Posted on 01/19/2005 2:45:31 PM PST by bikepacker67
FOXBORO, Mass. - One quarterback played up to expectations in Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game because all the Patriots ever ask Tom Brady to do is win.
As the seasons roll on and each trip to Foxboro turns into Groundhog Day for Peyton Manning, it appears that Manning will be Dan Marino to Brady's Joe Montana. Marino had the records. Montana had the rings.
By the time it all ends in Jacksonville next month, Brady may be tied with Joe Cool as a three-time Super Bowl MVP. He may have only thrown for 144 yards in Sunday's victory but the win moved his postseason record to 7-0.
By the time Manning plays his 17th season (the length of Marino's career), he can only hope he can look back on the one day he did have to face the Patriots in the playoffs. Manning is probably the most talented quarterback in the game but until he cashes one in, he can only envy Brady.
Of the four quarterbacks left in the tournament, two - Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick - routinely make more highlight films. Brady's counterpart in Sunday's AFC Championship Game is Ben Roethlisberger and wouldn't it be fitting if Roethlisberger suffers his first career loss to a guy who just doesn't lose big games?
"There's no other guy I'd want in a big game than him, nobody," said Patriots tight end Christian Fauria. "I mean, go down in history, this is the guy I want in the huddle. Talk about poise and control. The only thing colder out there was him."
You can run down Brady's career highlights and none of them has to do with yards or touchdown passes. He has the highest winning percentage of any active QB with at least 30 starts. He's 7-0 in overtime games. Her has engineered 16 game-winning drives and he is 18-2 in games decided by a TD or less, 4-0 in the playoffs.
It was appropriate that when Bill Belichick was asked about Brady's performance, he talked about one play, the 5-yard touchdown pass he threw to David Givens to put the Patriots up by two scores at 13-3. In case you're counting, that was one touchdown pass for Brady, zero for Peyton. But it's never about Brady's numbers, even when they are sparkling. It's about the plays he makes to help win.
"I mean, that was a really big play in the game," Belichick said. "You know, not having to settle for third down . . . Tom made a nice play, stepped up . . . got a little opening and made the play. You know, that's what good quarterbacks do . . . they make plays when things don't go perfectly, which a lot of times they don't."
The play almost broke down because Brady's receivers were covered. But he bought himself extra time by breaking the pocket to his left. Givens sensed that the Colts had abandoned the weak side and slid past the DB. Brady, as always, saw him.
"Made a great catch," he said. "I threw that thing hard."
Manning, who was never allowed to unleash his arm downfield (by both the Pats' defense and the Colts' play-calling) tried to answer questions about how his 49-TD season (perhaps his career) would be defined. As usual after facing Belichick, he didn't have any answers.
"Unfortunately I have always believed that a player does kind of define himself," said Manning, who is also one of the most thoughtful players in the NFL. "I am starting to change those thoughts because there are so many opinions and experts talking about me and my career, I just sort of stopped trying.
"Right now, it is hard to think about anything else besides losing this game."
Brady blushed when someone asked him why he sparkled and Manning struggled.
"Well, I mean, I don't think I shined," Brady said. "We made plays when we needed to. You know, for a team that led the league in turnovers this year, to come out of that game with no turnovers was probably what I'm most happy about."
Doesn't it mean more because of all the Manning hype, he was asked?
"Just none of this stuff means anything, it really doesn't," Brady replied. "I mean, we're going in there thinking we're going to win."
We'll be returning the favor - Bennie's 16 in a row is gonna have a period after it.
I just hope the bridges out of the Pit are girded by suicide hotline types.
Chad will have surgery. He played hurt when he came back. I thought he came back to soon. Jets will be 12-4 next year. Book it!
This comparison is unfairly harsh. One of the major reasons Montana had the rings is that he played on superior teams. The Miami teams in the Marino era never had much of a running game, and were often mediocre defensively. If Marino had played for the 49ers throughout his career, he could have ended up with more rings than Montana.
If I were an NFL general manager back then, I would have taken Marino over Montana any day of the week.
That view of him doing that had me unsettled. I'm guessing/hoping that it wasn't related to internal structural damage
FYI, KDKA just reported that Ben WILL NOT be wearing those ridicules gloves this weekend, thank goodness. They surely had something to do with his accuracy problems against the Jets.
Speaking of accuracy problems, Brady threw 2 horrendous interceptions against the Steelers earlier in the season. Just a reminder for those who have been talkin smack on Ben's two interceptions last week.
Go back and look at what happened the first time Belichik left Parcells . . . his record as the head coach in Cleveland was awful.
Michigan coaching stunk during the Brady years because John Cooper was unavailable....
And the reason the NFL general managers back then did not?
No doubt Montana had help, but to take anything away from him is sour grapes.
Are you going to tell me Marino never choked?
Joe Cool for a reason.
In Indy's first game this year with the Pats, the Colts were on the 1 yard line at the end of the game that TD would have won the game... James fumbled... I guess that was Manning fault as well, sort of like everything is Bush's fault.
If you have the worst defense in the league(like Indy does) Who would you rather have Manning or Brady? That answer is easy...
I do think Brady's a very good quarterback, but let's keep things in perspective here . . . at this point in time, Brady would have the same number of Super Bowl rings as stellar QBs like Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and Mark Rypien.
Because Marino was still in high school when Montana was drafted in 1979. Montana was a third-round pick that year -- the 82nd player selected overall, and the fourth quarterback. ;-)
As a Giants fan, I'm one of the few fans who can honestly say that Montana didn't look like a Hall of Famer to me. I know he was a great player, but his post-season record against my team was surprisingly marginal -- including a 49-3 shellacking in the 1986-87 playoffs that is still one of the most lopsided games in playoff history.
On a related note, I'll mention that during his tenure he was so erratic in dealing with his players that many people in the NFL thought he'd never be a head coach again. That's why he went back to doing what he did best -- working as a defensive coordinator.
Brady has two rings...
That's right . . . my mistake. I didn't finish the sentence I originally intended to type -- ". . . were it not for a botched officials' call in that playoff game against the Raiders back in 2002."
Any number of teams, maybe Denver :~), could have picked him up (after he went pro) if they thought he could win SBs.
Postseason from '81 to '90 (Joe as a starter) SF 2 vs. NY 3
SBs? SF 3 vs. NY 1
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.