I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Our brains are wired to defend long- and deeply-held beliefs, regardless of objective facts that argue against the crazy thoughts running around in their underwear, shouting and snarling for attention in your cracked and dented cranium. Maybe you believe Guns n Roses is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. It won't matter how many Led Zeppelin records I play for you, providing ample evidence GnR were reductive, derivative hacks who couldn't hold Greta Van Fleet's jock; you're ride or die with Axl and Slash. You'll be buried in your "Appetite for Destruction" t-shirt while they play "November Rain."
But really, people. Tom Brady is a system quarterback? Peyton was better? Montana is the man?
Can you even hear yourself?
I know, I know. Been there, done that.
But this isn't about convincing anybody of anything. As noted above, if you believe Peyton Manning was the greatest of all time, there are no facts, stats, or metrics I could offer that would cause you to pull off that well-worn blue #18 jersey, cast it aside, and put on the white #12 Brady jersey I have so kindly offered you.
You deserve your fandom.
Every bit as much as I deserve mine.
I will say the reactions to Elliot Harrison's Top 25 QBs of All Time list on NFL.com were hardly ground-breaking; they're the same arguments against Brady as GOAT I've been hearing since before he won his 4th, 5th, and 6th Super Bowl rings.
System quarterback.
Dink and dunk.
It's really Belichick.
Cheating, of course...
The Matt Cassel Postulate
The Patriots' 11-5-0 record with Brady's backup is often cited as the ultimate proof Brady is (wait while I clutch my pearls!) a "system quarterback." That Matt Cassel was under center for essentially the same roster - including pre-psychotic break Randy Moss - that Brady led to a 16-0 regular season record is largely ignored by those pointing at the 2008 season to justify this damning blot on Tom Terrific's curriculum vitae. Or the fact that Matt Cassel wasn't, in fact, terrible. Just two years later, after being traded to Kansas City, Cassel posted a 10-5-0 regular season record and led the Chiefs to a playoff berth. Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing Cassel's case for Canton; just that he was a serviceable NFL backup QB.
It's interesting, though, that Brady haters would need to use a season in which he didn't play as evidence against him. Seems odd, doesn't it?
But I had another thought; one of those thoughts you would've thought I'd have thought before now thoughts…
Why isn't Steve Young's success ever used to diminish Joe Montana's GOAT status?
Is there a more systemy of system QBs than Montana, playing in the West Coast Offense, the most famous of all offensive systems in the NFL? A system that takes advantage of checkdowns to running backs and underneath crossing routes (aka, dinking and dunking)?
And didn't Montana play for one of the all-time great NFL head coaches in Bill Walsh?
Finally given his chance, Young arguably outplayed Montana; Young outstats Montana in several key career categories (completion%, TD%, passer rating, YPA). Doesn't Young's success prove Montana was just a "system quarterback?"
Montana's record in his three Super Bowls - He never lost! He never threw an interception! - is often used to argue his supremacy at the quarterback position. Indeed, his stat line in the NFL's championship game is impeccable but his overall playoff resume suffers from three consecutive one-and-done's (1986-88) and four other failed attempts to reach the Super Bowl.
From Elliot Harrison: In 17 healthy seasons as a starter, [Brady's] made more Super Bowls (9) than he's missed (8).
You knew it was true before you read it but still. Holy. Shit.
Ali and Frasier
You measure great champions by their opponents and just like Joe Frasier for Muhammad Ali, I'd argue that Peyton Manning is the ultimate proof for Tom Brady's claim as the greatest of all time. Granted, they didn't play against each other; rather, they played against the opposing defenses when they met but the head-to-head record matters, if only for context. The two all-time greats played one game more than a full season of games as opponents, with Brady coming out on top 11-6-0.
Manning's 2004 and 2013 regular season numbers are truly incredible. Peak Manning was as good as it gets for quarterback play.
But both of those seasons ended in defeat. As good as Regular Season Manning was, Playoff Peyton Manning could not seem to close the deal. He was one-and-done 9 times! He would make it to the Super Bowl three times, going 2-1. His signature moment in that one loss was a pick-6 that sealed the victory for the Saints. His signature moments in the two victories were… um… well that TD pass to a wide open Reggie Wayne in SB41 against the Bears was kind of awesome, I guess. As for SB50, um, I'm sure he made some textbook hand-offs in that one.
Brady often loses points in the GOAT debate because of the Patriots defense during the 2001-2004 run but it was the Broncos defense that carried Manning and his noodly arm to that second Lombardi Trophy. You know; the one that secured his legacy.
In the 2015 playoff run, Manning completed just 55.4% of his passes, throwing 2 TD and 1 INT, 5.9 YPA and a 75.4 passer rating; numbers that pale in comparison to his career playoff numbers, let alone his regular season career numbers.
Peak Manning lost to the Seattle Seahawks 43-8 in SB48. The very next year, Brady led the Patriots to two 4th quarter TD drives for a 28-24 win over that same Legion of Boom defense in SB49.
You'd like to argue the 2018 Patriots defense carried Brady to his 6th Super Bowl win? Okay, I get it. Fair point, really. There was that OT drive in KC, though, with Brady coming through on three 3rd and longs. And that pass to Gronk in SB53. But I get it. Without New England's D pitching a shutout in the first half against the Chiefs or their historic performance in the championship game holding the Rams to just 3 points, we're having a different discussion.
But… Tom Brady is a cheater!
Bitch, please.
The cheater argument just feels lazy and desperate at this point.
Okay.
Spygate did happen. Was every other team doing what the Patriots did? Well, the league memo did go out to all 32 teams, after all. Just saying. That was way back in 2007 (and no, Marshall Faulk, the Patriots did not tape the Rams' walkthrough before SB36) but remains one of the trolls and haters favorite go to lines whenever they can comment on any Patriots-related post on the Interwebs.
After being caught videotaping from a proscribed location, the Patriots went on to win 17 games in a row.
Deflategate, on the other hand, did not happen. It was never about equipment violations, the Ideal Gas Law, or a proxy battle between pigskin Good vs. Evil. It was about power and specifically the Commissioner's unlimited overreach in player discipline enshrined in Article 46.
Despite the general hubbub and righteous misreporting, er, indignation of pigskin pundits and bobbleheads in the immediate aftermath of the scandal, the Patriots went on to win SB49 two weeks later. They lost the AFCCG on a missed XPA the following year, then went on to win SB51, lose SB52 despite 505 passing yards from Tom Brady, and then win SB53, all with presumably fully inflated footballs.
You angry Roger Goodell destroyed the Spygate tapes? Why ain't you mad the results of the league's study on football PSI haven't been (and never will be) released? Never mind. Nothing to see here. Move along...
Did I mention the magnetic ansible Matthew Slater keeps hidden in his shoulder pads that he uses to make the coin toss come up heads whenever the Patriots need the ball first in overtime?
That last one isn't true and probably isn't even scientifically a thing (it isn't) but everybody who roots for the Kansas City Chiefs will immediately Google "magnetic ansible" after reading that.
All the other examples of Patriots nefariousness you've heard so much about? You may have noticed how often the word "rule" pops up in those examples of cheating. The Tuck Rule Game. The Ineligible Eligible Receiver Game. The Yes Dee Ford You Lined Up Offsides and That's Against the Rules and No Andy Reid it Isn't the Refs Job to Get Your Defense Lined Up on The Line of Scrimmage Game.
I get it. You don't want to believe your pigskin heroes just weren't good enough. That the other team was the better team. That you team lost fair and square. Tom Brady fumbled. He's a system quarterback and the creature of Bill Belichick, the Darth Hoodie. The Patriots cheated.
There.
You feel better?
I'm glad I could be there for you.
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