Thoughts on Brady and more on Bears-Indy
Unless you were in a coma the last few days, you probably heard that Tom Brady is out for the year. While Bostonians are obviously completely devastated by the news, the rest of the NFL fans in this country have something to look forward to. No, I'm not saying that the loss of Tom Brady is good for the league; it's not. He's easily one of the top two QBs in the game, if not the best, and he figures prominently in the discussion for "best Quarterback of all time." Watching him perform is a joy. What I'm saying is his loss makes for a more interesting football season, if not as exciting.
With Brady out, the Patriots have two options: Matt Cassel or a free agent (reject) off the street. I, for one, am hoping that we get the opportunity to see both varieties. Matt Cassel is an interesting story. Since Cassel has backed up an iron man in the pros (Brady), and Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC, he hasn't started a game since 1999, when he was in High School. That just kills me. This guy has had the easiest job in sports, and now its time for him to step up. I sincerely wish him well. Nobody has any idea what to expect.
Beyond that, what I'd really like to see is New England sign some reject off the street like Tim Rattay or Chris Simms. We know what these guys can do when on a "normal" organization. Rattay, with all due respect, is terrible. And Simms isn't a whole lot better. Not many jobless QBs are. Point being, seeing one of those guys under center for the Patriots might help answer the age-old chicken-before-the-egg question about franchise Quarterbacks and the sytems they play in.
If the Patriots sign Rattay and Rattay continues to stink, that makes Brady look a little better and Belichick's system look worse. "Belichick can only win with a franchise QB," becomes the argument. If Rattay does well, that makes Brady look a a tick worse and Belichick look a little better. "Brady was lucky to fall into Belichick's lap." I'm not saying Rattay would have to throw for 50 TDs or anything, I'm just looking for a noticeable, maybe even dramatic, improvement. Let's say the 12th or 15th best passer in the NFL (which would be about a 20-25 spot jump for him.) That's why Cassel isn't really a good example for this exercise - only his momma knows how good he is.
This is essentially the chicken-before-the-egg argument. Would Tom Brady still be Tom Brady if he were drafted in the 6th round by the Bears instead of New England? A team that is cancer to Quarterbacks? A team that hasn't been able to develop a long-term talent under center since Sid Luckman? A lot of people say Brady still would have been great. I happen to disagree. I think he needed a strong coaching staff along with a fair amount of talent around him (and a certain amount of luck) in order to succeed. Now, I will say that the talent around him only got him so far. He eventually exceeded everyone's wildest expectations and became one of the best QBs of all time. That was all due to hard work by him, and the talent/fortitude he brought to the table. But would he even have had a chance in Chicago? I highly doubt it.
Peyton Manning, on the other hand, would have been Peyton Manning in Chicago. He's the rare franchise-turning can't-miss prospect taken at the very top of the draft. Everyone knew he'd be a star (if not necessarily win championships - remember those days?) He's his own coach. Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore said it himself last night on the broadcast, "I just give Peyton suggestions." Talk about a one-man show. Are Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne really that good? Or are they a byproduct of Manning? I think any good receiver would look great catching passes from Manning. Brady has gotten to that level himself the last five years, too. Put Bernard Berrian on the Pats or Colts and he'd be a Pro Bowler. Put him on the Bears and he's maybe the 12th best receiver in the NFC. (Put him on the Vikings and he's 20th. Man, Tarvaris Jackson is awful.)
Anyways, speaking of the Bears and Colts - did anyone catch Peter King's column today? He has the Bears ranked 8th in his "Fine Fifteen." He flip-flopped his opinion on the Bears so fast that I almost got whiplash. It will be interesting seeing the power rankings on all the sites this week. The Bears consistently were around 24-26 in everybody's preseason rankings. Now I bet they're in the top 15 everywhere, if not higher. I'm not going to lie, the preseason situation looked dire to me, too. But now it doesn't look so bad. It's amazing what one win will do for you. I'm still not sold on this team, nor do I think it will be "the year." I'm just saying it looks a whole lot better than it did on Saturday. I have reason to believe that the Bears will contend into November. And that beats a 1-6 start any day.