AKC

You should try and rely on the research of Bill's fans since you haven't shown the first sign of stringing together any coherent logic of your own!

I say any QB who gets the benefit of seeing almost no coverage on top and still can hit only 25% of his deep balls is a laughable excuse of a deep ball passer. But if you find his company pleasant don't let me dissuade you from a sleepover.

Seek comfort in the rythmic sound of my "facts" slapping your chin.

You appear to be the one stuck on Peyton Manning- his name has hardly been mentioned in the string since he plays in a much different offense that relies on the real threat he poses in throwing the ball long. If you'd like to see why that's a threat you might consider his career stats on the deep ball.

We all must draw our own conclusions when faced with facts, I've prvoded the facts and now you've offered your conclusion- I'll respect your opinion that Holcomb is better then Brady but I'd find that difficult to support myself.

The promise of the young is that they might some day become amusing.

I don't remember the plays in the drive on #3, but you're absolutely right about 1 and 2.

Then it's even more peculiar that you're making that argument. The facts are the facts- A) Brady is among the least succesful QBs in the NFL throwing passes beyond 20 yards. B) Without a dominating defense Brady's a .500 QB. So watch all the quarterback play you want to on Sundays, I prefer to watch the things that actually make a difference in the W/L column. And if you want to argue against facts with me you'll have to do a lot better than fabricating some argument that is only confusing to you.

I would go with overrated in the first third of his career (JE), but as he matured and especially at the end when he only used his feet on rare occassions, I thought of him as a prototype complete QB and among the best to ever play. If Brady gets kicked to someone like Houston and takes them to regular playoff shots I'll move him up a bit, but right now he appears to me to be the single major beneficiary of being in the Belichick magic show.

The stats say something else- on all of his throws over 20 yards this year he's 6-23 for about a 45 passer rating, right about where his career numbers run and also, at that range (over 20) the worst or one of the worst in the league. He gets an occassional ball over the top because no one puts much emaphasis on coverage over 20 yards deep on a guy who throws so poorly over 20 yards. Does the NE scheme reward the behind the LOS passes that Brady has built a career on? Oh yes- over the recent past their defense has given them lots of extra ops and the little ball O has been productive. If their D continues though to give up the kind of yardage it has this season it won't much matter how many behind the line of scrimmage passes Brady completes and how many yards they run for after the catch- the net result in the W/L column will be a bad NE team. Defense rules, and it's ruled that team during their moment in the sun- it's merely a QB obsessed media and fans who hold Brady up as the most important piece of the puzzle.

Bledsoe's hardly my measure, but I do understand why Patsy fans want to measure Brady against him- it's one case where they can definitely put Little Lord Fauntleroy in the lead. Against Elway I don't see any argument, JE was a QB who transcended systems with a great touch in the short game, great field vision, a great deep arm and a dangerous ability as a runner. Elway was destined to be a champ in any system; if Brady were playing in Arizona right now I doubt he'd even be their #2.

Stats for QBs have improved dramatically as the reliance on the short game has become necessary due to improved athleticism across trhe LOS. And it's tiem the league recognized the farce of the "Passer rating" system that shows guys like Joe Namath down among the Brian Sipes of the league. I didn't actually address the issue of Denver Ds directly but needless to say if you look at their competition in that time there were more balanced teams at the top, and hence their competition were better overall teams. Today we see less balanced teams competing in the playoffs for the most part.

I realize you don't really understand the game very well, but the answer is that the defenses fielded in NE were not nearly as good. Here's your formula- Good D=Good Team/ Bad D=Bad Team. The QB doesn't have an equal effect. Oh yeah, the Pat's D- it's becoming the latter. Enjoy the tumble!

No threat of hurting anything there! Unless the wall is important to you?

I don't know how else you can make a "Best Player" argument without considering their ability in other settings. Can oyou argue Barry Sanders as the best RB without considering how his style might have affected a good football team? "Best Player" arguments cross all eras and teams and styles. It's only fair to consider how someone's strengths and weaknesses would have worked in other settings AFAIC, otherwise there's no basis for making the statement of "Best Of" to begin with.

It's called RAC. It's an element of West Coast passing games that holds consistently true. That's why pure West Coast teams like the Seahawks have virtually the same 7.9 YPA reception as the Pats.

Just take Elway for example. He opened up with some struggles due to his reliance on his feet (sound familiar?) but once he settled down into the pocket he became a complete QB who won it all in a big-ball play-action offense that Brady simply couldn't have survived in. On the other hand, had you given Elway the D in NE, the kicker and even used the hinky dink offense, Elway would have turned in 3 or 4 TD Super Bowl wins, probably 4 times. Unitas the same, Manning has the full toolbox, Kelly and Favre possibilities although they are/were both on the wrong side of the risk taking equation. So I'd say at least 3 of those you mention would have had BETTER results with the NE team than Mudslide has.

The blind when it comes to Brady are the idiots who think his talents are portable to most NFL offenses historically. They're simply not. He's on par with other good field vision guys like Drew Brees, but if you give Bree's the Pat's teams over the past 4 season the outcome would be the same, and possibly even with at least ONE convincing championship win instead of a trio of little field goal whimperers.

And yet, as a fan of the game you recognize that: Given a top NFL defense that keeps your team in every game, even a QB like Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer can find a system that fits them. It shouldn't be any surpise to anyone that now that the defense is declining in NE so are the Pats. It's certainly no suprise to me.

What's your obsession with Bledsoe? I see Mudslide Brady is once again proving what a farce the QB Rating system is- He's 6-23 on his passes over 20 yards and once again among the worst in the NFL in throwing over 20 but the fact that the system in New England has more behind the line of scrimmage passes than any in the history of the game, his rating overall is a bloated 92! He's half a QB, a guy who can play if you don't need to throw effectively downfield. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact he's proven that if you can find a hinky little passing system, the best kicker in the history of football and one of the best contemporay defensive strategists to run everything, even a hink and dink QB who can't get to the red zone can eke out 3 point wins off the golden toe that bails him out again and again and again and again!

I appreciate you acknowledging who the BEST player is on the Pats. I'd ask you to consider where they would have been over this span with Jake Arians kicking field goals for them. I can tell you this, no one would be talking about the QB who couldn't get them to the end zone!

He's bailed them out of every tough situation over the course of the past 5 seasons, hitting clutch big kicks when their offense stalled over and over in big games. If you want to confirm the MVP of the Pats watch the end of any of their big game retros during the recent past and you'll notice the MVP getting carried off the field by his teammates- and in virtually every case that player is Viniatieri.

It's hardly an argument- the best player on the Pats, and the one most responsible for all the 3-point wins in critical games, is of course the guy who kicks those 3-point scores.

One of Denney's sacks was set up by an awesome inside spin by Schobel where he draws a second blocker and he punches through the double to force VTestaverde up into Denney. It was as nice a defensive play as any made all day by the Bills.

Sammy is not a run stopper- he's a DT with a great first two steps and that's far more valuable in pass rushing. He would be complemented by a solid big body like the one we let go, a stay-at-home DT like PWilliams. At this time Tim Anderson, who has pretty good technique but isn't yet big/strong enough to hold down the fort, looks like he's about a year away from being a good option. Problme we have right now is he's our only option. AFA Sam being our D MVP, I'd agree that if he were not playing in our D we'd already be packing up the season. Nice to see Ricky coming right in with a clear head for you guys ;-)