how true this is------- Speak of the devil, and the devil appears. On Wednesday, Brady offered the definitive statement of career planning when he declared, When I suck, I’ll retire. But I don’t plan on sucking for a long time. Related Stories Tom Brady: “When I suck, I’ll retire” ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports Unlike Brady, Peyton may retire before he sucks ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports Report: Tom Brady not present at practice, will play Sunday ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports Miami win puts Patriots - gasp! - in last place The Associated Press Report: Tom Brady was “very upset” with Logan Mankins deal ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports On Sunday, in a 33-20 loss to Miami, Brady sucked. Brady completed only 29 of 56 passes, getting sacked four times and averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt, a third less than his career average. In a twist no sane mind could have seen coming, Bradys Patriots now sit alone in last place, however briefly, for the first time in his career. Yeah, the Patriots hardcores are doubtless already banging out the ITS JUST ONE GAME and IT WAS THE DEFENSES FAULT party line, so well let em have at it. You, friend, youre a more sensible type, and thus you grasp immediately that Im not saying BRADY SHOULD BE A MAN OF HIS WORD AND RETIRE TOMORROW. Theres no way Brady is done. For starters, his next two games are against the Vikings and Raiders, and thats the schedule equivalent of leading a starving man to a Golden Corral buffet. Hes got a decent receiving corps, a game-changing tight end, and the relentless mad genius of Bill Belichick still on his side. Theres no reason to expect he wont be battling Peyton Manning come January in yet another Roman-numeral-tagged matchup. Still: this is how it happens. Michael Jordan starts clanging jumpers off the front of the rim. Tiger Woods starts leaving putts two inches short. You dont notice the little things until they become the big things, and then you realize theyve been the little things for a long time now. Football Perspective ran an interesting statistical compilation last year that cuts to the heart of the Brady-aging question, namely: how long does he have? Broadly stated, quarterbacks tend to hit their statistical peak at age 29, then drop off fairly steadily. By the time theyre age 38, theyre playing at 50 percent of their statistical peak, and within two years, their play at age 40 drops to barely 30 percent of their best. Bradys statistical peak, as measured by his quarterback rating, came in his age-30 season. Hes now 37. Even granting that Brady is a generational talent, you see where this is heading. Brady may not be at the cliff yet, but you can see the guardrail in the distance. Just to prove a point, Brady will probably hang 350 yards and four touchdowns on both Minnesota and Oakland. But this Miami game will be an important benchmark for the 2014 season. Last year, Brady had four worse statistical games than this one; the Patriots went 2-2 in those. This year, keep an eye on Bradys dog games. If the Patriots are able to win even with Brady at his worst, thats good news for his fans. But if New England cant stay above the surface on days when Bradys dragging
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 23:40:19 +0000
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