The Patriots in years past have entered the postseason with the comfort of knowing they featured arguably the best quarterback on the planet.
Not only does NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks believe New England no longer has this luxury, but he also thinks Brady could be the Patriots’ fatal flaw in January.
There’s no denying it’s been an underwhelming season for New England’s longtime quarterback. Brady most recently looked like a shell of himself when it mattered most, completing 16 of 29 pass attempts for 221 yards and throwing a costly pick-six in the Patriots’ nightmarish loss to the Miami Dolphins. While New England still has some life, Brooks believes Brady’s regression will do in the Patriots on Saturday night.
“Look, man. I don’t know why it’s taking y’all so long to come around to the fact that it’s over. It’s over for the Patriots. It’s over because their quarterback is the worst quarterback in the playoffs,” Brooks said Monday on FS1’s “Speak For Yourself. “Tom Brady is the worst quarterback in the playoffs. … Look, that Boogeyman that’s across the ring, he ain’t it. He ain’t the guy anymore. So that’s what it is. In the playoffs, it’s about quarterback play and when I look at the numbers — eight games under 60 completion percentage, 100 passer rating — Tom Brady, it’s over.”
"It’s over for the Patriots because their quarterback [Tom Brady] is the worst quarterback in the playoffs."@BuckyBrooks explains why the Patriots' dynasty ends this weekend pic.twitter.com/q4pE48Vo1E
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) December 30, 2019
It’s certainly not a hot take to say, at present, Brady is one of the worst of the playoff-bound quarterbacks this season. But the worst might just be his counterpart this weekend, Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill has undergone a resurgence upon taking over for Marcus Mariota, but his first six NFL seasons mostly were filled with mediocrity. The 31-year-old has warranted the praise he’s received over the past few months, but expecting him to lead his team to victory in Foxboro — in his first career playoff start, no less — might be a tad ambitious.
