How Tom Brady still has what it takes to prove the doubters wrong

Now that his career will end elsewhere, what does Tom Brady have left? One analyst – and Patriots fan – offers his answer.

It is sometimes difficult to blur the line between fan and analyst.

Like many, I was a sports fan before becoming a sportswriter. Try as we might, there are times when it becomes difficult, even impossible, to separate the two. Critical analysis and an unbiased eye go out the window when discussing a few players, or a certain team.

For me, that list begins and ends with Tom Brady.

Before he was a six-time Super Bowl champion, and before he was arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, he was a backup. A college kid fighting for his job against a guy named Drew, and then a young professional trying to replace another guy named Drew.

Before I was Mark Schofield the sportswriter, I was Mark Schofield the New England Patriots fan. A kid who grew up outside of Boston, wearing the number 16 in Pop Warner because that’s what Joe Montana wore. Then wearing the number 3 in high school, because that is what Montana wore at Notre Dame. Then wearing the number 9 in college, because 3 times 3 is…well, you get the picture.

Like Brady, I idolized Montana as a kid. That is who I, rather poorly, modeled my own game after. Then, as a law student trying to come to grips with a life post-football, comes along another kid, roughly my age, who idolized Montana. Only now he is trying to make his way in the world, in football, on my favorite team.

I remember the year he took over for Drew Bledsoe. Driving back to law school after visiting the Boston area and my father calling me, to let me know that Brady was lighting up the Indianapolis Colts, in a game that the Patriots would win 38-17. I remember all of that magical ride to the first Super Bowl. The Tuck Rule. Bledsoe coming off the bench in the AFC Championship Game. Adam Vinateri through the uprights.

For the past 20 years, there have been few constants in my life. Brady was one of them. His play has spanned so many changes in my own life. From lawyer to writer. From single law student to married professional. From father of a son, to father of a son and daughter.

Both Owen and Simone wore Patriots outfits in the hospital after their birth.

I mean, Brady’s career spanned that portion of time from when my son wanted to emulate everything I did, to when he suddenly became a contrarian and wanted to root against everything I love. As sons do. He rooted with me for the Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

He then rooted for the Philadelphia Eagles a year later, and even dressed as Carson Wentz for Halloween after Super Bowl LII.

And, as is now fitting, he even trolled me after the Patriots were knocked out of the playoffs this year, asking me the morning after: “Dad, what was your favorite Tom Brady pick six? The one he threw against the Titans, or the one he threw against the Dolphins last week?”

Measuring the passage of time in Brady years.

But now it is time to put the fan in me aside, and do a job of my own. A question must be asked at this time: What does Tom Brady have left?

For me, that question is answered in two ways: His mind, and his feet.

We often think of quarterback as a “head to toes” position. Every part of your body is an important piece in the quarterbacking puzzle. Brady, perhaps more than any other passer in recent history, ascribed to that point of view. Fanatical over his mechanics, obsessive over understanding the playbook, and constantly driven by the desire to prove everyone wrong. To prove even the Patriots wrong for passing on him a few times in the draft, before finally selecting him with the 199th overall selection.

During the combine, I was out to dinner with a few different writers. The conversation turned to quarterbacks, and to Brady. The general consensus among the group was that to play the position, you have to be a little bit – or more – insane. Driven to perfection beyond what is reasonable nature. Viewing winning and losing in two completely different realms. Sure, winning is nice, but losing is torture. The fear of losing outweighs any joy gained from winning. The only true spoil of victory is having not lost.

That is Brady.

If you think about some of the greatest athletes in history, those who transcended their sport, you come around to the notion that their ability to light their internal fire is the most important part to achieving their greatness. Two athletes from two different sports exemplify this trait: Brady and Michael Jordan. Brady, always pick 199 in his mind, always having to prove that he was the best quarterback for the Patriots, always an underdog. Jordan, always the kid cut from his high school team, always having to prove that he was the best basketball player on the planet, always having to destroy anyone who dare challenged his spot atop the mountain.

Brady still has that. And if you think success has softened him, think again. He will be driven every day, consumed every day, with the desire now to prove Bill Belichick and the Patriots wrong. Wrong for moving on from him, wrong for not signing him to one last contract.

Wrong for thinking he is done.

Beyond the inner fire, there is the complete knowledge of the game. A photographic understanding of both the playbook, and the defense. There is nothing Brady has not seen, and nothing he has not beaten, schematically from a defense. Odds are, he knows what you are running before he breaks the huddle, given the film study he has done. He knows your tendencies against every alignment, every personnel package, every motion or shift. He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake.

But we also have to look at his feet. Head to toes, remember.

Brady will never be confused with a more athletic quarterback. Or an athletic quarterback at all. But that does not mean he lacks pocket mobility. While people may joke that the “TB12 method” or “pliability” or “pistachio ice cream” are the reasons that Brady has played at such a high level for so long, in fact it is his footwork. His ability to maneuver inside and outside of a pocket, even without elite athletic ability. Brady’s feel for the pocket, and his ability to slide and climb in a pocket, is akin to a boxer’s. He does not escape so much as he creates space. Just enough space, to slide away from a rusher, to slide away from a blitzer, and create enough space to get off a throw. Like a prizefighter creating space to throw a jab, or a hook:

Now let’s be real. Brady turns 43 in August. He is not the quarterback he was in 2017, let alone 2007. As someone who has watched and studied him over his entire career, there are some areas where he is not as solid as he used to be. Two stand out.

First, there is the arm strength. I do not ascribe to the idea that his arm is shot, or that it is a wet noodle at this point, but he has lost a few RPMs on the fastball. He can still dial up the velocity from time to time, but nowhere as consistently as he used to. I’m reminded of a throw he made in the driving rain this past season against the Dallas Cowboys to convert a third and long. He slid in the pocket to his left – creating space once more on a slow-developing play – before finding Julian Edelman to move the chains.

Some of his best throws from the 2018-2019 season also showcased the velocity he can still dial up:

Brady was not known for having the most powerful arm, but he can still generate velocity when necessary, even if it does not match what he could do a decade ago. This might get to more of a scheme fit issue than anything else, and it is one of the reasons that I do question his potential fit in a Bruce Arians offense.

Then there is what Brady has done against pressure, particularly last season. While Brady has traditionally been very impressive in a collapsing pocket, and against the blitz, his numbers cratered in this area over the past few seasons. During the 2017-2018 season, Brady had an Adjusted Completion Percentage of 70.2 when pressured, which was second in the league, trailing just Drew Brees.

In 2018-2019, that number dropped to 62.9, 21st in the league.

Last year it fell even more, to 59.5, still 21st in the league.

The team that acquires him is going to be prepared to protect him. He can still move well and slide from pressure, but this is an area of concern.

The other aspect that is worth watching is, believe it or not, situational awareness. Traditionally a Belichick/Brady staple, this started to fall away over the past few years as well. Disastrous interceptions that were more a result of not thinking, rather than not performing athletically. Mental mistakes. Take, for example, a sack in New England’s yearly baffling loss to the Miami Dolphins in the 2018-2019 season. Shortly before halftime and out of time outs, Brady dropped to pass. The one thing he could not do in that situation was take a sack.

Which is exactly what he did, fighting in the pocket too long and costing his team a chance at a field goal. A field goal they would need later in the game, which became known as the “Miami Miracle” given the Dolphins’ last-second heroics.

He is not a perfect quarterback anymore. In truth, he has regressed. But he has regressed to an above-average quarterback, which, given his age, is a very impressive accomplishment. In the right situation, with weapons around him and protection, he can still be effective.

He can still win a Super Bowl.

He showed that two years ago. He faced so many questions that year – including questions from me about what he had left – but in the end, it was his right arm that brought the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Watch that overtime drive against the Kansas City Chiefs again. On the road, hostile environment, difficult weather conditions, and he converts three different third-and-long situations to get the Patriots into the red zone.

He can still win.

And now he will do that somewhere else.