Here's Your Weekly Round Up of 'Tom Brady is Finished' Takes
There's a certain rule of nature that applies across all hierarchies, from the lowliest species of the animal kingdom to the best and brightest of the human race. It's been said many times, many ways, from Luke 12:48: "To whom much is given, much is required," to Shakespeare's "Henry IV," "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." In essence, it means that when you're the best, you're not going to be held to the same standard as all the inferior beings around you. No one much cares if Rafiki sits in his tree all day rolling bones into a bowl or Zazu shits on a hyena. But let Mufasa have one off day and the whole Circle of Life goes completely off kilter and the whole kingdom bitches about it.
And as it is for the king of the lions, so it must be for the king of GOATs. Tom Brady had a game that was not up to his standards in a 17-10 road win. His offense got the ball at midfield twice and couldn't put it in the end zone. They were ineffective in the red zone. His team's only touchdown of the day came off the arm of one of his wide receivers. And while they [cliche' alert] made enough plays to win against one of the best defensive lines in football, there's only one conclusion to be drawn: Tom Brady is done. His days of being an elite quarterback are behind him. He's gone from the most accomplished winner in his sport's history to an old, cranky, self-possessed, short-tempered, finger pointing attitude problem overnight.
We know this to be true, because they people who've been saying it for 10 years are saying it again. And they can't be wrong this time, right? I mean, a neutral, objective, middle-of-the-road observer like Shank has no axe to grind. He's just calling it like he sees it every time he declares Brady is a dink and the Dynasty is over:
And who wouldn't want to pay their way through a firewall to read more about Brady's no-account, selfish assholery?
And Manish Mehta, who works for both the NY Daily News and the Jets PR department, celebrates his bosses' 20th big year of declaring the AFC East has caught up to Brady. Only now, they've passed him:
Yup. It's the end of the line alright. This is NOT a repeat from 2006. Or 2009. Or 2012. Or 2014. Or …
I could go on, but you have the internet or else I wouldn't be having this conversation with you, the abstract construct of a reader I made up in my head. You can do your own searching. And it's not hard to do because Skynet is a target rich environment of the same stuff. The people who declared Kansas City was the new power rising that would end Brady's run, and who said the same things about Jacksonville the year before and who've been saying it all they way back to his first playoff loss at Denver in 2005, are saying it again. Only this time? This time they mean it.
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Going back to what I said about hierarchies and expectations and uneasy head earlier, this was Brady's stat line from Sunday:
26 for 47, 216 Yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 67.3 Passer Rating
That's the game that finally did him in. The one where he suddenly aged beyond all usefulness, like Ant-Man coming out of the "Endgame" time vortex, morphed into an old man and wetting his Quantum Suit. Only this time, there's no sending him back in to revert to his normal, 42-year-old self. Because that's the standard we hold Tom Brady to. And only Brady.
Unless you can cite me any headlines screaming it was the end of the line for Patrick Mahomes last Thursday night against the Chargers 19th-ranked defense:
19 for 32, 182 Yards, 1 TDs, 1 INTs, 72.7 Passer Rating
Surely then we remember how there was no hope for Aaron Rodgers' future when he coughed up this dog's breakfast in losing to the Chargers a couple of weeks earlier?
23 for 35, 161 Yards, 1 TDs, 0 INTs, 85.5 Passer Rating
No? Well then how about Russell Wilson four weeks ago in a loss at home to Baltimore?
20 for 41, 241 Yards, 1 TDs, 1 INTs, 65.2 Passer Rating
Lamar Jackson is being talked about for MVP. And could very well win it. Despite his career being over at the tender age of 22 after posting this against Pittsburgh last month:
19 for 28, 161 Yards, 1 TDs, 3 INTs, 54.9 Passer Rating
If anyone was making the "Sam Darnold > Josh Allen > Ryan Fitzpatrick >>> Mahomes/Rodgers/Wilson/Jackson" argument after those games, I most definitely missed it. Different quarterbacks, different standards. By that I mean exactly two standards. One for Brady, one for everybody else. And I wouldn't have it any other way. To whom much is given, and all that.
Watching Brady prove his doubters wrong has been one of the great joys of life in New England ever since he was declared the starter over a healthy Drew Bledsoe in 2001. And it's not about to stop any time soon. To finish the Circle of Life metaphor, that negativity feeds the haters that Brady eats. And their rotting carcasses help grow more negativity, which keeps nature in balance. So by all means, let's keep the doubt and the animosity coming. And never, ever stop kissing the rings.