Listen, i’m not saying his time isn’t coming to an end at the elite level. But one poor season in 23 years does not call for some of the revisionism occurring here lately. Arguably, the defences he’s still producing (2022, 2021, 2020) have kept the Patriots from rebuilding properly. It isn’t easy in this league to escape from 8-8 hell without a franchise QB.
“Brady made him”. You can use whatever stat you want here, but let’s use the most basic one. Points allowed per game. Of course there are influences here. Time of possession, special teams, ability to generate turnovers. But at its most basic level this is what determines the result of a game.
Brady had 20 seasons as a Patriot. He had a top 10 defence in 17 of them. In 3 super bowl victories, the Patriots played 3 of the top 15 offences in NFL history. 01 Rams, 16 Falcons and 18 Rams. 17 points, 22 points(pick six), 3 points. Even throw the record breaking 04 Colts in there, 3 pts. If we change to PTS per drive, he still has 15 top 10 defences!
Manning had 4, Rodgers had 3, Brees had 2. All three had great ball security and time of possession.
Is Brady the GOAT, yes. His consistency in clutch moments puts him ahead of the likes of Peyton and Rodgers. Did he make Bill the greatest defensive mind in history, no!
Brady record when scoring 20+in the playoffs: 32-4. Rodgers is 12-9 in this statistic for a direct comparison.
Average finish in points per drive among notable QBs
Brady: 9th
Rivers: 15th
Peyton: 18th
Rodgers: 18th
Brees: 20th
Mahomes: 20th
And we are trying to pretend Bill didn’t give Brady a significant advantage over his peers? Another 2 super bowls as a DC.
No they haven’t. This is the NFL not the NBA lottery. Draft picks through the 4th round can all have a ton of value and net you really good players no matter where you pick. Every year there are dozens of guys that ball out that weren’t anywhere close to being picked top 32.
Lets also not forget the extent to which BB whiffed on a lot of FA moves as well. If anything the strength of our defense should be HELPING our rebuild, not hurting it.
Bill can be the greatest defensive mind in history and also have been somewhat “made” by Brady. Being a HC is more than just scheme, especially more than just scheme on one side of the ball. People still need to buy in to your system, you still need to bring in the right people around you to run the team.
Bill did that for 20 years, but lets not act like Brady and others (like ernie adams and dante scarnecia) didn’t help him immensely.
It’s a simple fact that he is a losing HC without Brady. He’s had like 4 years to build something without Brady and its looked like the same shit every year. Even going back to 2019 when Gronk retired and Brady clearly started regressing from his old self.
The Patriots just aren’t special without Brady. They aren’t feared. The Patriots of the last 5 seasons have felt more like the 90s Browns than the greatest dynasty in the history of football. That should be telling considering who was the primary person behind both.