Brady, Brady, Brady

Lol! What a beating!!

It’s the pre-lim deals he transacted with those acquisitions of veterans ...etc that allowed him to be the great that he is ...imho
 
Florida's kicking some major ass during these Covid times. Hockey did well too. I live in Bradenton/Sarasota, which is like 45 minutes south of Tampa. Love that I'm here!
 
There's something that happens with this level of player. Reminds me of the NHL during the heyday of Mario Lemieux, and to a lesser degree with Lindros and Gretzky, as well. (Yes, I believe Lemieux was the best ever, and I'm not a Penguins fan.)

Once Lemieux got the puck, this space opened up. You could see it. People wouldn't rush in to poke check or try to push him to the boards. They would back off, give him space, and basically watch him. He didn't go untouched entirely, the other team didn't quit. They abandoned active defense.

It was like he moved in a parallel universe with a different time scale. Every move was economical and intentional. Even his skating.
Everyone had to just do their best to react, they were leery of looking like fools; getting beat.
This gave him an added benefit on top of being insanely skilled that took him to another level.

I suppose something similar can happen in any sport, especially with a great hitter or pitcher in baseball, and definitely with a QB.
The defense gets mesmerized, and this thought process sinks in where you go to 100% react mode, and just try not to make pee-wee-level mistakes.
 
Brady's abilities on the field were only a small reason why the Bucs won. Most of it was behind the scenes. Brady instilled a new culture and acted as an asst. coach and GM. He single-handedly turned the franchise around because of his work ethic, knowledge and leadership abilities.

He was also extremely smart in choosing Tampa Bay. He saw the potential. The team had gobs of talent that just needed to be cultivated. Probably more raw talent than any other team except the Chiefs.

Some will say Belichick's legacy is now tarnished and that the Patriots uccess was not due to Bill's coaching abilities but due to having Brady. I disagree. I think Brady took Bill's philosophy, wrapped it up in a nice package and delivered it to Tampa. Bill taught Brady how to win and Brady brought that knowledge to the Bucs.
 
Something highly underestimated by many (especially in my workplace) is the value of leadership, and a cohesive, supportive TEAM.
Way more than the sum of it's parts.

Individual talent alone is great, but when it's bolstered by a system, and used in sympathy with other individual talents, you have something incredible.
 
(Yes, I believe Lemieux was the best ever, and I'm not a Penguins fan.)
:eek:

Aside from all the obvious records Gretzky, shattered and still holds (most will never be touched), the goals he scored and how scored them, his speed and agility, the number of cups they won during the Oiler's dynasty, the way he used the back of the net, like a QB in the pocket, to make his plays...I could go on.

The reason Lemieux appeared to be the better player was because of what he did when he had the puck, ie., the camera was on him. Yes, he could score, he could handle the puck, he was fast, etc., no doubt, an excellent player and one of the best of all time. However, to really appreciate how brilliant Gretzky was, you had to watch him when he didn't have the puck, which you couldn't do by watching him play on T.V. His anticipation of where the puck was going and where his teammates were and were going to be and where the other team was and what they were going to do, is unmatched by any other player in the league to ever play the game. Just look at the number of assists he has and how would feed the puck to Kurri, Messier, Coffee, Anderson, to name a few. Add to that, all the goals he scored each season and to me, that's the reason he is called the Great One!

As for Brady, that's just crazy...to be able to play that long, in such a tough sport, in such a vulnerable position...at his age, easily makes him the greatest QB to ever play the game...and there's been some amazing QB's before him.
 
Also seemingly overlooked, given that the Bucs pretty much dominated on both sides of the ball, a big key was when the Chiefs called timeouts to try to get the ball back before halftime. The Bucs ran on 1st down and looked like they would've been happy to run the clock out, but given the opportunity, they got a first down and took it down for the score. So instead of 14-6, it became 21-6 and the Bucs had even more momentum. Andy Reid is a great coach, but this one backfired...
 
Comparing Lemieux to Gretzky is nuts! Two very different players, Gretz was 6 feet @185lbs, Lemieux 6' 4" @ 235lbs.

Two different skill sets.

One was mostly healthy his whole carreer. The other had to fight cancer and needed someone to tie his skate laces because he could not bend that far due to back issues.
 
Brady's team was healthy. He played great and his whole team showed up as well. That D-line created a blood bath in the backfield. Mahomes had to scramble for 497 yards on pass plays.

Mahomes was without LT and it was obviously a problem. He had a few bad throws but in general he was playing great. That diving endzone throw that hit his guy in the face... cmon, catch that thing. His other throw to the opposite corner of the endzone while getting sacked was incredible too but it was well defended. That backup LT was letting people thru like an open door. Kelce was the only guy on the field with him for the whole game. Hill was too busy abusing women and children to get open.

Got no skin in the game as I'm not a bucs or chiefs fan, but once I heard Fisher was out, I put money on the bucs.
 
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