Tom Brady Continues to Succeed, Despite Deflategate

Tom Brady can now at this point in his career be listed without bias as one of the best

quarterbacks in NFL history, and he still has a few years left in the tank. In his list of

accomplishments amongst other NFL greats, Tom Brady is fifth overall in total career passing

yards, third overall in career passing touchdowns, and sixth overall in career passer rating, along

with being an eleven-time Pro-Bowl selection, leading the Patriots to THIRTEEN (13) AFC East

division titles, and the NFL’s league-wide MVP in 2007 and 2010.

In terms of his postseason accolades, Brady is best known for earning what is so far a 22-

9 playoff record (most ever playoff wins by a quarterback), winning six AFC Championships

(most ever conference titles by a QB), four Super Bowls (tied for most all-time with Joe

Montana & Terry Bradshaw), and three Super Bowl MVPs (tied for all time with Joe Montana).

Throughout his time as a starter, the Patriots have only missed the playoffs twice. The first time

was in 2002 where the Patriots finished 9-7, and Brady played through the second half of the

season with a shoulder injury. The second time was in the 2008 season where Brady tore his ACL

and MCL in the first quarter of the season opener versus the Chiefs. Despite Matt Cassell coming

in to take over for that season, the Patriots missed the playoffs due to tiebreakers, even though

the Patriots finished with an 11-5 record. It’s crazy to think that the Patriots have only finished

under 10 wins once throughout Tom Brady’s entire career, but just as much of that success has

also been accredited to head coach Bill Belichick throughout the years of the Patriots’ dynasty.

Much of that has now come into question since the release of NFL investigations on the

Patriots, such as Spygate and Deflategate. Bill Belichick was the main target of Spygate as the

staff members and coaches of the St. Louis Rams accused the Patriots of filming the Rams’

practices leading up to Super Bowl XXXVI.

Deflategate was more actively targeted against Tom Brady for reportedly communicating

with Patriots football handlers to lower the air amount (PSI) during their Divisional Round

playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens and in the AFC Championship Game against the

Indianapolis Colts, in which would have supposedly given him a possible competitive advantage

in those games. Roger Goodell would sentence Tom Brady to a four game suspension in the 2015

season for ball tampering, but Judge Richard Berman would eventually overturn the ruling in

federal court, vacating the four-game suspension. After the following season in 2015, where the

Patriots were edged out in the AFC Championship by the eventual defending Super Bowl

Champion Denver Broncos, Goodell and the NFL would appeal Judge Berman’s overturning of

the four game suspension, and Berman’s decision to block the four-game suspension would be

overturned by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Although Brady would appeal for a re-

hearing of his case, but the Second Circuit would deny it. Tom Brady would choose to serve the

four game suspension instead of continuing to fight the court system any longer.

In those first four games of this 2016 season, coach Belichick and the Patriots finished

with a 3-1 record under backup quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett. The first

three games went well, defeating the Cardinals, Dolphins, and the Texans, holding the Texans

scoreless by a score of 27-0. Their only loss was against the Buffalo Bills, who held the Patriots

scoreless the week after in a 16-0 contest (The Patriots’ first shutout loss at home since 1993).

Since Tom Brady’s return, the Patriots have become a team on a mission. They have

scored 136 total points in their past four wins against the Browns, Bengals, Steelers, and their

most recent revenge game at Buffalo against the Bills, winning by a score of 41-25. At the

halfway point of the season, Tom Brady has only played four games, but he has thrown 98

completions for 1,319 yards, 329.8 yards per game (second in NFL behind Drew Brees), 12

starter without an INT is Brian Hoyer), 9.8 yards per completion, a 40.6% first down percentage

second in NFL behind Matt Ryan), a 73.1 passing percentage (leads NFL starters), and a current

passer rating of 133.9 (leads NFL QBs).

 

I don’t know about how you viewers at home are seeing Brady, but these are simply

statistics. Even these statistics are showing that a four-game suspension did not slow down Tom

Brady and his team. If anything, I would be scared of this Patriots team. Forget all these killer

clowns running all over creation, I’m scared of this defense-killing quarterback throwing all over

defenses. This Tom Brady has a monumental grudge held against Roger Goodell and the NFL

since his suspension was handed down, and he’s taking it out on everybody else. This Tom Brady

is OUT FOR BLOOD, and may the good Lord have mercy on you if you are playing defense

against him.