While there is no question that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time with six Super Bowl titles and top-10 placement in nearly every passing category, he may not be the reason why the New England Patriots are so successful.
Sure, Brady is outstanding, but a lot of teams have had fantastic quarterbacks and never had a run even close to what Tom Terrific has enjoyed. A sports podcast host put together some statistics to explain why Brady hasn’t been the only answer for this franchise.
Tom Brady’s 17 WORST playoff wins combined:
61.3% CMP / 6.6 YPA / 22 TD / 19 INT / 79.9 RATING
Reminder, no other QB in NFL history has even won 17 playoff games. Brady has won that many playing like Ryan Fitzpatrick.
— Barry McCockiner (@SportsTalkBarry) February 7, 2019
To put things in context, Joe Montana and Peyton Manning won 16 and 14 playoff games respectively and rarely won while playing poorly, while Brady has more wins than both of them if we just take his worst games.
Drew Brees & Aaron Rodgers’ playoff LOSSES combined:
379 CMP / 613 ATT / 4,238 YDS / 31 TD / 14 INT / 89.8 RATING / 0-14 RECORD
Tom Brady’s worst 14 playoff WINS combined:
317 CMP / 528 ATT / 3,443 YDS / 13 TD / 16 INT / 74.9 RATING / 14-0 RECORD
Brady = most overrated
— Barry McCockiner (@SportsTalkBarry) February 7, 2019
Now, while the stats above are by no means awful, they’re not quite what you’d expect to see out of Brady, especially the horrendous 22:19 touchdown to interception ratio.
When you take all 40 of his playoff appearances into account, it becomes even more evident that he’s not the invincible postseason quarterback that he’s made out to be.
Tom Brady has had SO many shitty playoff games. Literally almost half of his playoff career is shit. More than a full seasons worth of shitty playoff games. It’s ridiculous that he’s considered the best QB ever. pic.twitter.com/2UZJDrYFKV
— Barry McCockiner (@SportsTalkBarry) February 7, 2019
This is not to say that Brady is not a great quarterback, but this information does suggest that the Patriots have had many other factors that contributed to their run of success, and since he is the only player who has been around for the entire span, the only other person who could be given the credit is Bill Belichick.
Drew Brees & Aaron Rodgers’ playoff LOSSES combined:
379 CMP / 613 ATT / 4,238 YDS / 31 TD / 14 INT / 89.8 RATING / 0-14 RECORD
Tom Brady’s worst 14 playoff WINS combined:
317 CMP / 528 ATT / 3,443 YDS / 13 TD / 16 INT / 74.9 RATING / 14-0 RECORD
Brady = most overrated
— Barry McCockiner (@SportsTalkBarry) February 7, 2019
His scheming and ability to craft gameplans to neutralize the strengths of the opposition are the bigger reasons why the Patriots have created a sports dynasty.
