Tom Brady detractors are not hard to find, with argument ammunition ranging from complaints about his playoff success drop-off to criticism of his deep-ball abilities.
It’s another thing entirely, though, to call the three-time Super Bowl winner and former MVP washed up.
With three other NFL veterans and four young talented signal-callers joining him in the divisional round of the postseason, Brady has been ranked the worst remaining quarterback in the NFL playoffs by Sporting News. Writer Vinnie Iyer assessed each quarterback according to arm strength, accuracy/delivery, mobility/athleticism, pocket presence/awareness and intangibles, and Brady was found wanting.
Brady was fifth in arm strength, seventh in accuracy, seventh in mobility (beaten only by the even more sluggish Peyton Manning), sixth in pocket presence and fifth in intangibles. His aggregate score left him well on the bottom of the heap, with 15 points according to the Sporting News’ scoring, compared to the first-place total of 28 for Manning, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson.
This year Brady struggled to get his new wide receivers on board, went through an uncharacteristic slump and then had to finish the year without tight end Rob Gronkowski, but it’s still strange to hear people saying his ship has sailed in the same season he’s produced some vintage comebacks.
Drew Brees finished second in the ranking, Cam Newton was third, and Philip Rivers and Colin Kaepernick wrapped up fourth.
Brady will get his first chance to defend himself against first-place Luck and his Indianapolis Colts this Saturday.
