If this was the last we’ve seen of Tom Brady, it won’t be how the NFL remembers him.
Brady, 42 years old and playing on soaked Gillette Stadium turf, exited the 2019 season on a pick-six. His final shot at a fourth-quarter rally in the Wild Card Round, stymied twice before by the Titans and their 16th-ranked defense, ended with a thud when defensive back Logan Ryan walked a tip-drill interception into the end zone with nine seconds left on the clock. The six-time Super Bowl champion wouldn’t attempt another pass.
The final score in Foxborough? Tennessee 20, New England 13.
There’s a not-insignificant chance that may be the last game Brady plays — if not in the NFL, then potentially as a Patriot. The 20-year veteran will enter 2020 as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and wouldn’t commit either way in the wake of the loss.
While most evidence suggests we’ll only ever see Brady in New England red, white, and blue, he could always venture outside Massachusetts to see how the NFL’s other half lives, especially if there’s a team out there willing to spend big and surround him with top-flight receiving talent. Retirement may also loom for a longtime competitor coming off a disappointing season on both a team and personal level, even if Brady’s gut reaction Saturday night was that hanging up his cleats was “pretty unlikely.”
It also may have been the fuel that draws him back to the gridiron for another shot at history. The image of Brady losing to the Titans was a carnival caricature compared to the stately manor portrait we’ve seen of him through most of his career. The quarterback eschewed the mistakes that’d haunted him through this season only to be stifled by miscues across his own lineup and an occasionally unstoppable Derrick Henry (204 total yards) on the other side of the ball. That could have left a sour enough taste in his mouth to convince him to rewrite his own ending.
If it does, the Patriots will be ready.
New England is built for another run with Brady at the helm
The Patriots committed to Brady this season.
The 2019 NFL Draft brought Arizona State wideout N’Keal Harry with the team’s first pick. Then, after cutting loose former All-Pros in Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon during the season, head coach and de facto general manager Bill Belichick made an uncharacteristic move to free Mohamed Sanu from the Falcons in exchange for a second-round pick.
Those moves failed to pay off for much of the year. Harry missed the bulk of the season thanks to injury and had just 12 catches in seven regular season games once he returned. Sanu struggled to find his place in the Patriots’ offense, averaging just 3.3 receptions per game and a career-low 4.4 yards per target. Ben Watson, brought in to stabilize a tight end rotation devastated by Rob Gronkowski’s retirement, was equally ineffective in his age-38 season.
That led to disappointment. New England went 12-4, but was just 3-3 against playoff teams — a mark that included losses to all three of the AFC’s other divisional champions. Brady finally began to look his age in a season where he failed to crack the NFL’s top 15 in passer rating, adjusted yards per pass, touchdown rate, or completion rate. All this led to the loss to the Titans, and the team’s worst postseason showing since 2009.
That’s all a solid indicator that New England’s dynasty has ground to a halt. But there’s a chance the Patriots’ 2019 moves laid the foundation for one last ride in 2020. There were flashes of life, even late in the Pats’ collapse. Harry and Sanu grew into slightly bigger roles as the season wore on and are each capable of producing more after a full offseason regimen in 2020.
Both are under contract for 2020 and are more talented than their 2019 seasons showed.
Then there’s the old standby, Julian Edelman. Edelman had some issues with his hands; he had double-digit drops for the third time in his last four seasons and dropped an important pass in the fourth quarter Saturday. He was still by far the Patriots’ most reliable weapon. His 153 targets were most on the New England and 58 more than the second-place finisher James White (the next-closest wide receiver was Phillip Dorsett, with 54).
The absence of deep threats in the lineup meant Edelman soaked up those targets, pushing his average throw length to a career-high 9.1 yards downfield. Despite this new assignment, his catch rate, yards per target, and yards per catch were all roughly in line with his career averages in a 100-catch, 1,117-yard season. He didn’t regress in his 11th season as a pro and left little reason to believe he will in a 12th.
More help is on the way, too
One major concern regarding the Patriots’ 4-5 finish to their season was a lack of success in the trenches. New England’s offensive line struggled in both run and pass blocking this fall. Brady was sacked 27 times — up from 21 the year prior — and Sony Michel experienced a significant backslide as the head of the league’s 25th-ranked rushing attack. He averaged just 3.7 yards per carry in his second yar after running for 4.5 yards per touch as a rookie.
That should improve in 2020, which is great news for an aging quarterback who runs roughly as fast as a 300-pound lineman. All-Pro center David Andrews, who missed the entire season due to blood clots in his lungs, will be eligible to return next season. Left tackle Isaiah Wynn, whose toe injury cost him eight games, will come into his third season in the league healthy and ideally stay that way. That would keep the team from relying on an off-the-street free agent to protect Brady’s blindside for half the season again and give Wynn the chance to start off the season with the kind of momentum he showed just as his 2019 came to an end.
There aren’t many impending free agents who could leave the New England offense, either. Starting guard Joe Thuney is due a massive pay raise after this year’s All-Pro campaign, but he’s the kind of worker Belichick will likely reward with a market-value contract. Otherwise, only Dorsett and backup linemen Ted Karras, Jermaine Eluemunor, and James Ferentz are set to hit the open market.
Thuney will be expensive to retain. Brady, even on a hometown discount, won’t exactly be cheap either. And that’s OK! New England is still set to have approximately $42 million in spending room next spring. That’s money the club could use to target free agents-to-be like Geronimo Allison, Nelson Agholor, Eric Ebron, Tyler Eifert, or whichever other distressed asset Belichick can pick up at a low cost and turn into a key player for his future offense. Add in a draft slot that’ll be the highest the team’s had since 2009, and there’s reason to believe there will be some new contributors available to help Brady defy time once more.
Brady’s return can keep some needed stability in New England
Brady’s final numbers in the Wild Card Round loss — 20 of 37, 209 yards, one interception — don’t tell the full story of his performance. While he was beleaguered by drops, penalties (including one that wiped out a 38-yard pass to Watson), and broken-off routes, his showing against the Titans was one of his season’s best in terms of pure throws. The 42-year-old was crisp when it came to finding targets and taking risks downfield, avoiding turnovers (until the very last play of the game), and scooting out of pressure situations to deny the Titans a sack.
Here’s an absolute laser on third down that illustrates what Brady’s still capable of in a high-pressure situation.
He also had the game taken out of his hands in the red zone. New England’s two trips inside the Tennessee 10-yard line saw Brady throw only one pass: a screen to Sony Michel five yards from the goal line. This lack of aggression came back to sting the Patriots in a major way, most notably when the Titans were able to hold New England to a field goal attempt after facing first-and-goal from the 1-yard line late in the second quarter.
Not scoring a touchdown was enormously important in a game where Tennessee’s 14-13 lead loomed large in the waning moments.
The Patriots may head into 2020 without the man behind those decisions. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has emerged as a prime target for coaching vacancies in New York, Cleveland, and Carolina. Replacing him is a much easier task with Brady acting out the new OC’s playcalls than it would be with a veteran free agent signee, 2020 draftee, or current backup Jarrett Stidham. Next season wouldn’t just be one last ride for Brady — it could also serve as an important bridge between generations of the Patriots’ offense.
Tom Brady isn’t going to be defined by a playoff loss against the Titans. At this point, he may not even be defined by a seventh Super Bowl ring. He is who he is; the most successful quarterback to ever play the game.
Brady is a competitor. Going out on in the first weekend of the playoffs may prove too much to bear, especially on a night when he seemed to exorcise the bad-idea demons that had haunted him over the latter half of the regular season.
If he wants to run it back for 2020, the Patriots will be ready for him.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNibmF0aW9uLmNvbS9uZmwvMjAyMC8xLzUvMjEwNTAwODAvcGF0cmlvdHMtdG9tLWJyYWR5LWZ1dHVyZS1uZmwtcGxheW9mZnMtbG9zcy10aXRhbnMtMjAyMNIBc2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNibmF0aW9uLmNvbS9wbGF0Zm9ybS9hbXAvbmZsLzIwMjAvMS81LzIxMDUwMDgwL3BhdHJpb3RzLXRvbS1icmFkeS1mdXR1cmUtbmZsLXBsYXlvZmZzLWxvc3MtdGl0YW5zLTIwMjA?oc=5
2020-01-05 13:00:00Z
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