moss by a wide margin. The same Deion Branch that had been drafted into the witness protection program for the last 4 years and did some time in Seattle. Deion Branch's 2010 began with the thought of retirement sinking in and is ending with multiple weeks of catching 80 + yard touchdowns. If you can find a handicapper who predicted the return of Deion Branch in early 2010, I'd like to speak with him. Point being that in this system below average talent will flourish. Were the Dolphins that stupid to let go of a 100 reception guy in Wes Welker? Did the Jets really waste Danny Woodhead on the practice squad? So let me guess, all of these "roster spot fillers" get to Foxborough and become game changers? This defense is the 27th ranked squad in the league, yet they turn the ball over when they need to and get the stops in the key moments in games. Bill Belichick is not only the smartest guy in the room in whatever room he's in, but he hires some of the best position coaches and coordinators that money can buy. Now onto Tom Terrific, the clear cut MVP of the league. Let's get right to it, as good as he's been I'd argue that he's a complete creation of the genius that is Bill Belichick. The unique part of this is that we have a sample of Patriot life without Tom Brady. In the year Brady missed due to injury the Patriots went 11-5 ranking 5th in the league in offense. Matt Cassell, Brady's replacement who had not started a game since High School up until that point, went 327-516 for 3,693 yards with a 63.4 Comp %. Brady has eclipsed that yardage only 4 times in his career, none of which were their Super Bowl years and had a better comp % only 4 times aswell winning 1 Super Bowl in the process. Both QB's are very similar when comparing numbers but what separates them of course, is the Super Bowls. They've won the big game much of the way they're winning this year, with below average talent playing above their level but mixing brilliantly together. Brady, my friends is one of those players.
