I don't take anything personally and I'm pretty sure you don't either. You know I like you and respect your opinion on most things- just not on QBs:smile:
The bottom line is trailing by 3 in the final minutes on a day where he was bruised and battered all day long by a ferocious pass rush he wound up leading his team 80 yards for the go ahead TD to put his team up by 4 in the final minutes. overall he didn't have a great day but when it mattered most he was there to step up like usual. unfortunately his D did it's usual choke job except this time there was not time for Brady to rescue that overhyped D. The Pats went 16-0 b/c of the offense, they were put in position to win another SB b/c of the offense. They evaluated incorrectly, Brees didn't magically become a top QB. he had to show them something in 3 years of practice and 2 years of starting.
The 2007 Pats defense wasn’t over hyped. That defense wasn’t the same one as the ones they had at the beginning of the decade. Brady played terrible in the game and only led them to 14 points. It wasn’t enough to win the game. And it’s not like the Giants whooped them in the final drive. They got quite a bit lucky as well. The Pats defense is the reason they even made the Super Bowl, and were the reason the game wasn’t a blowout because the Pats offense wasn’t getting anything done. Practice doesn’t matter. They gave him the opportunity to show what he had in games and he didn’t show the Chargers anything to say that he was there future QB. I don’t want this to come off as if I don’t like Brees. I do like Brees, and I think he’s one of the best QBs in the league, but at the time he didn’t show the Chargers that he was their Franchise QB.
Who did more to help their team win in their most recent SBs? Brady in XLII or Manning in XLIV? The Pats O was the reason they were undefeated. Again, SD made a mistake. There's no way around it, we can make all the excuses we want but they had an elite QB on the roster and didn'r realize it- that was their fault.
The Pats O was the reason they were defeated... in the SuperBowl. Brady's choke in that SuperBowl rivaled about any other choke of all time. His O failed MISERABLY. I know, I know, "He lead them to a TD late in the 4th". That was too little too late. The PATS averaged like 36+ pts/game that season and he choked all the way down to 14 under the pressure.
Neither of tehm did enough for their teams to win. Who cares about Regular season. The Pats defense was the reason they won the AFCCG and were the only reason there were even in the SB because the Pats offense didn't get anything done all game long. Under your logic then the Browns/Ravens made a mistake letting Belichick go. They didn't realize they had an elite QB on their roster because Brees did not show them he would be elite prior to the 2004 draft. You can spin it every which way, but the fact is Brees showed them nothing for them to think he would be a superstar.
Part of that falls on Brees. He completely changed the way he prepared and approached the game of football after being benched. And again after sustaining that nasty shoulder injury.
The Pats O got them a 4 pt lead w/ 2 1/2 minutes to play, the D choked...as usual. Explain to me how w/ the SB on the line a QB leads his team 80 yds for the go ahead TD is considered a choke? A choke would be what we saw last year where Peyton threw away his teams chances to win the SB. But the O left the D w/ a 4 pt lead w/ 2 1/2 mins to play. The Browns/Ravens did make a msitake letting BB go...IF they got Brady along w/ him. Belichick has never done a thiong as a HC in this league w/ Brady. He got hurt in 2005, long after Rivers was drafted and he had that big 2004 season.
They were in position to take a franchise QB at a point when Brees hadn't shown much. I don't think the mistake was drafting Rivers. It was letting Brees walk and getting nothing for him.
It was drafting Rivers, they couldn't keep both. I guess they could have traded Brees after 2004 but had they not drafted Rivers and used that pick for other players maybe they would have won by now?
The mistake was letting him go as an UFA. They could have franchised him and traded him for something, even if it was just a 2nd or 3rd round pick. Better than losing him for nothing. At the end of the day they've had a few double digit winning seasons since then and it's their own fault they didn't win more than they did in the postseason.
It wasn't enough to win. 14 points shouldn't have been enough to win. Brady and the offense didn't get the job done. Belichick did more with the Browns than Brees did with the Chargers prior to the 2004 draft. Belichick rebuilt the Browns into a contender before Art Modell made it obvious that they were moving out of Cleveland which tore the team apart in 1995. In 95 they lost 3 games early - 1 to the Patriots who made the playoffs the previous season and would make the Super Bowl the following season, and 2 to playoff teams the Bills and the Lions. All that happened prior to the official announcement which destroyed the team.
When you hand your D a 4 pt lead w/ 2 1/2 to play it should be enough. Brees had a year and a half of starting, Belichikc had 5 years w/ the Browns. Cleveland was NOT rebuilt into a contender, they made 1 postseason in 5 years and were blown out in the div rd against a team that would lose on their homefield a week later in one of the weakest years ever for a conference. The Pats would win 6 games in 1995, who cares what they did the year before? The Bills and the Lions both got thrashed in the playoffs. That's a great excuse about the announcement but they weren't a good team in 1995 up until the point the announcement was made.
I think part of the reason they decided not to franchise him again was because he had what looked to be a serious shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season. With big money already invested in Rivers they made the decision to go with Rivers instead of paying Brees big money and taking a chance his should would never heal right.
Yeah I figured that would have to be a factor, and since he had the surgery there was the possibility he would sign the franchise tender immediately which is probably 10+ million at the time with Rivers making a lot as well.
When you only score 14 points it is NOT enough to win Brees had showed the Chargers nothing, period, natta in that 1 1/2 years to give the Chargers reason to think he was their Franchise QB. Cleveland was built into a contender. Each year the defense got better. He finally got some offensive pieces in place and they went to the playoffs and won the Wildcard game. It does matter what the Patriots did the year before when the game that was played against the Browns was on opening night. The Bills and Lions both made the playoffs. The Bills were the AFC Champion the year before and the Lions were one of the stronger teams in the NFL winning 10 games in a division where 4 of the 5 teams were .500 or better. The announcement did have an effect on them. Prior to that they lost to 2 teams that made the playoffs and one team that made the playoffs the previous season.
I think the bigger problem for SD is letting talented players walk with no compensation. They let Turner walk when teams had interest in trading for him as well.
One big issue was how serious the injury looked. Dr. Andrews said he never saw an injury that severe. That's one of the reasons the Dolphins chose Culpepper with a badly blown out knee over Brees. Brees being in N.O. with Sean Payton is a perfect match.
It's pretty amazing that Brees has even played after that injury. He has 11 surgical anchors in his throwing shoulder.
