Player Spotlight: Tom Brady (1 Viewer)

[tombonneau]

And with regards to titles attained by those great passing teams and their respective QBs, they had 2 total titles. That San Fran title team won because Deion Sanders came to town. Take Deion off that team and theyre not getting by Dallas. Put Deion on Dallas, and the Cowboys are wearing the ring. And the Packers may never have won without the greatness and sheer domination of Reggie White. Take him off those teams, and theyre the 80s Chargers. Who also, like Miami, never won squat for rings. Point being, if Belichick wants to attain another title, he needs to guide NE's O back to the days of balance and a reliable ground attack. Id expect fully that as a football historian, noone knows that better than BB himself. Which is ultimately why I think theyll calm down a little with the aerial assault this year. You win titles with D, offensive balance and by running the football. Personally, I expect this year theyll be aiming for a ring. Not #s.

Take Desmond Howard off that team and they might not have won squat. But I see your point: for whatever reason, top passing teams rarely bring home the title.

I suppose I could see this impacting NE's philosophy somewhat, but honestly, if you pass better than you run (which NE does) you're going to throw more to succeed, regardless of what history "says" you must do to win a championship.

Remember, even though NE didn't win the SB, they won 18 straight on the strength of a passing game, and were a few plays shy of winning it all. I don't see them deviating much from what worked in 07.

 

[switz]

Exactly why I will have a hard time not bidding up Brady fairly high.....still even with ideal conditions and top talent, 40 TDs is a big mountain to climb.

Maybe but what has changed so much that you'd predict more than a 20% regression?

I think the Pats D will be worse with the offense staying the same. So i tend to think his numbers will be comparable to last year. I would be shocked if Brady threw for under 40 TD's.

I don't see the Pats being anywhere near as good as last season, for multitudes of reasons. But I tihnk the biggest one is the SuperBowl loss. I believe it damaged their psyche.Brady 3800 yards, 31 TDs, 15 INTs

I'm not going to argue with your opinion Switz but I would like to ask why you see Brady having his career high in int's (15) this year with the weapons he has at his disposal. He has always been pretty careful with the ball. Why do you see that changing this year?

He only threw 8 all last season, then put up 3 in the postseason, all in one game. Now they are going into a season, where they're not only dealing with the loss of the SuperBowl, but losing out on an undefeated season. Last year they had moxie, but it seemed to all dissipate in the playoffs. Heck, if SD had been healthy, I don't think NE would have even gone to the SB. Too much pressure, and I think it hangs over them all this coming season.Brady regressed each playoff game, in almost every category. I think we'll see the Brady from last season's playoffs all season long.

 

[switz]

Exactly why I will have a hard time not bidding up Brady fairly high.....still even with ideal conditions and top talent, 40 TDs is a big mountain to climb.

Maybe but what has changed so much that you'd predict more than a 20% regression?

I think the Pats D will be worse with the offense staying the same. So i tend to think his numbers will be comparable to last year. I would be shocked if Brady threw for under 40 TD's.

I don't see the Pats being anywhere near as good as last season, for multitudes of reasons. But I tihnk the biggest one is the SuperBowl loss. I believe it damaged their psyche.Brady 3800 yards, 31 TDs, 15 INTs

I'm not going to argue with your opinion Switz but I would like to ask why you see Brady having his career high in int's (15) this year with the weapons he has at his disposal. He has always been pretty careful with the ball. Why do you see that changing this year?

Switz is the smoo of the shark pool..... contrarian....except without the "being right" part.

You've added so much to the Shark Pool.I'm only contrarian when I disagree - like everyone else. As for not being right... LOL

 

[djcolts]

Brady regressed each playoff game, in almost every category. I think we'll see the Brady from last season's playoffs all season long.

I don't agree with that because most Ds they play this season will not be nearly as good as the Giants' and Chargers' Ds. He "regressed" because he played progressively better Ds in the playoffs (Jags D < Chargers D < Giants' Super Bowl Day D).

 

[H.K.]

The Patriots regular schedule is a joke this year.

Brady will break records again.

5102 passing yards

51 TDs

87 rushing yards

1 TD

 

[BigRed]

Word up. Why stop there?

6200 passing yards

80 TDs

900 rushing yds

15 TDs

 

[jurb26]

Word up. Why stop there?6200 passing yards80 TDs900 rushing yds15 TDs

#2 overall behind Peterson.....

 

[Gatorman]

I am really not sure what to say here. Brady is not going anywhere, but you really have to say that his floor (of he stays healthy) is about 4200 yards and 30 TDs. The main change that New England had last year was Moss and Welker. The Pats (arguably) have the best QB in the game today, followed by the best #1 WR and the best slot receiver in the game. That is the difference between 50 TDs and 28. Towards the end of the season, teams were rolling up on moss and welker, so stallworth started to see some improvement as did the RB out of the backfield, which led to longer drives and smaller TDs.

The superbowl was simple: The pats cannot defend a strong pass rush with their line (see the Miami Dolphin games vs the pats before the 2007 season). If you can get to brady, you can stop him. The giants and the phins D in its prime were the only teams that could do that. How many other line out there today could do it (hell, even the phins and giants lines aren't that good anymore).

I'd say that Brady is a lock for about 280 per game with 2 TDs and .5 int. Even with a superbowl hangover, the only way Brady throws less than 30 is if Maroney has a monster year or brady gets hurt.

 

[H.K.]

I am really not sure what to say here. Brady is not going anywhere, but you really have to say that his floor (of he stays healthy) is about 4200 yards and 30 TDs. The main change that New England had last year was Moss and Welker. The Pats (arguably) have the best QB in the game today, followed by the best #1 WR and the best slot receiver in the game. That is the difference between 50 TDs and 28. Towards the end of the season, teams were rolling up on moss and welker, so stallworth started to see some improvement as did the RB out of the backfield, which led to longer drives and smaller TDs. The superbowl was simple: The pats cannot defend a strong pass rush with their line (see the Miami Dolphin games vs the pats before the 2007 season). If you can get to brady, you can stop him. The giants and the phins D in its prime were the only teams that could do that. How many other line out there today could do it (hell, even the phins and giants lines aren't that good anymore).

:( The Patriots won every regular season game they played last year and only lost in the Super Bowl because of two poorly executed defensive plays. There is no reason for them to do anything differently in 2008.Now that Strahan has retired, no team in the NFL has the personnel that can pressure Brady without bringing more people...and when defenses blitz Brady, he kills them. Look at the Pats schedule this year, nobody has the personnel to stop them.

 

[Jon_Moore]

Word up. Why stop there?6200 passing yards80 TDs900 rushing yds15 TDs

You forgot:10 Receptions500 Receiving Yards5 TDs100 Total TDs