Patriots in trouble or psyching themselves up for playoffs?

[CGI_Ram]

Tom Brady Isn't Good Enough Right Now to Win a Super Bowl

Not good.

www.thebiglead.com

Tom Brady Isn't Good Enough Right Now to Win a Super Bowl

Week 11 of the NFL is in the books and the vast majority of power rankings and Super Bowl odds are in agreement that the New England Patriots are the favorites. Yet, lost in all team's greatness, is how below-average the team is this season at a key position: quarterback.

If the Patriots plan on winning yet another Super Bowl, they are going to have to do so in spite of Tom Brady. Here is how Brady currently ranks this season:

Completion percentage: 19th

Passing touchdowns: 17th

Passer rating: 20th

QBR: 15th

Yards gained per pass attempt: 26th

Touchdown percentage: 26th

In several of these categories, Brady ranks behind quarterbacks such as Case Keenum, Gardner Minshew, Joe Flacco, and Jameis Winston. Not exactly the class many thought he would be in.

His lackluster season has mostly gone unnoticed due to the excellence of the Patriots defense, Josh McDaniels' innovative play-calling, and Bill Belichick having no equals. And all of that will be enough to defeat most of the teams standing in the way of a seventh Super Bowl. But with Brady's current play, it won't be enough to get past all of them.

The Patriots have had a breeze of a schedule, but the three times they've played teams worth watching, the dominance was absent. They beat the Bill and Eagles by six and seven, respectively. Against the Ravens, they were outplayed from kickoff and Lamar Jackson was clearly the best quarterback on the field.

The Ravens now hold the tie-breaker over the Patriots, and are only one game behind record-wise. Thus, they are in a position to get the likely AFC Championship matchup in Baltimore. New England gets the defensive advantage; however, that gap is much narrower than the one between Brady and Jackson. The Patriots cannot win this game unless Brady turns back the clock at least two years. And he will need to do that for more than just one game, because this version of Tom Brady isn't close to enough to defeat what is brewing in the NFC.

The Patriots' struggling passing offense would be put on blast against the 49ers defense. Brady is playing several notches too low to go head-to-head with Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, or Drew Brees. And the possibility of going up against Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins -- both playing at an MVP level -- is certainly in play.

History has proven that doubting Tom Brady is a route to humiliation. It's different this time, though. This is not the same Brady and, quite frankly, even much of a resemblance of his former self.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Josh McDaniels not concerned about Tom Brady's negative comments after win

The New England Patriots came away with a hard-fought road win over a potential playoff team in Philadelphia on Sunday, but you never would have known it

larrybrownsports.com

Josh McDaniels not concerned about Tom Brady’s negative comments after win

The New England Patriots came away with a hard-fought road win over a potential playoff team in Philadelphia on Sunday, but you never would have known it by the way Tom Brady acted after the game. Some have viewed that as selfishness from the six-time Super Bowl champion, but offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels insists it is not a concern.

During a conference call with the media on Tuesday, McDaniels was asked about Brady’s demeanor and open frustration with the Patriots offense following a 17-10 victory. He said that is an illustration of the 42-year-old’s “desire to be perfect in everything he does.

“When you don’t do as well as you’d like to do personally, or as a unit, you’re frustrated with your output. But at the same time, understanding in the big picture, our No. 1 goal, and the most important thing for all of us, is to contribute to wins,” McDaniels said, via Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. “I think there were many things the other day we did that helped contribute to that, and there were certainly things we did that we want to do better going forward.”

McDaniels pointed to the fact that there have been other times when the Patriots put up around 40 points and Brady still seems aggravated.

“I don’t ever take that as a negative,” the coach said. “I understand he wants to go out there and do what we all do, which is to put a lot of points on the board every week.”

The Patriots were terrible offensively in Philadelphia, but their defense continued to dominate like it has for much of the season. Brady and company managed to score only one touchdown and had continued struggles in the red zone, and the quarterback seemed irritated when he spoke with the media for less than two minutes following the game. When asked if he was discouraged despite the win and improving to 9-1, Brady said “we just played for three hours” and “I think everyone is a little tired.”

As WEEI’s Ryan Hannable notes, Brady made similar remarks after New England’s 16-10 win at Buffalo earlier in the season.


View: https://twitter.com/ryanhannable/status/1196602412116656128?s=21


Brady is a perfectionist, and that is not going to change. That’s one of the main reasons he is the greatest quarterback of all time. Both he and Bill Belichick never seem fully satisfied until they’re hoisting the Lombardi trophy, and that mentality has served them well. There are going to be games when the defense needs the offense to pick up the slack, and Brady wants to be ready for those — even if he has essentially admitted there could be more issues going forward. A player holding himself to a high standard in both victory and defeat is not something that should be considered a problem.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Brady is a douche bag. Never liked him, never will.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Brady is a douche bag. Never liked him, never will.

Kind of fun to hear of them all frazzled then...

 

[Flint]

Unfortunately they have plenty of time to figure it out, as usual there is no one chasing them in their division and really no one in the conference other than the ravens. That certainly is a concern since they lost pretty convincingly but who’s going to bet on Belichick losing to the same team twice.
Maybe this really is the start of Brady’s decline, look at his peers, they are falling apart. Rivers is a mess, ben’ s arm just blew up, Eli finally got put out of his misery, and Brees is just ok. Maybe it’s the lack of talent on offense or maybe Brady’s playing like a 40 year old man.

 

[LesBaker]

That certainly is a concern since they lost pretty convincingly but who’s going to bet on Belichick losing to the same team twice.

Mobile QB's, according to an article I read, give Belichick trouble the first time around.

It's hard to beat him twice with or without a mobile QB.

I wouldn't bet against him and Brady, it's just never a good play.

 

[Rynie]

We play them this Sunday. I have this weird feeling we actually beat them. I don't know why.

With that said, I also won't be surpised if we lose by 30. Lol.

 

[yrba1]

Never sleep on the postseason Pats, they're a completely different team from the regular season one.

 

[Ram65]

Brady with no Gronk showing his age. The Patsies have very little offensive firepower outside of Edleman and recently acquired Sanu. They are having trouble running the ball. They got K"Neal Harry their first round WR healthy which could help.

Belicheat did his thing on Sunday against the Eagles. Eagles go up 10-0 early. He has his sideline meeting and they shutout the Eagles the rest of the way. They did enough to win on the road.

 

[Reddog99]

It's the same thing with them year after year they have a rough patch and everyone starts to doubt them and say Tom Brady is losing it only for them to get into the playoffs and win while the announcers and media go back to slobbering all over Brady Belichick and the Pats. It's like a broken record. It's sickening.

 

[Q729]

Yeah, to hell with the Pats. Just stop paying attention to them. Brady's talk of concern is just the same as the bullshit they spew when they talk up their opponent when you god damn well know they're laughing at them in the film room.