Anyone following the Tom Brady Divorce?

[Vēritās]

I mean, you guys are judging the three years since Brady left. There was a 10 year span Brady went without a ring in New England.

But he did take them to the Super Bowl three other times which they lost.

2001 - Super Bowl win (first year starter)
2002-
2003- Super Bowl win
2004- Super Bowl win
2005-
2006-
2007- Super Bowl loss
2008-
2009-
2010-
2011- Super Bowl loss
2012-
2013-
2014- Super Bowl win
2015-
2016- Super Bowl win (down 3-28 in the 3rd quarter, Brady goes 43 for 62 and nearly 500 yds in an astonishing comeback 34-28 win against Atlanta)
2017- Super Bowl loss (Brady throws for 505 yds and 3 TDs)
2018- Super Bowl win
2019-
2020- Super Bowl win (first year with the Tampa Bay Bucs)

[Vēritās]

Mac Jones is competitive, and their division is the strongest it's been in the Belichick era. The Pats benefitted from being in a weak division for years.

A huge part of the reason why the teams in that division were worse during the Brady era is because they had to play a Brady led Patriots team at least twice every year. The second that changed, suddenly the division became stronger? That's debatable anyway. I mean, Miami, Buffalo and the NY Jets haven't been exactly dominant at any time over the past two decades.

[Some Schmo]

Mac Jones is competitive, and their division is the strongest it's been in the Belichick era. The Pats benefitted from being in a weak division for years.

A huge part of the reason why the teams in that division were worse during the Brady era is because they had to play a Brady led Patriots team at least twice every year.

So that accounts for two losses for each of those teams, as opposed to six wins for the Pats. What happened to the Jets, Bills and Dolphins when they were playing everyone else?

The second that changed, suddenly the division became stronger? That's debatable anyway.

I didn't connect those two. You did.

I mean, Miami, Buffalo and the NY Jets haven't been exactly dominant at any time over the past two decades.

The AFC East was the most competitive division in that conference this year (perhaps the league, since the NFC East feels a bit illusory to me still). I wouldn't use the word "dominant" but they have been much stronger lately than they were from 2000-2020.

But I don't think you're catching the larger point, which is that it's a matter of opinion, so if you think he's the GOAT, you have every right. Nobody's stopping you.

Brady is like vanilla ice cream. Vanilla is the GOAT. It's got the stats to back it up. Nobody's making a banana split with anything but vanilla. Vanilla goes with everything. More vanilla is sold than any other flavor by a long shot.

On the other hand, vanilla is damned boring. But you can't say it doesn't do its job.

[Vēritās]

I know this is all opinion, but still fun to talk about. I must say, the "boring" description does confuse me a bit. I mean, what is more exciting than 4th quarter comeback wins? Brady holds the record for the most 4th quarter comeback wins with 46. Marino is in 8th place. The other day I saw where he expanded his previous record (82) by throwing TDs to 93 different receivers. That's like 20 more than the guy in second place, and 40 more than Marino. This means he was never reliant on just a couple of star receivers to make him look good. You know, like Montana and Young relied heavily on Jerry Rice, or Troy Aikman relied heavily on Michael Irvin, or Dan Marino relied on Clayton and Duper.

In terms of durability, no one has been sacked more than Tom Brady (565 times!) and yet the man has never suffered any serious injury. Marino was sacked less than half that (270) which again, speaks to the evolution of NFL defenses over the decades. Marino also benefited from working behind an elite offensive line which led to him throwing the ball a record 759 times without a single sack. So yeah, the rules over the years have changed to help protect the QBs, but a sack is a sack for the most part and they can get pretty ugly; just ask Tua Tagovailoa.

[Some Schmo]

I know this is all opinion, but still fun to talk about.

Absolutely.

I must say, the "boring" description does confuse me a bit.

I heard a sports commentator say recently that Brady has to be the most unathletic QB in history. I don't know that I'd go that far in the other direction, but there was truth to what he said. Brady doesn't move that well, and if he's got pressure, he's probably going to sit down.

Every passing snap feels the same. Drop, look, throw from where he's standing if he has time. It's like watching a QB robot.

Robots are efficient but boring to watch. That's the best way I can explain it.

I mean, what is more exciting than 4th quarter comeback wins? Brady holds the record for the most 4th quarter comeback wins with 46. Marino is in 8th place. The other day I saw where he expanded his previous record (82) by throwing TDs to 93 different receivers. That's like 20 more than the guy in second place, and 40 more than Marino. This means he was never reliant on just a couple of star receivers to make him look good. You know, like Montana and Young relied heavily on Jerry Rice, or Troy Aikman relied heavily on Michael Irvin, or Dan Marino relied on Clayton and Duper.

In terms of durability, no one has been sacked more than Tom Brady (565 times!) and yet the man has never suffered any serious injury. Marino was sacked less than half that (270) which again, speaks to the evolution of NFL defenses over the decades. Marino also benefited from working behind an elite offensive line which led to him throwing the ball a record 759 times without a single sack. So yeah, the rules over the years have changed to help protect the QBs, but a sack is a sack for the most part and they can get pretty ugly; just ask Tua Tagovailoa.

My only answer to this is, if you play long enough, you're going to acquire some records eventually.

Here's what I'll say: Brady is ONE OF the greatest of all time. Unquestionably. But there have been a lot of great QBs, many with talents Brady's never had, who were also among the greatest to play the game.

I just don't like crowning any one person with that title. There have been a lot of great QBs, and they all come with a different mix of skills and flaws.

Incidentally, I feel exactly the same way any time someone calls Dave Chapelle The GOAT (which has been fashionable recently), and while I'm a big fan of Dave's, it annoys me just as much as people calling Brady The GOAT. What about Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Robin Williams, etc etc etc?

[ajax18]

That's too bad for the Cowboys. Perhaps if Texans had better embraced woke politics, Kaepernick would still be quarterbacking the 49ers. Maybe London Breed will cut 49er funding for the 49ers racist decision not to sign Kaepernick as the starter or perhaps even liberals don't like losing.