OT: Brady and his offensive line

[BigErnMcCracken]

I don't think Brady forced Kraft to make Belichick trade Jimmy. I think Belichick would have preferred to move on from Brady, knew that Kraft loved him, and then realized when Brady continued to be effective and both he and Kraft were promoting the idea that he was going to play into his 40s that there was no way they were going to be able to keep Jimmy G around so he sent him out west. I've read that Kraft was disappointed that they didn't get more for him.

One of the takeaways from that Jeff Benedict book The Dynasty is that the relationship between Belichick and Brady was way more strained than they let on. Brady was dying to get out of New England.

Speaking of "didn't get more for him," I'll just point out that Belichick burned a second round pick on M. Sanu a year ago and he is currently unemployed.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm not buying your theory. John Lynch is on record as calling Belichick and asking him if he'd be interested in trading Brady to the 49ers. He said that Belichick audibly laughed at him, and told him it's not happening. After he said no, they talked about eventually trading Jimmy G. to the 49ers. So this wasn't a matter of BB taking the Brady trade proposal to Kraft and then returning to Lynch with the verdict, but instead it was BB instantly laughing at the idea.

Mike Reiss and Tom Curran have the more plausible story, which is that Belichick wanted to pay Jimmy G. a bundle to sit for a year or two behind Brady after signing a new contract. When Jimmy G. turned him down, that's when the Patriots traded Jimmy G. The plan before that was for Jimmy G. to take over in 2019 or 2020.

Personally, I am hoping the Patriots can find a better QB than Jimmy G., who throws too many picks, and he's very very fragile. It's crazy to me that good QBs like Ryan Tannehill or Tedy Bridgewater are sometimes available in the FA market, but I would prefer both of those guys to Jimmy G., for the 2 reasons I mentioned.

I am absolutely convinced that Bill and Josh wanted a mobile QB. The guys who give Bill's D fits are all mobile QBs, not just runners like Lamar Jackson, but guys who can take your aggressive pass rush and burn you by throwing on the move or running. But they have to be able to throw from the pocket as well. Mahomes, Watson, Wilson, Rodgers, now maybe Josh Allen and even Ryan Fitz at times (like last season's late loss). Burrow looks like he would qualify.

I think they hoped Stidham could develop into that. Maybe he can. I think they hoped Cam could do that, but he actually seems to be very inaccurate throwing off an unstable platform while in motion. Mahomes is amazingly accurate when throwing on the move.

So looking at this draft or FA, is there anybody who fits that description? I think Trey Lance is the best fit. But that would mean BB playing a rookie QB. I thought they might go for Bridgewater last year.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I think they hoped Cam could do that, but he actually seems to be very inaccurate throwing off an unstable platform while in motion.

Why is it that he just refuses to throw to the right side of the field? Is he hurt? It's inexplicable.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Why is it that he just refuses to throw to the right side of the field? Is he hurt? It's inexplicable.

He won't even look at the other side of the field, let alone throw there. He's only looking at half the field.

While I grew frustrated with Brady's unwillingness to find guys who were open but off their routes, I really miss the way he would gladly take those 5-6 yard dump passes to the backs if that was what was open. Cam just doesn't want to do that. He's like the anti-Brady in that he only wants to throw 10+ yards downfield. It shows in Edelman not even factoring in the offense. Or White.

Stidham is going to make young QB mistakes, but at least he's looking over and using the whole field.

 

[champs99and04]

I think your theory is correct, but I'm less certain that Brady in Tampa this year at age 43 is the right case study. He knew he hadn't been the same guy since 2017 and needed a better roster to offset his decline. The Patriots had something close to that in 2018, but between Gronk leaving and Edelman now being 34, he knew he needed to move on.

The fact that the Patriots had to replace their QB on top of losing so many guys to FA and then to COVID kind of created the perfect storm for them to suck this year, but I don't think it changes the fact that Brady's declined a bit. 11 wins last year was a bit of a fluke given their schedule, unsustainable turnover margin/ST success, etc. We knew coming into the season that the roster was one of the worst in the league.

 

[upstater]

I think your theory is correct, but I'm less certain that Brady in Tampa this year at age 43 is the right case study. He knew he hadn't been the same guy since 2017 and needed a better roster to offset his decline. The Patriots had something close to that in 2018, but between Gronk leaving and Edelman now being 34, he knew he needed to move on.

The fact that the Patriots had to replace their QB on top of losing so many guys to FA and then to COVID kind of created the perfect storm for them to suck this year, but I don't think it changes the fact that Brady's declined a bit. 11 wins last year was a bit of a fluke given their schedule, unsustainable turnover margin/ST success, etc. We knew coming into the season that the roster was one of the worst in the league.

I thought he declined because he couldn't get his torso around to complete an out to the right side with the same velocity.

BUT--then I saw the game on replay Sunday night. He was zipping it on those outs. He was throwing lasers. And now I am reassessing.

In 2018, Brady was on fire during the playoffs. He played really well against the Chargers and Chiefs (at KC! in the freeze). He had a bad opening quarter against the Rams, but then again played really well. His offensive weapons? Edelman, Burkhead, James White. No other WRs. A hobbled Gronk.

So--he really didn't have a much better roster in 2019 than he did when they won it all in 2018. The big difference? 4 OL injured in 2019. Marshall Newhouse as his LT. This is why he kept throwing the ball away after 2 seconds.

When Brady left, it was still before Covid shutdowns. It was also as Julian Edelman was healing from broken ribs he endured during the season. Brady had every reason to think Edelman would be improved over last year (even though he had 100 catches). But Edelman has a bad knee injury right now--he shouldn't even be on the field.

Brady knew he was going to leave New England long before he assessed the talent on the Patriot roster. He decided to do it in the summer after the Rams Super Bowl. The Patriots offered him a 1 year deal at 20 million (Tyrod Taylor signed for $18.5 million shortly before that!). As soon as that happened, Brady put the house he built for $27m dollars up for sale. He was gone summer of 2018 no matter what happened in 2019. The Patriots told him he was on a year to year basis. He found someone that guaranteed him a longer deal. At the end of the day, he'll play for 3 more years (at least) post 2018 Super Bowl. The Patriots were projecting him for one more year.

This is the crux of it.

Personally, I think the Patriots should have definitely given him a 2 year deal.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I have no idea what Tampa Bay will look like in December (although with AB my sense is that they might still look pretty good) and I have no idea what NE will look like in December (my guess is not as bad as they looked this weekend but not that great either) but I'm still fine with the way things worked out. They were going to be crappy at some point, might as well get a jump on it. This team - with Brady - would be no more competitive against the good teams in the AFC than they were last year, and probably less so. He clearly wanted out. We'll see if Belichick has another act in him.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I have no idea what Tampa Bay will look like in December (although with AB my sense is that they might still look pretty good) and I have no idea what NE will look like in December (my guess is not as bad as they looked this weekend but not that great either) but I'm still fine with the way things worked out. They were going to be crappy at some point, might as well get a jump on it. This team - with Brady - would be no more competitive against the good teams in the AFC than they were last year, and probably less so. He clearly wanted out. We'll see if Belichick has another act in him.

While the offense has been bad, my biggest concern of the last two games is that two mediocre to poor offenses went through the defense over and over. Denver didn’t punt until the 4th Q. Sure, no TDs, because Denver is just that inept. This week it looked similar, guys breaking our defenders lame attempts at arm tackles.

I need to see the D play the way they can.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Pretty good article by Lombardi.

The Patriots are not good enough. Can they turn it around?

New England's secret sauce is its offseason development program. Without it, its long-time model of low-income scheme fitters doesn't work.

theathletic.com