Tom Brady Is New England Patriots' Biggest Problem -- Here's Why
Into NFL Week 15, the New England Patriots ride an 11-3 record.
While it is general knowledge that the Patriots haven't always been the best team in the last 20 years, they were able to find solace routinely in two areas ahead of the playoffs run.
Tom Brady comes off a performance versus the Cincinnati Bengals in which he threw for only 128 yards and finished with a passer rating of 86.6. It marked his ninth straight game with a rating below 100.
Now, NFL experts are saying that the Hall of Fame quarterback is a problem for the Patriots.
For the first time in years, New England's offense looks completely vulnerable, and for this season, Brady has been mediocre.
According to "Speak for Yourself" host Jason Whitlock, Brady has become more of a burden than a leading force.
"Brady's lack of weapons might be a bigger problem than Brady's lack of preparation, but you can't fix the weapons. Not this year, which in my mind makes Brady the Patriots' biggest problem heading into the postseason. There's no denying Tom Brady is New England's biggest problem in defending their Super Bowl title."
But how injured is Tom Brady really? His right elbow was bothering him over the last couple of weeks. He was not listed on this week's injury report, but it is definitely something if an injury is causing his recent struggles.
His age may have caused him to regress since the 2013 season, too. It is worth noting that Brady had a drop rate of 8.4% in 2013 and threw the ball away 13 times. This season, his drop rate is at 6% and threw the ball away 41 times.
Similar to his 2013 season, the biggest issue is actually the players surrounding the quarterback in the offense. He had an 87.3 passer rating then, and now, it is 86.5.
In 2013, Brady had Stevan Ridley, Julian Edelman, Shane Vereen, Aaron Dobson and a few others. That is similar to James White, Sony Michel, Phillip Dorsett and Josh Gordon.
Depending on the cast of characters surrounding him, Brady's number traditionally go up or down. This year, it is not so great.
Ex-Patriot fullback Patrick Pass talked to "That 617 Life Podcast" and said that now is not the time to panic about Brady and the Patriots.
"The Pats, they cruise through the regular season just to make it to playoffs. When they get to playoffs, that's when you're going to see their best football. So, they cruise through the season with a 12-4 record, 13-3 record, and then once the playoffs come around, they know that it's one and done. And they're not trying to go home anytime soon," Pass said.
However, Pass conceded that Brady is not the quarterback he once was.
"You can definitely tell he's not the same quarterback, but that doesn't mean he's fallen off the cliff. If you look at a lot of the games that he's playing this year, he really doesn't have that much time to throw the ball," he added
Pass also mentioned that when you get a quarterback who gets worried about getting hit or getting sacked, the footwork is obviously going to be a little off. "He's going to throw the ball quicker than he needs to because he's worried about getting sacked."
