Anybody out there still clinging to an opinion that someone other than Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history needs to spend 37 honest minutes to understand why their opinion is crap.
Watching the final 12 minutes of Super Bowl 49 where Brady led two touchdown drives on the ominous Seahawks defense and the final 25 minutes of Super Bowl 51 against the Falcons where he directed a 25-point comeback to send the game into overtime should do the trick.
If it doesn’t, just roll tape of the thrashing he took from the Broncos in the 2015 AFC Championship Game while putting the Patriots in position to force overtime should clinch it. The beating probably would have driven every one of the other nine quarterbacks on the mythical Top 10 All-Time to the sidelines.
And these things he did after already winning three Super Bowls in his first four seasons as a starter.
The “best ever” conversation is in vogue again this week as the Patriots prepare for the Packers on Sunday Night Football.
That’s because Aaron Rodgers will be in town.
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Being sucked into the Brady vs. Rodgers vortex is inevitable.
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But since the correct answer of which man is the better quarterback is plainly apparent, we instead skip on down to different iterations of the discussion.
The least satisfying one I’ve heard it spitballing about what would have happened if they traded places.
Because it’s not about how Rodgers would have done under Charlie Weis, Josh McDaniels, Bill O’Brien and McDaniels again instead of Mike McCarthy.
The bigger question would be how would Rodgers have reacted if his teammate Lawyer Milloy was released in 2003? Or Deion Branch was traded in 2006 or Logan Mankins in 2014? Would Rodgers have been able to co-exist with Bill Belichick’s genius and eccentricities as long as Brady did?
Unknowable.
But one aspect of the comparison that fascinates me is the conversation revolving around physical talent. Not just arm strength -- Josh Allen has more than either -- but arm strength, accuracy, mobility, speed of release, pocket presence and the ability to make every imaginable throw.
Rodgers’ superior physical talent and his comparable under-duress mental acuity are the only reasons there is even a conversation.
After the Rams beat Green Bay on Sunday, Mike Silver of NFL.com spoke with third-year Rams quarterback Jared Goff about Rodgers.
Goff did a competent job of articulating the parameters under which Rodgers is better than Brady.
“Physically, I don't think it's even close -- he's the best ever," Goff said. "Just his arm talent, and what he does. I know Tom's incredible, and Joe Montana's amazing, but when it comes to straight physical ability -- and this is my 24-year-old, third-year-in-the-league perspective, so take it for what you will -- it's not even a contest. His hand control, his arm power, where he puts the ball ... it's freakish."
Said Rams coach Sean McVay, “Some of his throws today ... He's so good, it's a joke. He's not real life. The way that he's able to speed it up and make the ball come out of his hand, it's like a trick video. You feel like you're watching an optical illusion."
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Rodgers’ ability to flick the ball with precision with his hips askew, his release at three-quarters, his eyes seemingly pointing somewhere else with velocity, it’s something you can’t teach.
Which is why other quarterbacks -- Brady included -- marvel at him.
“What he’s done as a quarterback, I think is inspiring, even for me,” Brady told WEEI this week. “I watch his game and it makes me want to get out there and practice and improve because I think he’s so phenomenal with the way he manages himself in the pocket and his ability to throw the football is unlikely anyone probably in the history of the league. It’s pretty awesome to watch.”
Rodgers is so good that even around our highly-parochial and protective region, it’s OK to appreciate his greatness. With qualifiers.
This is the Twitter poll question I put out Tuesday morning.
So 64 percent of area respondents acknowledge Rodgers’ physical talent as being the best in the league. I was surprised.
I was also happy that people were able to understand what I was driving at.
The best quarterback there’s ever been will be on the field Sunday night for one team. The most talented quarterback will be on the field for the other team.
And pretty much everyone will know which one is which.
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