If you remember the last article I wrote about Tom Brady overrated, I got chewed up. So let's start the new year....by doing it again!
A 16-0 record, a great accomplishment for the New England Patriots, but the sports media is highlighting select people. That would be Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker. We figure that Welker's career will blossom as the years go by, Moss is back to his great form, Brady is having a year to remember......but why in the world is Tom Brady all of a sudden the greatest QB of all time? Yes, he has thrown 50 touchdown passes, yes, he has thrown for nearly 5,000 yards, but he never had those numbers with receivers like David Givens and Troy Brown. Now you have this dream team type of receiving corp, you break all of these records, what does that say about the quality of play from the wide receiver? Now you may be wondering, "SS, the QB has to make the throw", well yes, but the receivers have to run great routes and catch the ball!
That's one thing out of the way. The next part is that offensive line. When Brady is at his best, he has got weeks to throw in the pocket. He doesn't need to roll out of the pocket at all. That gives him time to find the big play down the field. When the offensive line does not perform, Brady is immobile, you can hassle him, you can frustrate him, he is not the cool and calm guy like you think he is. Don't get me wrong, Brady is a tremendous QB, hall of fame worthy, but when things don't go right, he, as well as the rest of the Patriots squad, seems to lose their cool a little bit.
From the wide receiver stand point, he ends up giving the QB tremendous numbers because HE is doing most of the work. All of the stats coming from the QB are flawed. Take passing yards for example, suppose a QB like Chad Pennington throws a quick slant to Chris Baker initially for 3 yards, Baker breaks tackles, gets a 56 yard touchdown reception, why should the other 53 be credited to the QB? Baker did the running, not Pennington. The quarterback rating is confusing as hell, I won't get into that.
A QB is no good without receivers and some blocking, so before we start anointing Brady as possibly the greatest player ever in the NFL, take into consideration the receivers he has, and the blocking he gets, those are the men that should be getting a lot more credit than they have received.
Now go out there and rip me a new asshole. I bet you you're not going to agree with me.