The New England Patriots stomped all over the Indianapolis Colts today in the Divisional Round of the 2014 NFL Playoffs, as they will now advance to their third straight AFC Championship game. They will either face the Denver Broncos on the road or host the San Diego Chargers at home.The score was 43-22, and not one — not a single one — was scored by quarterback Tom Brady.
For all of this season, we've been hearing how bad Brady's supporting cast was. How terrible everything was. I remember years before this season, Brady was praised for making bad receivers look good. That took an awful while this year.
Brady's stats were good, but not MVP-like, having 4,343 yards with 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, good enough for a 87.3 rating. With the Pats finishing at 12-4, second-best in the AFC, many suggested that the veteran QB should have won the MVP award over Denver Broncos' Peyton Manning.
Why? Because the Pats were "so bad."
All year, I heard how Brady "carried" this team. But looking closely, this team was destined to win the division anyway.
It's been years since the Patriots haven't dominated the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. On paper, even with their depleted roster, they're still much better than their division opponents. So, winning the AFC East was never going to be a problem.
But what people failed to miss was how good Brady's supporting cast actually was.
The Patriots ranked No. 9 this season in running the ball, averaging nearly 130 rushing yards per game. A top 10 rushing attack helps a quarterback A LOT. And it did, and Brady was able to pick up the pace and develop chemistry with his wide receivers as the season went on.
Of course, he still had familiar face like Rob Gronkowski (played half the season) and Julian Edelman. Danny Amendola was their top signee, so three guys were already in the works. It wasn't as a tough as task as people made it ought to be. In fact, people overrated how bad Brady's supporting cast is.
Decent, great or terrible, the Patriots can make it work. And it will always happen with Bill Belichick as your head coach. I mean, come on, this is the same guy who led a Matt Cassel-led squad to an 11-5 record for crying out loud!
And the defense? Belichick helped mastermind that, too. The rushing defense, yes, was horrendous. But the pass defense wasn't all that bad. They were able to get a Pro Bowler out of it in Aqib Talib.
Plus, who can forget the offensive line Brady had? Does Pro Bowler Logan Mankins ring a bell? I believe every single year Brady has played, he's had at least one Pro Bowl offensive lineman guarding for him. The offensive line he has is simply unbelievable.
Which leads to me going back to the MVP talk. With all that said, Brady shouldn't have won. The stats alone is enough, as he would have had the lowest QB rating ever to win MVP. But the supporting cast greater proves the argument.
Today's game proved the argument tremendously. Did you see that blocking? Did you see that three-headed rushing attack of LeGarrette Blount, Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen?
So please, cut out that talk. Continuing it now, especially after today's game, is just not watching football anymore.
