During the offseason at one point I had to go back and watch a couple games from 2010. What struck me was how terrific Brady was that season, even before considering all the changes he had to deal with. His tempo and accuracy was off the charts in 2010. Man he was good that season. And then it made me realize that he wasn’t quite as good in 2011. Now, I’m sure the elbow injury factored into a lot of that, but I came away with the question, “Can we ever expect Brady to be that good again?” I’m not sure of the answer. Not sure he has to be that good for this team to win it all if the defense and his receiving options are better. I still believe Brady is right behind Rodgers in terms of rankings – yes, ahead of Brees – and I’m going with the though that he’s going to have to prove to me that he’s on the decline until I actually believe it. I expect him to be sensational this season. Maybe not quite as good as 2010.
Football chat with Greg A. Bedard – Extra Points – Boston.com
Just one of many great nuggets in this chat. Let’s throw this one in here too:
I don’t think the Patriots are going for it this year because of Brady’s closing window – it’s because Belichick is sick of the seven-year title drought. I have as much reason to believe that Belichick is more worried about winning after Brady than before TB retires. The last thing Belichick wants is for TB to retire and then the team go in the tank. Everyone would give all the credit to Brady.
Thank you! Nothing kills me more than the yearly “the Patriots are really going for it this year” or “the Patriots aren’t messing around any more”. Look, Belichick is “really going for it” every year. In fact, every moment of even the off-season.
And I totally agree that Belichick has a very good chance at sticking around beyond Brady to match how the 49ers did it with Montana and Young. He’s spoken admirably of that in the past.
