I’m really don’t see what makes him such a good quarterback. Nothing he does really captures my attention or makes me say wow, what a fabulous play. Is it that he is more consistent but less flashy than other quarterbacks? Or do I not know enough about the game to see his level of skill? ( I mean, QB’s like Brat Favre and Peyton Manning and Joe Montana all really captured your attention)
He wins a lot.
yes, but he has to have some significant level of skill to win a lot, right?
He throws the ball to the open guy. Seriously, that’s all. He doesn’t have the biggest arm, but he is very accurate. Brady’s best attribute is intelligence – he makes the safest throw almost every time. Montana was actually pretty similar, but Favre and Manning make much more amazing looking plays.
He, like Manning, excels in the mental part of playing QB. He’s highly prepared; he reads defenses both before and after the snap very well, he knows his offense inside and out, and he throws the ball to where it should go for maximum value. He’s great at protecting the ball (#2 in int. rate), at not making mistakes, and he’s got the arm to make all the NFL throws. He moves well in the pocket, feels the pass rush, and has great anticipation. He’s efficient, and he has great mechanics so almost every throw is controlled and consistent.
I have no clue why you get wowed by Manning and Montana, but not Brady. They’re all among the best at the mental part of the game, yet don’t wow you with amazing arm strength or gunning it in a small space.
Mainly his decision making, quickness to get rid of the ball, accurate passing; with emphasis on the first one. It’s not necessarily something that shows up to folks watching casually. He’s not a scrambler and he doesn’t have a cannon for an arm, but everything else is top notch.
IIRC, they said that during practice for this game, the Seahawks blew the whistle after 2.5 seconds, because Brady would have thrown by then.
- Pre-snap recognition. Brady is able to look at how the defense is arrayed and then potentially adjust the offensive play to best take advantage of the defense. The result is a boring but effective play.
If you’re interested, today’s article by Bill Barnwell discusses an important play where Russell Wilson (apparently) doesn’t recognize that the offensive play was a poor match for the defense and doesn’t change it. See the section near the end titled Rob Ninkovich stuffs Lynch in the backfield for a loss on third-and-1.
- Fast decision-making after the snap. Brady (and Manning) are masters at finding the open man and throwing the ball very quickly. The end result may look boring (another 5 yard completion) but over time they become effective.
Contrast that to many of Wilson’s completions which required great catches by his receivers. I can only think of one catch by a Patriots receiver that could be labeled above average (Vereen’s one-handed catch).
- Accuracy. A vast majority of his passes are on target, making them not only easier to catch but also allows the receivers to get more yards after the catch. The Patriots are usually among the league leaders in YAC.
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Think about it this way: the Seahawks are in the discussion of all-time great defenses and Brady scored 4 TDs without much of a run game.
Bill Belicheck - See Cassel, Matt
Another aspect:
He’s succeeded in so many desperate “big drive needed to come from behind and win” situations that he believes he can do this whenever he has to. This makes his teammates believe it as well, and so the improbable result frequently comes to pass.
He probably has an unreasonably optimistic view of his chances in those situations - which is exactly how you want your team leader to think.
He’s basically been a top 5 quarterback every year for the last 15 years. (give or take a few years) Winning 4 Super Bowls and almost having that undefeated season put’s him in the elite levels. He broke Marino’s touchdown record too. If you ask me, he has earned best quarterback of alltime.
That was Peyton Manning. Brady (392) is 28 behind Marino (420) and 138 back of Manning (530). Favre (508) and Brees (398) are ahead of him too.
That would have been what I said. I give Brady full credit for being a great quarterback. But Belicheck deserves the credit for building a great team for Brady to play in.
At some point tough, Belicheck’s inability to get a great running back or a consistent receiver line should be held against him.
Brady is the second best QB who ever lived.
He’s not, but IMHO, one of his less-recognized skills is an incredible pocket awareness. Nobody else in the league is as good at knowing when to take a half step forward --while still looking through his receiver progressions – in order to just barely avoid the rusher.
thanks for all of the replies and great explanations!!! 
A fairly new wrinkle in his repertoire this year was stepping up a few steps under pressure and buy himself a few more seconds. He’s always had good pocket awareness as you said, but knowing when to step up rather than throw it away or accept a sack is a huge benefit. At times in his career he was hearing too many footsteps and overreacting.
Brady is smarter than the rest, and he works hard to get his offense ready. He uses short timing passes to move the ball down field and he picks up and takes advantage of mistakes by the defense. Quarterbacks can get bigger, stronger, faster, but they aren’t going to get any smarter than Brady.
Really? I’ve never felt like the Patriots have suffered all that much at the running back spot in the past decade or so. Maybe nobody absolutely dominant, but guys like Corey Dillon, Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount have generally moved the chains to my satisfaction. And until Wes Welker decamped, I felt like Belichick provided Brady with an above-average group of targets. (On the other hand, if you want to talk defensive secondary – gaah! This year was the first time in nearly a decade that I didn’t feel the Patriots’ back four resembled a big block of Swiss cheese.)
Yeah, but he broke Marino’s single season record, which was later broken by Manning. I should have clarified that.