Tom Brady's final stat line and where he ranks among qualified NFL QBs this year:
373-613 (60.8%), 4,057 yds, 6.6 y/a, 24 td, 8 int, 88.0 rating
Comp: 373 (7th)
Att: 613 (4th)
Comp%: 60.8 (27th)
Yds: 4,057 (7th)
Yds/Att: 6.6 (27th)
TD: 24 (13th)
Rating: 88.0 (19th)
So Brady's final regular season numbers shake out for him to be roughly an average starting QB. For some reason, people want to compare him to Peyton Manning's last season. Well, here's Manning's last season:
198-331 (59.8%), 2,249 yds, 6.8 y/a, 9 td, 17 int, 67.9 rating
Comp: 198 (27th)
Att: 331 (28th)
Comp%: 59.8 (27th)
Yds: 2,249 (27th)
Yds/Att: 6.8 (28th)
TD: 9 (31st)
Rating: 67.9 (35th)
Peyton Manning was quite literally the worst starting QB in the NFL in his last year. Brady is middle of the pack at this point. Worlds of difference. Of course, the Broncos managed to win the SB with this corpse of a QB, thanks to an otherworldly defense. We now know that the Patriots' defense isn't otherworldly (more on that in the "what are we witnessing" thread), but they may still have the capability of supporting an average QB on a playoff run.
But looking back at Brady's last four seasons, we see:
I love Tom Brady. But that's not a good trend. I will say his int% was pretty good. Just 8 on 613 attempts is solid. But clearly the numbers are headed downward. Tough to argue with the success still. In those four seasons, they have gone to three Super Bowls, winning two of them (and in the lone loss Brady was record-setting great), and just completed a 12-4 season. Nonetheless, the trend is pretty obviously on a downward arc. Not saying he couldn't come back next year and be better than he was this year, but the trend...well...is the trend.