Tom Brady: The Greatest….System Quarterback of All-Time

Now before you cuss me out and think I’m an idiot, let me just say that this article is not meant to bash Brady. He’s obviously a very good quarterback. I’m not here to tell you he sucks. I’m just here to look at why his success is more a product of the system than it is him. If we still want to cuss me out when you’re done reading, then my Twitter handle is at the end of the article. But anyways, back to Tom Brady. Many call him the greatest quarterback of all time. And it’s hard to argue with his success: 5 Super Bowl victories, 4 Super Bowl MVPs, 3 League MVPs, and an unprecedented 7 straight AFC Championship appearances. But success can’t be the only measure of greatness, especially in a team sport like football. The quarterback, while arguably the most important position on the field, still only plays one side of the ball. And on many plays, he’s just handing the ball off to a running back (This is QBs in general, not just Brady). Even in a sport like basketball, where one player can make such a huge impact, rings can’t be the only measure of greatness. Otherwise, Tommy Heinsohn, Bill Russell, and Robert Horry would all be better than MJ, and I don’t think anyone is arguing that. So let’s look at a few reasons why Tom Brady is a product of the Patriot Way and not his own abilities.

The Patriots Offense

The Patriots offense is very well designed. Credit to Belichick and the offensive coordinators for having such a successful offensive plan and executing it year after year. There’s a lot of low risk, high reward passes, which take advantage of the Patriots personnel. The Patriots often have smaller, quick receivers who are slippery in open field. They can take a 5 yard out or a crossing route and go an extra 40 yards with it. Not only are these passes high percentage, they are also quick, meaning the QB doesn’t face pressure and doesn’t take hits. Next time you watch a Patriots game, watch how many passes are completed within 10 yards. Also, watch how many times guys are schemed wide open. It’s incredible to watch a Patriots game because guys often seem to be more wide open than a 7v7 flag football game. Hell, even Randy Moss, who was past his prime was able to set records in this system. The Patriots take what they have for personnel and use it very well.

The Patriots Division

This obviously is no fault of Brady or the Patriots, but it’s a fact that needs to be brought up. The Patriots play in a very weak division. It’s a division that has been weak for a long time. There are a couple of times when one of the teams might be decent for a year or two, but overall, the division is basically a cake walk. The Patriots have been guaranteed at least 4 wins a year from the division, and usually 5. This does two things for the Patriots. One, it boosts their record, helping them secure a first round bye. This means one less game where people get hurt or things go wrong before they can reach the Super Bowl. Two, it helps prevent injuries. Brady never seems to be injured. A large part of that is because of the Patriots passing game (See Above) and because they get to play inferior competition 6 games a year. Watching the Patriots face their division is like watching a team play their scout defense. It’s embarrassing.

The Patriots Other Opponents

The Patriots have often been the beneficiary of what I like to call the Tiger Woods Effect. When Tiger was in his prime, he didn’t need to play his best golf to win tournaments. Whenever he was within sight of the lead, everyone ahead of him would fall apart. He would continue to play good (Sometimes great but often good was enough) golf and eventually win the tournament. This happens with the Patriots a lot too. A team will have a great game plan vs the Patriots, execute it well, and then abandon it in crunch time. There are numerous examples. I remember watching a Patriots Monday Night Football game years ago where they played the Chiefs (In 2011, When the Chiefs were bad). The game was very close at half. The Chiefs were playing very well. They were getting after Brady. They were down 10-3 at half but most people thought the game would be long over by halftime. And then the second half came. The Chiefs stopped blitzing Brady. They started dropping 7 in coverage. And from there, the Patriots picked them apart. They ended up winning 34-3.

We can even look at more recent games that the Patriots have won. The AFC Championship game vs the Jaguars. The Jaguars played well. Their offense had a game plan and executed it very well. And then the Jaguars needed a score in the fourth quarter to put the game away. They didn’t get it. Is it because the Patriots defense stepped up to make a stop? Nope. It’s because the Jaguars got away from the screens and short passes that worked so well for them throughout the game. Corey Grant (One of their running backs) had 3 catches for 59 yards in the first half. He had 0 targets in the second half. In fact, all of his targets came on touchdown drives (Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it’s not). We can also look at the infamous Patriots/Steelers game this past season. Everyone talks about the Jesse James catch/no catch. But how about the Steelers defense? The Steelers changed what they did, playing man instead of zone, which stiffled Rob Gronkowski. He had 2 catches in the first half. In the second half, up until the last drive, he had 4 catches for 66 yards. Certainly a stat line your happy with when you’re playing Gronk. But then, in the last drive, the Steelers decided to switch to a zone. Brady took advantage of this, throwing to Gronk on 4 of the 5 plays of the drive, and completing 3 of them for 69 yards. The drive was capped off by a Dion Lewis run and a Gronk two point conversion, and the rest is history. Even in the Super Bowl vs the Falcons, that comeback was possible because of horrendous play calling by the Falcons. The Patriots played well, but they didn’t need to do anything extraordinary to win that game.

Other Patriots QBs

If you still aren’t convinced by what some might consider anecdotal evidence, let’s look at the other QBs of the Bill Belichick era.

Drew Bledsoe-In Bledsoe’s one full season under Belichick (Bill’s first season), Bledsoe had 17 TDs, 13 Ints, and 3291 yards. Not great stats but certainly not bad for a team that was 5-11

Matt Cassel-In his one full season for the Pats (After Brady tore his ACL), Cassel lead the Patriots to a 10-5 record, with 21 TDs, 11 Ints, and 3693 yards. Again, a very solid season for a guy who’s been a journeyman quarterback ever since.

Jimmy Garoppolo-In his two starts with the Patriots, Jimmy G had 4 TDs, 0 Ints and 502 yards (And that second start was only half a game).

These stats might not be great, but they are pretty solid stats overall. I’m not saying that these guys are better than Brady, but these stats show that any QB can be good in the Patriots system. You only need to be a good QB to be great in this system.

Now, I just want to reiterate that I’m not saying Brady is bad. He has many redeeming attributes, like his competitive drive, intelligence, and pocket presence (He seems to wiggle out of a lot of sacks for an unathletic guy). However, his above average skills are accentuated by a system that’s perfect for him. It’s a system predicated on quick release and a high football IQ, something he has in spades. The system isn’t build AROUND the QB, it’s built FOR the QB. Many people say that you can’t mention Belichick’s success without mentioning that he has Brady. But I think it’s the other way around. Tom Brady is in the debate for greatest quarterback of all time because he got to play for the greatest coach of all time. Who knows, maybe if Belichick had someone like Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers, he could have 7 or 8 rings. But regardless of your opinion, when Tom Brady retires, Patriot fans can rest easy knowing that Bill Belichick and whoever his coordinator is has a system in place to let nearly any QB succeed.

-Stephen Brown III (@sbtrey23)