Just got back in a bit ago and I'm going to throw this out there - I still don't get this latest "victory lap" thing that people are on...it's just bizarre.
I'll kick in my thoughts (15 of them) on this whole "Brady vs Bill thing (which I still can't believe is a thing)"
1) I was there in 2000, and there was a fair amount of discussion on Brady when it came to his accuracy and efficiency that preseason. Despite being a skinny kid from Michigan, he impressed a lot of people in the media, along with his teammates. They obviously kept him around because Bill was afraid they'd lose him after the preseason (that's clearly well-documented). From there, he really improved over that offseason. He added weight, got stronger, and made significant leaps to the point he obviously ascended into the backup role behind Drew.
2) When Drew went down, the number one concern was sort of similar to what it is right now. They wanted him to be able to be smart with the football and not turn it over, which was an issue with Drew to that point. However, there were a lot of things he did that were better. The quick game was better. Brady got the ball out fast, and more importantly - and this was mentioned frequently over that span - he was really good at hitting the guys in stride and allowing them to get yards after the catch.
3) Drew had a big arm, but that wasn't his strength. He could throw to a spot, but we learned later on that style didn't really didn't fit what they were trying to do. Weis did a great job of modifying the offense and setting up quick throws where Brady could hit guys in space, which made a big difference. He was also terrific in the play-action part of things, which really made a big difference as Antowain Smith ended up having a big year in the ground game. Drew was not good with screens or touch throws ... again that was a discussion that came up quite a bit.
4) The other thing was the fact Brady, as a practice squad player, had a good relationship with pretty much everyone in the locker room. As a sixth-round pick, he related to everybody, which was what also helped with guys rallying around him. With Drew, he didn't really hang out with the lower-tiered guys. This was a major talking point at the time, which was pretty fascinating. I remember in 2000 seeing him sitting around joking and laughing with various guys, whereas Drew wasn't that type of guy. Just different personalities. I actually did Brady's website the first few years (he and Adam Vinatieri, who I was fortunate enough to do his site also, shared the same local marketing agent), and I was accidentally in on an email between Brady and a couple of teammates where they joked around about various things and having some fun. Brady was just a really good guy.
5) At the same time, I was a big Drew guy, and I fell into his camp. I'll man up and admit that, and also admit that the more I watched Brady, the more I realized Drew's time here was not going to continue. The kid was too smart, and while he wasn't as physically gifted, it didn't matter. The intangibles did.
6) Looking back at that Super Bowl year, the "game manager" thing is more of a compliment than a criticism. And that term was how he was described a lot on the radio back then. They needed him to be smart with the ball and not do too much, and he was great at that and it made a big difference given how good they were defensively. The overall totals pointed out in another post in this thread mask how good that group really was, especially in the early years when they won those three titles.
They were 6th in points allowed in 2001, 16th in 2002 (missed the postseason), 1st in 2003, tied for 2nd in 2004, 17th in 2005 (lost in the Divisional round to Denver), 2nd in 2006 (lost to the Colts in the AFFCG, 4th in 2007 (we won't talk about how that year ended), 8th in 2008 (the Matt Cassel 11-5 season), 5th in 2009 (the Ravens blowout loss in the Wild Card round), etc. ... I won't go further but for that first decade, they had a great group, especially in the early going. Belichick obviously played a key role in that.
7) But that game manager thing only lasted a handful of seasons. He clearly got better as the years wore on, with 2004 being one of the best and sort of a breakout year. The biggest difference is that when they needed him to make a play, he was pretty fearless and never let the moment get too big for him. That's a trait that's rare, and it's what made him so great. As he got stronger into '03 and '04, that's when you saw him start to really take off. Especially as the rivalry with Indianapolis really became bigger.
8) Pair the offensive improvement on his part with the dominant defense they had, and the results were what they were. People in here forget that they could have just as easily been Indianapolis and been a team that put up a ton of points but couldn't stop anyone. Manning walked away with only one Super Bowl win there due to Tony Dungy. Any sane person knows that if Manning had been paired with Bill with that offensive group of players, he wouldn't have been one and done there as often as he was. Phillip Rivers probably wouldn't have minded having Bill in his corner, either. Or Drew Brees, for that matter.
9) People can call Bill an average coach without Brady if they want, but it's not his fault they found him. That's such a tough argument because it's like he's being penalized for making the decision. You guys might not remember this, but there were some seriously heated exchanges during that span in 2001 between Bill and the media over it, and he took a ton of heat for that decision. So credit him for fighting for and making the right move, especially given the amount of money they had just paid Drew that offseason. I'd be willing to bet there were some uncomfortable conversations with Kraft, which we know is somewhat true given what transpired with Drew behind the scenes when he went to plead his case.
10) They were the ultimate compliment to each other, and the perfect pairing. And anyone questioning Bill's impact forgets that Brady was just a guy who wanted to soak up as much as he could, and Bill certainly helped with that.
During
his podcast with Belichick, Brady said, “He started to begin to teach me really what football was all about. How to study defenses when I started to play, certainly. We’d have weekly meetings, sometimes once, sometimes twice and I couldn’t imagine a better teacher to say, ‘Hey, this is how you’re going to play quarterback in the NFL.’ And this is … the nuances of the game. And not only that, but I just – from his leadership, which is really one of his great, great, qualities, he showed up every day with a purpose. There was, when he always joked ‘no days off’, he meant it."
Does Bill deserve 100% of the credit for that? Of course not, because Brady had to be willing to take all of it and do something with it. It was a joint effort, and I would go so far as putting it as 60% / 40% in Brady's favor because it was harder to play offense back then. But long after this season is in the rearview and years from now when the vitriol dies down, they'll be viewed as the best tandem of all time because of it.
11) Anyone questioning Bill's overall impact on the team can take this one from Tedy Bruschi. He
said it best the day he retired: "He turned me into a champion," said Bruschi of Belichick. "Yes I learned how to play linebacker, and I knew how to play. I mean (Bill) Parcells came in, (Pete) Carroll came in, but I didn't know how to win until Bill came here. He taught me how to win. He taught everybody in that locker room how to win, not to just go out there and play well. You can go out there and roll your helmet out there, and even though it has a Patriot logo on it, do you think they're gonna lay down? They're not. You still gotta play."
He then turned to Belichick and said, "Thank you so much for being who you are."
Obviously, Bruschi has the perspective of having been here as long as he was. Bill's coaching mattered. More importantly, especially in 2001, Bill's experience, having already been a part of a couple of Super Bowl winning teams, played a massive role. And Bruschi wasn't the only player that's mentioned that.
12) I get it, people are p*****d, and it is what it is, and Bill's time is coming to a close. But acting like his impact didn't matter is silly, and as I've said repeatedly as of late, watch all the dumb decisions in January ... they're going to happen. And good teams and QBs will go home early because of it.
Again, save for the Malcolm Butler game, Belichick's been flawless in the postseason from a coaching standpoint. As I said to
@Ice_Ice_Brady , they got routed in that game in the 2021 playoffs because they didn't have the horses on defense to compete, and that's why they rebuilt their entire linebacking corps with hybrids and got faster.
13) Fast-forward to this season, and we know the issues. The problem is, Mac Jones went from being a smart guy who could make a few plays to turning it over and not being a player who could finish, nor does he have the same killer instinct to overcome those issues. You need a good QB in this league to win these days with these rules. "It is what it is."
Bill prioritized the defense and didn't give the offense anywhere close to enough, grabbing stopgap players instead of viable, impactful solutions. Mac didn't have the weapons, but mind-blowingly dumb mistakes are what did him in. He wasn't throwing picks where guys on defense just made a good play. He instead made some horrific turnovers, and they were costly. We can argue, "Who broke Mac?" but Brady threw a fair amount of picks early in 2003 and could have withered.
He didn't. He rebounded and won out, and didn't lose again until almost November of the following season.
But discounting Bill's entire career like he's a JAG is ridiculous. There are a significant amount of good coaches who couldn't win without a quality QB, and countless more who had good QBs yet came up short, which is probably an even better example. Bad coaches can keep good players from winning in January. Again, Brady even fell victim to that. People can blame injuries, but Bowles made some puzzling decisions that were costly.
14) In the end, it's been a great ride that I think most of us never saw coming. But man ... let it go. Everything ends eventually, and we'll have to move on and deal with whatever happens. But don't s**t on the people who were a significant part of the ride (Belichick). Bookmark this conversation and see where it is 10 years from now. I feel like people will probably look back on it all much differently.
But let's quit slinging stuff at each other because the ride is finally coming to an end. As I said, we all lose in this situation, and we all have to watch bad football and potentially multiple coaching/qb cycles until they work their way out of it, and it could literally be years before we get there.
15) Either way, enough. I'm sure more will be argued down the road, but you can't change how it went. They don't win six without Bill, just like they don't win six without Brady. You don't see two guys last two decades together ... just doesn't happen. So just be glad we were all both here and alive to see it. We definitely won't see it again.
