Bill Simmons on Tom Brady/Matt Cassel

[Hootie]

The Montreal Screw-Job Award for "Most Shocking Turn on a Beloved Figure"

I didn't call my father during the first half of the Baltimore beating. There was nothing to say. When you give up an 83-yard run to start a game against a team you know wants to run 40 times, you kinda know how it's going to turn out. We all knew the 2009 Patriots had a playoff stink bomb in them; just not in Round 1 at home. Anyway, I was too depressed to call him at halftime. After another Brady interception in the third quarter, my cell phone started vibrating. Yup, it was a text from my dad.

"We never should have traded Cassel."

(Ouch.)

[Hootie]

Dude...

The Bears defense led them to the Super Bowl...ALL YEAR LONG they played with Grossman or Griese...

ALL YEAR LONG...

But suddenly they lose all credibility as an opponent because Rex Grossman was their QB?



Manning handled that defense almost flawlessly (especially compared to the rest of the NFL)...38 minutes T.O.P.

but that doesn't count because he only beat Rex Grossman in the Super Bowl..

So Tom Brady has 4 Super Bowls (because that Tyree catch doesn't count) and Manning has 0 Super Bowls...

Right?

[Pushead2]

Vinatieri had 12 of the 29 points....thats 17 then there was a pick 6 for another 7, Thats 10 points produced by the Manning in that game...

[DBOSHO]

Originally Posted by Hootie

no but he's playing the team that made Tom Brady look like an inferior Matt Cassel

Cause the 2008 patriots are the exact same team as the 2009 patriots.

[Pushead2]

Originally Posted by Hootie

Dude...

The Bears defense led them to the Super Bowl...ALL YEAR LONG they played with Grossman or Griese...

ALL YEAR LONG...

But suddenly they lose all credibility as an opponent because Rex Grossman was their QB?



Manning handled that defense almost flawlessly (especially compared to the rest of the NFL)...38 minutes T.O.P.

but that doesn't count because he only beat Rex Grossman in the Super Bowl..

So Tom Brady has 4 Super Bowls (because that Tyree catch doesn't count) and Manning has 0 Super Bowls...

Right?

not at all, but Grossman played horribly....Grossman the good half showed up in that game and Peyton still would have no ring...

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

Hootie, LET IT GO.

no hootie, don't let it go ... keep grinding that shit.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

Peyton ever have wide recievers that quit on routes?

oh so suddenly Randy Moss is Oakland Raiders Randy Moss, and since Wes Welker was injured now we're going to play the "Tom Brady needs WEAPONS!" card!

Oh, ok. Got it.

Peyton Manning has Dallas Clark! It isn't fair!

(Coming from the same guys who tell us how unimportant the TE position is)...

Such hypocrites when it comes to this debate...it's hysterical.

FORTUNATELY...outside of a few people...everyone gets it now...

The Pats are DONE.

The Colts aren't...

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I ask again - could the Colts have ever gone 11-5 with Jim Sorgi? You're honestly going to pound your chest and yell "3 Superbowls!!!" when Matt Cassel took that same system to an 11-5 record? Doesn't that say all that needs to be said about how difficult it was to win football games there? If a guy like Cassel can get you to 11-5, just exactly how can you compare SBs?

Name one single thing that Tom Brady does on a football field better than Peyton Manning. I say all the time that I don't care about statistics with Matt Cassel because I can point to how he actually plays between the lines and his physical shortcomings.

There's not a single thing that Tom Brady does better than Peyton Manning. Point to mythical intangibles like 'clutch play' all you want, but it's nonsense. Without Adam Vinitiari, Tom Brady's just a top flight QB; nobody would dream of comparing him to Manning.

I don't buy into the argument that the Colts couldn't win games without Manning.

Does Jim Sorgi look like crap?

Sure.

Manning might be more valuable to the Patriots because his b/u may be absolute crap.

I know this, however, before Brady went down last year, the Pat fans thought that Cassel was absolute crap, and that the Patiots couldn't win games without Brady.

Until we see the Colts with another QB under center for more than some meaningless snaps, we have no way to know how they'd fare without Manning.

If you tell me that they'd lose more games without Manning than with, then I can buy into that.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Pushead2

Vinatieri had 12 of the 29 points....thats 17 then there was a pick 6 for another 7, Thats 10 points produced by the Manning in that game...

This is just getting ridiculous.

So I guess we won't count Vinatieri's missed 29 yard field goal or his botched PAT...

Or the time consuming drives that led to all of these field goals...

I guess we'll just ignore the fact the Bears had the 2nd best defense we've seen in the past 10-15 years...

and we'll ignore all of the great drives the Colts had and the 38 minutes T.O.P.

we'll just write that off on Grossman and not credit Manning for putting together a lot of great drives against the Bears potent defense...

Those don't count.

[Pushead2]

Originally Posted by Hootie

This is just getting ridiculous.

So I guess we won't count Vinatieri's missed 29 yard field goal or his botched PAT...

Or the time consuming drives that led to all of these field goals...

I guess we'll just ignore the fact the Bears had the 2nd best defense we've seen in the past 10-15 years...

and we'll ignore all of the great drives the Colts had and the 38 minutes T.O.P.

we'll just write that off on Grossman and not credit Manning for putting together a lot of great drives against the Bears potent defense...

Those don't count.

you just like to type....

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Hootie

Just sit back and watch Peyton Manning play that same Ravens defense at home tonight (just like Brady last week) and see what he does...

By all means, enjoy the return of Peyty Manningheimer tonight.

[HotRoute]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

I completely missed this.

Elway is in the conversation for best player of all-time, not just QB.

Wow.

I hope your kidding

[Mecca]

Kinda funny I expect the Ravens to beat the Colts....the Colts run D is garbage and Ray Rice well he's good.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

Cause the 2008 patriots are the exact same team as the 2009 patriots.

so Matt Cassel sucks for regressing the 2007 Patriots from 16-0 to 11-5...but Tom Brady gets a pass because the 2009 Patriots aren't the same as the 2008 Patriots.

Got it.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Pushead2

you just like to type....

Hey I'd give up now if I were you too...

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by Pioli Zombie

Yeah, Moss only caught the TD pass from Brady to put the Patriots ahead in the SB with 2 minutes to play before the defense coughed it up. You are blaming Moss for the Patriots not going 19-0 that year?

I also love all this revisionist history. After 2007 Brady was being called one of the top 2 of all time after his 50 TD passes. He get a knee injury and now he's not even on the top 5 or 10. Sure, today he may not be. But it doesn't take away where he was 2 years ago.
And I love how Kurt Warner is suddenly clutch with his 9 playoff wins and Brady isn't with his 14. Talk about "what have you done for me lately?"
Posted via Mobile Device

Nope. Not blaming Moss. Just trying to say that when you add players who don't exactly blend into the overall team chemistry and morale it does have a bit of an effect on the team.

Your second paragraph proves to be correct. This is definately a league where its "what have you done for me lately?"