Tom Brady Has Quarterback Competition in AFC East

Tom Brady is no longer the undisputed best quarterback in the NFL. He might not even be the best quarterback in the AFC East much longer.

The Jets’ Mark Sanchez and the Dolphins’ Chad Henne have the tools to give Brady a run for that title — especially if Good Old Tom keeps playing like Mediocre Old Tom.

We’re not ready to throw in the towel on Brady’s career yet. He still has time to turn it around this season. If he gets his timing down with his receivers, all those overthrows and underthrows will start hitting their targets instead of the ground. If he gets back to being comfortable in the pocket and performing with precision, he could return to his All-Pro ways, and the Patriots could turn into a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

But at 32 and coming off major knee surgery, Brady is likely on the downward slope of his NFL climb. 

Sanchez and Henne are just beginning their ascents up the mountain, and after their Monday night shootout, these two young gunslingers could be lighting up scoreboards for years to come.

Henne has a cannon for a right arm and made the Jets’ defense — the same defense that gave Brady and the Patriots fits in Week 2 — look mortal. The second-year player is only 24 but showed the poise of a grizzled veteran as he led Miami to a fourth-quarter comeback win over New York. With Chad Pennington done for the season, Henne has been handed the keys to the Dolphins’ offense. And the Michigan alum (like Brady) has proven he knows how to drive.

So has Sanchez, a modern-day Broadway Joe. The 22-year-old rookie might not have the same arm strength as Henne, but Sanchez has all the other skills that make a great quarterback — accuracy, pocket awareness, agility, footwork, speed and smarts. And the Jets aren’t the only ones who see dollar signs when he lines up behind the center. The NFL is banking on the Mexican-American to open the door to Hispanic fans.

In many ways, Henne and Sanchez are cut from the same cloth as Brady. They have equal parts talent, savvy and composure. And most of all, they’ve shown a knack for winning. That’s what it takes for a quarterback to survive in the NFL.

Henne and Sanchez represent the next generation of the league, but the future is now.

Brady knows this. Bill Belichick knows this. Anyone who’s been paying attention this NFL season knows this. If a young quarterback has some talent, he will be given a chance to lead.

There was a time when NFL teams avoided having young signal-callers take snaps like it was the flu. The thinking was that young quarterbacks needed to be nurtured, that they needed time to develop, learn the playbook and adjust to the speed of the game. Holding a clipboard with a baseball cap turned backward was believed to be the best way to accomplish this, and it was the approach most clubs took.

If the starter went down, they would go find a dinosaur — a Jeff George or a Brad Johnson or a Mark Rypien — to take the top spot on the depth chart instead of starting a kid.

Not anymore.

If a quarterback can play, no matter his age, he’s getting the call these days. It’s working out just about everywhere except Oakland and Cleveland (but the debate about whether the Raiders and Browns are actual NFL organizations is heating up). This doesn’t mean experience is overrated. The passing leaders include the usual suspects you’d expect to see. But some youngsters are making their way up the charts.

Yet one name remains conspicuously absent from the top 10 list in quarterback rating: Tom Brady, who checks in at No. 19 with an 85.9 grade.

Games against the winless Titans and winless Buccaneers the next two weeks should help Brady get back on track and regain his flow. But if he struggles, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of this Patriots season.

Few ever play football into their forties like Brett Favre. And even though Peyton Manning is having an MVP-type year at 33 after coming off a knee injury last season, he’s a bit of a freak of nature himself.

Time doesn’t stand still for 99 percent of the population.

The Patriots are hoping Brady is part of that 1 Percent Club. But there are no guarantees. Even if the future Hall of Famer shakes off the rust, the chances of the Patriots ever being a juggernaut again are as good as catching lightning in a bottle twice. They could be a productive, efficient offense, but Brady may have peaked in 2007.

For Sanchez and Henne, their eras have just begun. The rising stars both have a whole lot of life left in their legs and arms. One of them just might have enough power to overthrow Brady as king of the AFC East quarterbacks.