For years I’ve contended that Tom Brady is NOT the G.O.A.T. There will probably be tons of followers and critics who assume I’m loopy. Nonetheless, my perception has all the time been that Brady, whereas an amazing quarterback, was extra a product of his system and the expertise put round him quite than having pure athletic or quarterback expertise. He actually has not been or is as bodily gifted as, say, John Elway. He, for my part, lacks the quarterback smarts of a Peyton Manning or Joe Montana. I additionally don’t imagine he is a naturally born quarterback like the good Johnny Unitas was.
So why do the vast majority of specialists and followers alike put the label of best quarterback of all time on Brady? Most likely as a result of he wears six Tremendous Bowl rings and groups he has performed for have received six. What irks me probably the most is that Brady will get a lot credit score for successful all these league titles however he wouldn’t have been in a position to accomplish that if he didn’t have expertise round him and groups able to successful a Tremendous Bowl. On no account did he carry any of these Patriots groups on his again or the championship Buccaneers workforce of 2020.
When taking part in for Invoice Belichick, Brady had the luxurious of being part of a workforce coached by maybe the best mastermind of soccer within the historical past of the league. Love him or hate him, Belichick had the knack for making reasonably good gamers nice and fewer gamers bringing their expertise to a stage that hadn’t been reached earlier than. When he signed with Tampa, Brady performed a component in bringing in gamers from the surface he knew would assist him win a title once more. Not with the workforce the earlier season however who performed a component within the successful season and the end result of a Tremendous Bowl conquer the defending champion Kansas Metropolis Chiefs have been Leonard Fournette, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, and LeSean McCoy.
A query to ponder is what if Tom Brady had been on a workforce identified for shedding? Would he have received six Tremendous Bowls? Would he nonetheless be thought of among the many best ever? I imagine Matthew Stafford is supporting my argument this season. Having performed his whole profession with the Detroit Lions, Stafford by no means received to expertise the successful ways in which Tom Brady was fortunate sufficient to be part of. So on March 18 of this yr, the Los Angeles Rams managed to persuade the Lions to make a commerce for Stafford the place the Rams received Jared Goff and three draft picks this yr and two extra in 2022 and 2023.
Stafford’s new workforce is off to a pink scorching begin at 3-0 and the previous Lions and College of Georgia quarterback is lighting it up. In three video games Stafford has thrown for 942 yards (over a 300-per sport common) and 9 touchdowns. He has thrown only one interception and is finishing an astonishing 70.2 % of his passes. For his profession in Detroit, his proportion was 62.6. In 12 years as a Lion, his per-game passing common was 274. Now he’s over 300. The Lions additionally solely had 4 successful seasons in that dozen when Stafford was the quarterback.
Matthew Stafford’s quarterback ranking in 12 seasons taking part in with Detroit was a mean of 89.9. This yr he’s practically 40 proportion factors above that. For this reason he proves my argument. Give a strong quarterback a very good workforce round him and he can also win a Tremendous Bowl. At this early level within the 2021 season, many are leaping on the bandwagon that the L.A. Rams are the odds-on favorites to succeed in the Tremendous Bowl from the NFC and maybe win it. It’s important to be completely satisfied for Matthew Stafford, a likable man who suffered by means of a 2-8 rookie debut and had subsequent seasons of received/loss data by Detroit of 4-12, 6-10, and 5-11.
Issues to contemplate on this argument. In 12 years as a Detroit Lion, Stafford’s completion proportion was 62.6. For 20 years as a Patriot, Tom Brady’s quantity was 63.8…not significantly better. Brady averaged 27 touchdowns a season whereas in New England. Stafford? 23.5. Once more not a lot distinction besides Stafford’s numbers got here with a workforce that was a perennial loser. How about passing yards? That’s an amazing measuring stick. In 12 years, Matthew Stafford averaged 3,759 yards passing as a Lion. For Brady as a Patriot, 3,728. That’s lower than Stafford should you didn’t discover. On the adverse facet, there are the interceptions. Stafford’s 12-year common per season is 12. Brady’s is almost 9.
One ultimate set of stats to ponder. In 12 years, Matthew Stafford has led 32 comebacks and 39 game-winning drives. Having performed eight extra seasons with the identical workforce Tom Brady had 40 comebacks and 49 game-winning drives however once more his groups have been perennial WINNERS. The underside line is that this…I’m not attempting to match Matthew Stafford to Tom Brady or point out he’s nearly as good. The purpose I’m attempting to make is that should you take a strong quarterback and put him on a gifted workforce…successful happens. Put the identical man on a workforce that doesn’t win (simply as was the case with Stafford in Detroit) and so they aren’t successful quarterbacks.
Subsequently, I deem Tom Brady overrated and NOT the G.O.A.T. Who’s? That’s an argument that has no clear-cut winner. It’s my opinion that championships are one issue that must be ignored of the dialogue just because successful titles is a TEAM effort and never a person one. For argument’s sake, let’s put Brady up towards others which are within the G.O.A.T.
Let’s begin with John Elway. A two-time Tremendous Bowl-winning quarterback, the previous Denver Bronco QB performed in 16 seasons. His common yards per season was 3,217. Taking into account Brady’s whole profession together with final season with Tampa and what he has finished to date in 2021, his per-season common is 3,649. Not generally known as a passing quarterback, John Elway averaged practically 19 touchdowns for his 16 years on the helm. Brady is presently driving an almost 27 per mark. However as a operating quarterback, John Elway rushed for 3,407 yards in Denver the place Brady has solely carried the ball for 1,063 in 22 years.
One man many contemplate one of the best ever is Joe Montana. Like John Elway, Montana additionally performed 16 seasons. These two QBS performed throughout the identical period and Montana had a season passing yards common of two,534 and his landing mark is at 17 so numbers don’t bear placing Montana in the identical class as Brady. However like Brady, Montana was behind heart for some excellent groups and is a a number of Tremendous Bowl winner. Montana additionally had the luxurious of getting Jerry Rice, the best receiver ever at his disposal.
If I needed to title a G.O.A.T. at quarterback for me it might be Peyton Manning. The previous Colts and Broncos signal-caller for my part is the neatest QB in historical past and watching him on the sector he was like a machine. So automated. Exact. His completion proportion for a profession bests Brady’s by over one proportion level. His season common of three,996 is effectively above Brady’s 3,649. Manning averaged nearly 30 touchdowns a season once more bettering that of Brady’s quantity.
Maybe overshadowed by many on this dialogue is one man who quietly turned among the best ever is Drew Brees. His ultimate season was in 2020 and like Tom Brady, he did his harm to opponents taking part in for 2 completely different groups. However Brees has numbers which are simply as spectacular as anybody else thought of to be a high 10 all-time quarterback. For 20 years of NFL sport time, Drew Brees was lucky to win a Tremendous Bowl in contrast to one other corridor of fame signal-caller named Dan Marino. However the numbers don’t lie.
Drew Brees averaged a tremendous 4,018 yards per season means above Brady’s present common. With practically 29 touchdowns passing a season until Brady improves on his quantity he trails Brees there as effectively. Drew Brees has a greater completion proportion. He has fewer interceptions. He was additionally sacked lower than Brady has gone down behind the road of scrimmage.
After studying this some could imagine I merely don’t like Tom Brady. I don’t. That’s as a result of I dislike all of the hype he receives whereas believing he isn’t the best of all time and as I mentioned, he’s extra a product of his surroundings, the groups constructed round him, and never as a result of he’s a gifted pure quarterback. Simply contemplate all of the information offered on this article after which ponder it once more.
I feel the pro-Brady sorts are being blinded by his six-Tremendous Bowl resume and believing he’s answerable for these titles. The reality is, equal credit score belongs to his teammates as effectively each on sides of the ball (offense and protection). For that matter then, you possibly can argue that the Patriots gamers who have been part of these six and even 4 to 6 of the titles can say they have been the best at their respective positions since they too are a number of Tremendous Bowl winners.
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