NFL Top 10 Series: Quarterbacks - #2

Welcome one and all to the much talked about and much anticipated (maybe not so much) debut of the NFL Top 10 Series. We’ve gone through the motions since the middle of the month of April with honorable mentions posts, which if you’re reading this post right now you have probably read through most if not all of them. So once again, thank you for the page views. It is appreciated. Down to two more, it’s been fun for the last month or so. But now that I’ve bored you with such undying wait I’m going to just cut right to the chase. Remember folks, after these last two posts, no more essays. We’ll be getting right to the point because I was too stupid to realize I didn’t need to be so ambitious. But hey, at least I’m finishing what I started, right? That certainly counts for something. Anyways, here we are with #2:

Quarterback #2 – Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Do we live in a world where Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the league? I don't think so anymore.

What else really has to be said?

Tom Brady is without a doubt one of the best quarterbacks of all-time and one of the best quarterbacks in the league today. That of course, is why he claims this #2 spot. For some, Brady might still be the best in the league. I’m not exactly a believer in that, but I can see why people think that. He’s outstanding and continually has been, even after tearing his ACL in the first game of the 2008 season. He went through a bit of a curve to get back, being that his first two seasons back weren’t so spectacular, but his 2010 and 2011 seasons have vaunted him right back into this spot.

In 2010, Brady threw for nearly 4,000 yards (missing just by 100), found the endzone 36 times, a league-best, and was only picked off a miniscule four times. Yes, that’s right: only four times was Brady picked off. The funny thing is, he was picked off twice in two games, against the Jets in Week 2 and against the Ravens in Week 5, and then went 11 weeks before being intercepted in the Divisional Playoff Round against the New York Jets. So only two teams picked Brady off all season. That’s ridiculous.

In 2011, Brady followed that performance up with a superb year. Brady threw for 5,235 yards, breaking Dan Marino’s record (of course only surpassed by Drew Brees), threw for 39 touchdowns and was picked off 12 times. His completion percentage was at 65.6%, so for the third year in a row Brady posted a completion percentage of 65%+. Brady’s best performance of 2011 may have been the first game that he played in.

Tom Terrific of course found his way back into the playoffs and performed incredibly there too. Despite the poor performance against the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, Brady had a magical performance in Foxborough against the Denver Broncos. He threw for six touchdowns, five of them being in the first half, with just one interception, and his completion percentage was an incredible 76.5%. He had a solid-but-not-good-enough performance in Super Bowl XLVI, completing 65.9% of his passes on 41 attempts, threw for 276 yards, and two touchdowns to go with one interception.

Against the Miami Dolphins, Brady threw for 517 yards on 48 attempts, four touchdowns and only one interception, and completed 66.7% of his passes. It was deemed as the best performance by a quarterback in the 2011 season by Pro Football Focus, and according to them, Brady threw for 320 yards on balls thrown for more than 10 yards against the Dolphins.

Tom is also great under pressure, even though as we all know, he rarely ever faces pressure. Brady was pressured 173 times last year, and was sacked only 32 times. Under pressure, Brady threw for eight touchdowns to two interceptions, the fourth best ratio in the NFL in 2011. His completion percentage under pressure was 49.6%, good for eighth best in the league, and Pro Football Focus graded him as the fifth best QB under pressure in 2011, superseded by only Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Cam Newton, and the NFL’s 2011 MVP Aaron Rodgers.

If there’s any criticism on Brady, though, it’s the lack of vertical passing. That might be attributed to the offense that he plays in, but it certainly has to be discussed. Tom only completed 20 passes that were over 20 yards in the air according to Pro Football Focus, which was good for just 15th in the NFL. It’s crazy to think that someone as good as Brady could have that kind of criticism laid upon him, but again, it’s something you need to take account for. The other quarterbacks in the league throw the deep ball a whole lot more, and Brady’s targets around him really fit the system he’s in, but there should be more to his game than just short-to-intermediate passing. Plus, if you look at the game logs, Brady’s best games were just against the worst of competition. So that to me hinders him ever so slightly.

There’s no doubt that Tom Brady is an incredible quarterback and will go down as one of the best to ever play. I just do not think we live in a world anymore where Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL. As I said though, I can see the case, and I can work with it. It’s just not my opinion.