Can We Become As Good As The Patriots?

[SF Dolphin Fan]

I don't believe Brady is "all that". I think if he played for any other team, we wouldn't even be talking about him now. I may be wrong about that, but look how Cassell and Garrapolo looked in Bill's system. Brady has had the benefit of great coaching and the same system for 15 or more years.

Tom Brady's skills fit the system very well. His ball placement is top-notch, right up there with Drew Brees among the best of the current quarterbacks. His placement is so good that it gives the receivers a chance to get yards after the catch. Plus he has been durable and consistent.

He certainly isn't the athlete of some of the other top quarterbacks and won't buy those third and fourth chances. Then again, he rarely has to in the Patriots offense. Watching New England yesterday I think Brady probably threw 3-4 passes that went more than 10 yards in the air. Most are really an extension of the running game.

It is a good question as to how Brady would fair in other offenses, but there's no doubt he executes New England's offense near perfection.

 

[lucid22]

The argument me and my friend always make is look at the Patriots when Brady got injured in 2008 (11-5 with Cassell) and the first four games of this season (3-1 and could of been 4-0 if Garrapolo didn't get hurt) and then compare it to the year Peyton Manning got missed the whole season with the Colts (I think they went 2-14?). Coaching matters.

 

[Lionstone]

I don't believe Brady is "all that". I think if he played for any other team, we wouldn't even be talking about him now. I may be wrong about that, but look how Cassell and Garrapolo looked in Bill's system. Brady has had the benefit of great coaching and the same system for 15 or more years.

Wow! I think you are wrong.

 

[Patrick_Bateman]

SMH at the discrediting of Brady in this thread.

When he retires the Patriots will be a different team. Still great, because their systems are elite, and from the top down they are well ran....but Brady is the secret sauce no doubt about it.

He's in the MVP discussion virtually every year, this one included.

Agreed, the Pats system and coaching are top notch, but Brady is one of the greatest QBs in history (and I'm sure plenty will get pissed at that notion but it's the truth).

 

[Lionstone]

To successfully accomplish the Plug and Play system, you need to have depth of good players. To accomplish this..... you MUST trade your valuable assets BEFORE they retire or leave in free agency.

This allows you to always stock your team with more and more players through the Draft. This also increases your chances of hitting the jackpot and finding a Gronkowski in the 2nd round .

This is the best way of dealing with the constant injuries in the NFL.

Having smart players that can pickup the system is important. It is more important that you find the correct coach and then stick with him for a long period of time. Further, it is important that you have a core of players that know the system well. When 70% of your players have at least two years of experience in the system, then you can bring plug and play players up to speed quickly.

 

[studsatele]

Saw somebody say "Who was Brady before Belichick ". He was the backup QB to Drew Bledsoe. On the bench. Until an injury pushed him on the scene. It wasn't like Belichick just magically saw his potential. He lucked into him. Not saying Belichick isn't an all timer. But. Bruschi, McGinest, Law, Milloy I think Vrabel (not 100% on him) were all there when Belichick took over. New England was a Super Bowl caliber team before Belichick took over. That team was already built by the time he took over. The question should be. Who was Belichick before Brady? A good coach, who did decent with the Browns and had a pretty decent QB there, Kosar wasn't anything to sneeze at.

 

[BahamaFinFan78]

Saw somebody say "Who was Brady before Belichick ". He was the backup QB to Drew Bledsoe. On the bench. Until an injury pushed him on the scene. It wasn't like Belichick just magically saw his potential. He lucked into him. Not saying Belichick isn't an all timer. But. Bruschi, McGinest, Law, Milloy I think Vrabel (not 100% on him) were all there when Belichick took over. New England was a Super Bowl caliber team before Belichick took over. That team was already built by the time he took over. The question should be. Who was Belichick before Brady? A good coach, who did decent with the Browns and had a pretty decent QB there, Kosar wasn't anything to sneeze at.

I think Belichick might be the last coach to take the Browns to the playoffs. Brady was also a backup to Drew Henson in college.

 

[Wadeshow]

I think Belichick might be the last coach to take the Browns to the playoffs. Brady was also a backup to Drew Henson in college.

Nah Butch Davis brought them to the playoffs in the early 2000s.

 

[Highzenga]

Saw somebody say "Who was Brady before Belichick ". He was the backup QB to Drew Bledsoe. On the bench. Until an injury pushed him on the scene. It wasn't like Belichick just magically saw his potential. He lucked into him. Not saying Belichick isn't an all timer. But. Bruschi, McGinest, Law, Milloy I think Vrabel (not 100% on him) were all there when Belichick took over. New England was a Super Bowl caliber team before Belichick took over. That team was already built by the time he took over. The question should be. Who was Belichick before Brady? A good coach, who did decent with the Browns and had a pretty decent QB there, Kosar wasn't anything to sneeze at.

This is correct. Parcells built the NE team that Belichick took over. Brady would've never played if Bledsoe didn't get hurt. It was the perfect storm, if you will. Belichick was a good coach before that, but certainly wasn't on a Shula-like level. That being said, he has seemed to master his craft over the past decade.

 

[Despacio]

I see Belichick trading Gronkowski soon, his injuries are becoming too common. He'd get a crapload of picks. And they clearly don't need him.

As for Gase modeling after Belichick, remember he's a Saban disciple and Saban and Belichick are friends. It makes sense and they all share the same cultural approach. A big thing to watch to see if Gase follows that mode is if Gase avoids the usual Miami big FA splash this offseason. And if he stays stubborn on keeping with Tannehill if Tannehill starts to struggle again.

The pros about Gase is he's never satisfied, he's always accountable, will hold anyone deserved accountable, and is refreshingly blunt and honest.

The best part though is he's 38! He's younger than Tom Brady! He has plenty of time to get even better. Let's just pray the front office doesn't fracture that relationship. I certainly don't see Tannenbaum here long term with Gase.

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[studsatele]

This is correct. Parcells built the NE team that Belichick took over. Brady would've never played if Bledsoe didn't get hurt. It was the perfect storm, if you will. Belichick was a good coach before that, but certainly wasn't on a Shula-like level. That being said, he has seemed to master his craft over the past decade.

I do agree with this. He was given a serious oppurtunity. A great, clutch QB, combined with a ready made roster. But this notion that he was a wizard or some sorta genius is bull****. Lemme see him take the Browns today or some other bottomdweller today and make them a perennial contender. Then I'll call him a genius. Other than that. He's a great coach who didn't **** up his opportunity. Which is more than most can hope for. But let's not act like he took the Pats out of the wilderness and made them a great team. He was handed a team who was already a contender. All he had to do was not **** it up.

 

[Jared]

This is correct. Parcells built the NE team that Belichick took over. Brady would've never played if Bledsoe didn't get hurt. It was the perfect storm, if you will. Belichick was a good coach before that, but certainly wasn't on a Shula-like level. That being said, he has seemed to master his craft over the past decade.

Parcells left in 1996. Pete Carroll (but mostly our crappy GM Bobby Grier) made the team successively worse each year. The 96 team went 11-5, while the team under Petey went 10-6, 9-7, then 8-8. The veterans got fat and happy, and the draft picks during that period were terrible. When Bill came in, he gutted the team and let go a ton of vets, replacing them with a ton of mid-tier castoffs from other teams. In 2000, the team went 5-11, and carried a rookie 6th rounder as a 4th QB. When BB was interviewed about the decision to carry 4 QBs, he said it was because there wasn't any other player on the roster good enough to justify the roster spot.

However, by the preseason of 2001, Brady was already impressing the coaches. He leapfrogged the established vet to get the #2 job. It came out years later (I forget if it was in Michael Holley's "Patriot Reign" or another book) that prior to Drew's injury the coaching staff was already looking to change QBs. Drew was the old guard, and had no interest in improving his game. Word was that he didn't take film study or practice seriously, and wasn't buying into what BB was selling. Meanwhile the young kid was basically the exact type of player BB wanted in terms of crazy work ethic and football perfectionist (despite not being the physical specimen, and not having the cannon arm like Drew). Even if Drew didn't get hurt, if that team got a few more losses, a change was going to be made. It isn't like BB didn't have a history of doing that with Kosar in Cleveland.

 

[Sons Of Shula]

Parcells left in 1996. Pete Carroll (but mostly our crappy GM Bobby Grier) made the team successively worse each year. The 96 team went 11-5, while the team under Petey went 10-6, 9-7, then 8-8. The veterans got fat and happy, and the draft picks during that period were terrible. When Bill came in, he gutted the team and let go a ton of vets, replacing them with a ton of mid-tier castoffs from other teams. In 2000, the team went 5-11, and carried a rookie 6th rounder as a 4th QB. When BB was interviewed about the decision to carry 4 QBs, he said it was because there wasn't any other player on the roster good enough to justify the roster spot.

However, by the preseason of 2001, Brady was already impressing the coaches. He leapfrogged the established vet to get the #2 job. It came out years later (I forget if it was in Michael Holley's "Patriot Reign" or another book) that prior to Drew's injury the coaching staff was already looking to change QBs. Drew was the old guard, and had no interest in improving his game. Word was that he didn't take film study or practice seriously, and wasn't buying into what BB was selling. Meanwhile the young kid was basically the exact type of player BB wanted in terms of crazy work ethic and football perfectionist (despite not being the physical specimen, and not having the cannon arm like Drew). Even if Drew didn't get hurt, if that team got a few more losses, a change was going to be made. It isn't like BB didn't have a history of doing that with Kosar in Cleveland.

Correct. Great book for behind the scene GM details on a high end franchise.

 

[DolfanISS]

Correct. Great book for behind the scene GM details on a high end franchise.

Holley is a tool though. On WEEI he said Sheard would be better than Chandler Jones, then Chris Long would be. Michael Holley sucks but maybe he writes better books.

 

[Sons Of Shula]

Holley is a tool though. On WEEI he said Sheard would be better than Chandler Jones, then Chris Long would be. Michael Holley sucks but maybe he writes better books.

I don't care about hot takes, the book was legit.