I hate the Pats so take my analysis as you will. BUT Brady deserves a lot of the blame for that game. He got all the glory for the first three super bowls when the Pats won by field goals that he didnt kick. The Pats D was the strenght of the team for all of the SB wins and now that the offense is the focus, they havent won. Brady missed a WIDE open Welker to ice the game. Everyone is saying Welker dropped it but Brady threw it over the wrong shoulder and made 5;8 welker spin around and jump in midair to even get his hands on it. It was an awful throw. On the last drive he had a WIDE open Branch across the middle and threw it three feet behind him. If he led him Branch is still running ala Forrest Gump. Again Branch got his hands on it so its called a drop but that was a bad throw too.
How can anyone think anything except that you're a hater?
I mean, in the first Super Bowl, Brady lead them downfield for the inning field goal in 1:20 seconds while backed up.
In Super Bowl #2, Brady broke all time Super Bowl records for yards and completions, a record that hasn't been broken to this day. You're going to give credit to Vinatieri? Do you even realize Vinatieri missed two easy field goals that game? He was 1 for 3. That game should have been over long before the very end if it weren't for Vinatieri choking early in the game. In Super Bowl #3, Vinatieri did not kick the FG in the 4th quarter. Patriots went into it with a 24-14 lead and basically took the air out of the ball. They gave up a late TD and pinned McNabb at their 2 yard line with under a minute to go.
It's just absurd for you to say offense wasn't a focus back then. Look up how the Patriots lit up the Steelers offensively back then (and needed to because the Steelers scored 30). Look up how the defense gave up 29 points in 31 minutes to Carolina, so Brady had to carry them, breaking Super Bowl records in the meantime. He was methodical against the Eagles. Even in their playoff losses in subsequent years, the Patriots put up enough points to win (34 against the Colts in the AFCCG). Brady's flubs have been in the first Super Bowl against the Giants, against the Ravens 2 years ago and against the Jets last year. He was passingly OK against the Ravens if you look at the numbers. He played well yesterday.
The Welker catch, I disagree with you about that.The Giants were in a cover 3, and the Patriots knew they had them. All Welker had to do was sit in the zone. Normally he would have thrown it inside because that's the soft spot in such a zone, but Brady saw the Giants CB and safeties were totally confused and that the CB had not come off his man to take Welker (which would have Welker coming over the middle). So the safety, seeing that, didn't break for Branch running down the sideline, and instead held his position over the middle. What should have happened is the CB should have picked up Welker and the safety should have picked up Branch. instead, the CB hugged the sideline and the safety, realizing this, never broke. That left Welker wide open. But if Brady had done the thing Welker expected him to, thrown it inside, the safety would have been in position. Instead, he threw it to the outside because he saw the CB was sticking to Branch. The problem was two things: Welker had turned his body upfield as though he was going to score. He should have just sat down in the zone and adjusted long before the ball got there. Second, Welker is short, and one of the great things about him is that he often makes those acrobatic catches, because he has to. Otherwise, he wouldn't be a star in the NFL. This is what's expected of him. A taller receiver get up there and catches that with more ease. Welker has to work harder and he usually does.
Ive always felt Brady was great, but overrated. He has played under the best coach, in the best system and for the best franchize in the league for his entire career. He has had an incredible offensive line his entire career. He backs up and has all day to scan the field and then throw 6-8 yard passes that his receivers turn into 15 or 20 yard gains. Brady was 0-14 on passes that were 20 yds or more in the air in both Super Bowls (according to Trent Dilfer). Hes obviously a great qb. His record speaks for itself. But he was given possibly the greatest scenario a qb could ever imagine (coach, system, franchize, o-line etc.) When hes pressured at all or when he has to throw the ball downfield hes just average. Just as he got all the glory for their wins, he needs to accept most of the blame for their losses.
An incredible offensive line? You have to tell the scouts that because they're the ones that skipped on drafting all the UDFAs that have fronted for Brady over his career, such immortals as Brandon Gorin, Joe Andruzzi, Stephen Neal, Dan Connolly, Mike Compton, Russ Hochstein, Gene Mruckowski, Grant Williams, and several others. If these guys were so good, how come no one drafted them? I can understand one or two bonafide UDFAs becoming stars (like Brian Waters currently) but by and large, the Patriots have had a patchwork offensive line, and when those players left the Patriots they were never heard from again. These OLs owe Brady their paychecks because his command of the pocket and his quick release makes them look really good. The only OLs drafted high by the Patriots have been Mankins, Light, Solder, and Vollmer. Prior to that, they were UDFAs.
You need to look at Brady's stats for throwing downfield prior to YAC. They are on the very high end. He started as a dink-and-dunk QB, but that was long long ago. After 2003, he's been at the top of the league throwing far downfield. As for being pressured, that too is overblown. Again, Brady's passer rating is very high when it comes to getting pressured. He thrives off of it actually since he's excellent in pocket awareness. You can get to him though and he has succumbed to pressure in the past, just like all QBs.
You're denying greatness and thinking up all sorts of excuses.
