What Will We See From 4 Weeks of No Brady?
The million dollar question in this football year is “How will Brady look in his Week 5 Return to the NFL?” That matchup will be against a dysfunctional Cleveland Browns squad who will be facing a lot of questions heading into the season. In what fashion will Josh Gordon return in? How will RGIII take on the challenges of a new city and new pressure? And so on and so forth…
As interesting of an offseason as it’s been, it’s amazing that the Patriots are still favored at -250 to win the AFC east, despite the acquisitions of Matt Forte, Shaq Lawson, and others within the division. The patriots, not very active throughout the offseason, besides acquiring Martellus Bennet and restructuring their offensive line, had actually lost a major piece in their defensive line, in Chandler Jones.
There seems to be a consensus that Brady will come back with a vengeance week 5 and some how miraculously pull off the ultimate season and cap it off with an MVP and Super Bowl trophy. Let’s take a deep breath and evaluate how this season is going to look from game 1.
Jimmy G is a highly praised QB who has has close to zero actual, in-season experience. Jimmy has soaked up time in the preseason for the most part and has shown glimpses of what he is capable of. But let’s be honest, half of the players on the field are players fighting for that last spot on that 53 man team. In his minimal time, he has participated in 11 total games, has 1 passing touchdown, 188 total pass yards, and a completion % of 64.5%.
He has, most likely, the Patriots toughest opponent of the year as a housewarming gift, game 1 against the Cards. The Arizona Cardinals come in with an offense and defense that is among the top 5, with former Patriot, Chandler Jones starting at the end of their defensive line. This will be his toughest outing just purely off of terrible timing. The rest of the 3 games he has are fairly decent. He will be facing off with the Dolphins, Texans, and Bills.
Let’s just say he finishes 2–2. I honestly believe it will be 1–3, but let’s be optimistic. Brady will then have to carry the load of a team that has yet found their chemistry. Similar to last years slow start, He’ll have to ease his way into the field with possibly losing to a Browns team. The most overlooked aspect of this 4-game suspension is the fact that he cannot practice with his teammates during this stretch. Brady is a year older, and a year slower, in addition to the major distractions he had to face for the last 2 years.
We are looking at a situation in which the Patriots can be facing a possible 2–5 start before Brady gets back in his groove again. This is a scary sight and could be the beginning of the end for this unrealistic tear this dynasty has been on for the last decade and a half. This is not the same Patriot team that is head and shoulders better than the competition. This is not the same offense that we can just implement any qb in this system and be alright. Jimmy G. has yet to prove he’s Matt Cassel at the very least.
Do i believe Brady will perform at a high level at some point in the season? Yes, absolutely. Do I believe the Patriots will miss the playoffs? Hell no. But do I believe Patriot fans are being a bit delusional? Yes, let’s be a bit more realistic here.
Originally published at www.thelt.net on July 31, 2016.
