In a 34-27 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday, Tom Brady and Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien had a heated verbal exchange on the sidelines following a Brady interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter. The two had to be separated, and coach Bill Belichick had to intervene as O'Brien continued to yell in Brady's direction long after the fact.
 |
| Photo from: espn.go.com |
After the game, like any other true leader would do, Brady assumed full responsibility for the altercation:
"I threw a pretty bad interception, so he (O'Brien) wasn't happy about it," Brady said. "There was probably a long line of coaches and players that were pretty upset with me after that, but Billy got to me first. He let me have it, and I totally deserved it."
Now, I wasn't even going to bother covering this, because let's face it, players and coaches get into spats on the sidelines all the time. However, after having discussed the topic with a half-dozen people, all of who thought Brady was the one at fault, I decided to go public with my two cents on the matter.
First off, the altercation should have never taken place, because the interception should have never even happened, and wouldn't have happened, if Tiquan Underwood had any idea of how to properly run a route.
On the replay, he clearly continues to drift deeper into the end zone as the ball is in the air, instead of attacking the ball and catching it. Which hey, that's nothing new, because every time Tom Brady has thrown this utter waste of space the ball this season, he's acted like it was a grenade instead of a football. He's as useless as a screen door on a submarine. Even on the sidelines after the play, you can see Brady tell Underwood, "Ti, you gotta go get it!"
 |
| Photo by: Patrick McDermott |
Quite frankly, Bill O'Brien needs to recognize who it is he's calling out on the sidelines, in plain view of everyone watching. It's not Brian Hoyer or Ryan Mallett, it's Tom Brady. You know, the guy that's won three Super Bowls, two league MVP awards, and is the greatest signal caller of this generation, if not all-time.
Not to mention the fact that he's the guy who week-in and week-out this organization asks to put up 30-40 points a game because the defense is so awful that they couldn't prevent a middle school team from scoring 20+ points and racking up over 350 yards of total offense. They're complete garbage, and have been for over three years now. To top it all off, they're actually getting worse, not better.
Basically, New England's game plan every week is: Tom, go get us 5-6 touchdowns, and hopefully it'll stick. Even more ridiculous than that is, in most cases, Brady does it. And I don't want to hear about how great the guys he has to work with on the offensive side of the ball are either, because with the exception of Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski, there's not another every-down skill position player on the team that's actually worth a flip.
Each game, Brady's expected to turn water into wine with a vast collection of stiffs, and nine times out of ten, he does just that, so heaven forbid the defense actually have to make a play on Sunday and bail him out for once. Don't get used to it though Patriot fans, I'm sure you won't see it happen again before the year 2014.
 |
| Photo by: Scott Cunningham |
See, he's this ragtag groups only shot at winning the Super Bowl. He's also the reason you have such an easy job in the first place, seeing as how a trained monkey could stand on the sidelines holding a clipboard and be called the offensive coordinator if said animal had a player of Brady's caliber running the offense. Simply put, it's probably in your best interest not to get on Tom's bad side.
After all, if one of you has to go, who do you really think it's going to be genius? The future first-ballot Hall of Fame franchise quarterback, or the mediocre dime-a-dozen coordinator?
Hmm, real tough call.
I agree. Regardless of where the ball was thrown, Underwood HAS to prevent it from being intercepted if nothing else. O'Brien was way out of line for what he did on the sidelines.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. More 'Brady can do no wrong' crap. You've seriously got a warped perspective on every and any thing Tom Brady.
ReplyDeleteYou could tell by the way the New England players reacted on the sidelines during the argument that they were siding with Brady and thought O'Brien was in the wrong. The whole thing was completely uncalled for on his part, especially since I also believe that Underwood was way more at fault than Brady was. With the tight ship Belichick runs, I wouldn't be surprised if it costs O'Brien his job come seasons end. Albert Haynesworth was released after having words with a coach, and he was the one that started that argument, same as O'Brien started this one.
ReplyDeleteWe should have just held on to Brandon Tate. Atleast he would occasionally hold on to a ball. Underwood couldn't catch a cold if his life depended on it. How does this guy even have a job? Exactly what purpose does he serve? Awful awful awful.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with all of you? Is it that hard to just admit that Brady messed up? He made a bad decision and threw a bad ball. It happens. Yes, even to Mr. Wonderful Tom Brady. He deserved to get chewed out. Stop trying to pin his screw up on Underwood, because the ball never should have beeen thrown in his direction to begin with!!!
ReplyDeleteAs a Patriots fan, I was glad to see some fire and passion from Tom and Bill O'Brien. I think we need to be tougher. The Ravens and Jets are way more fiery than us, so I think it was a good thing. During the 07 undefeated season, Tom yelled at a lot of people, like Ryan Clark on the Steelers. I think Tebow is going to get owned next week because the Pats are going to be pissed that yesterday was even a game. We should have been up by at least 14 points at the end of that game. It's about time New England doesn't toe the company line. Like last year I loved when Wes Welker made the feet comments about Rex Ryan. I've heard we were good in all three phases and we play one game at a time, too many times.
ReplyDeleteAlso guys just out of curiosity. Why can't Chad OchoCinco run a fly route? Have his skills diminished that much, that he can't be used for deep bombs? I mean I can't remember one play this year, where Tom has thrown a 40 plus yard pass.
ReplyDeleteDude, you have to admit even Tom Brady makes mistakes. This was one of them. Sure Underwood ran a bad route, but when was Brady forced to throw the ball there? Can he not throw it 8 rows into the stands and take the field goal?
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that Brady is a great player, and maybe the expectations are too much to ask one player to perform, but given those expectations you mentioned, he's bound to make a mistake. And you have to be ok with admitting he made it.
Also, why wouldn't a coach be allowed to confront a player on any given play? Just because he's Tom Brady who has Super Bowl rings means he can't be held accountable for a bad throw? I don't get it.
It's just like I put on Twitter yesterday: Terrell Owens got criticized for getting into it on the sidelines with a coach but Tom Brady is hailed as a hero for doing the same thing.
Tom Brady is generally a really good looking dude, but when he is upset, he is just plain nasty.
ReplyDeleteDoes he know that he's on camera the entire game?
I don't think Brady is above being called out when he makes a mistake, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about doing it. For O'Brien to start stand there screaming like he's yelling at some junior in college is just entirely too juvenile. Brady is a perfectionist. Like he DOESN'T KNOW that he screwed up? He doesn't need some second-rate OC in his ear afterwards carrying on like he's coaching the Rose Bowl.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about it, the more saddened I am by the fact that players are valued higher than their superiors. No wonder it's hard for kids to listen to coaches/teachers - we don't expect our role models to do it, why should our kids?
ReplyDeleteThe problem I had with it was, Brady and Underwood were working it out between themselves. I don't see why O'Brien thought he needed to get involved in the conversation really. Did he think he needed to light a fire under Brady or something? Because I don't think that's something that ever has to be done. He's one of the biggest competitors in the history of the sport.
ReplyDeleteTodd - I never said Brady never makes mistakes. His made plenty of them in his day. As one of his biggest supporters, I also see myself as one of his harshest critics.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I don't think the play yesterday was a mistake. He had an open receiver, but the receiver took HIMSELF out of the play.
Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with a coach giving a player some constructive criticism, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about doing it. When players are repeatedly having to pull you back because you want to CONTINUE to go back and yell at a guy, that's just a tad bit much in my estimation.
And as far as your T.O. comparison goes, that's like comparing apples to oranges. Owen's was always the aggressor in those cases. Brady was sitting on the bench having a conversation with a receiver when O'Brien decided to get involved. HUGE difference.
Kyle M. - I honestly don't think Ochocinco's skills have diminished to that point, I just think he's too incompetent to learn the damn playbook.
Brian Myers - Agreed.
Anonymous - Hey, thanks for the complement buddy. I appreciate it.
I knew you'd do a post on this and I also knew you'd blame everyone BUT Brady. You call yourself one of Brady's harshest critics? Please! You've never ONCE said anything on here even in the ballpark of critical when it comes to Brady. NEVER. He's thrown 114 career interceptions and I'm sure in your opinion none of them were his fault. Unreal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kris. I don't think Brady is the one that messed the play up. Underwood ran himself out of the play. Still, Brady & O'Brien both should have handled the situation better once they were on the sidelines.
ReplyDeleteGreat post on the Shield protecting Tom Brady and the penalty that was assessed to the Redskins yesterday - http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/So-about-Tom-Brady-being-coddled-by-officials-?urn=nfl-wp13628
ReplyDeleteEntirely too much Brady ass kissing takes place on this blog. It's sickening.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the Anonymous comment. Hey I like Brady and all, but I don't see how you can think he's not at fault on that interception. The throw sucked. And the only thing wrong with what happened on the sidelines was that is wasn't Belichick chewing him out.
ReplyDeleteLet me start by correcting the grammatical error I made in my first comment, because that gets on my nerves - I said, "His made plenty," which of course should have been "He's made plenty."
ReplyDeleteNow, Adam B. - You have no clue what you're talking about, as usual. At least you're consistent though, so you've got that going for ya. People that ACTUALLY KNOW ME, know that I bash Brady when he deserves it. Now, do I get on here and regularly bash him? Of course not. He's my favorite player. But I'm no more of a "homer" than the next guy. Todd is just as passionate about the St. Louis Cardinals, as is Brian with the Chicago Bears, as is Troy with the Philadelphia Eagles, and as is Adam with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But here, I'll say it. Brady makes mistakes. There. Happy now? Of course, the interception yesterday wasn't his fault, but still...
Todd - Yeah yeah yeah. It was a bad call against London Fletcher, but at this point, these defensive players should know they're going to get flagged for hitting the big name QBs if it's even in the ballpark of borderline, so they just need to stop doing it.
Anonymous - For starters, never call this a "blog." I hate that word. Sounds like something one does on a toilet. I refer to us as a sports entertainment website. Secondly, if you don't like all the "Brady ass kissing" that takes place here, don't come back. There, problem solved.
Josh - You sir, are most definitely entitled to your opinion. Of course, you're wrong, but hey, nobody's perfect.
Well its not like I expected you to actually admit Brady messed up and mean it. You'll never do that. All you do is kiss his ass. I'm surprised you're not on his payroll by now.
ReplyDeleteKris- Yeah but is he incompetent enough to not have a play where we just chuck it to him deep like they did with Randy Moss? I think that's why they got beat by the steelers so easily, because there was no deep threat, so they just bumped welker off his routes.
ReplyDeleteGuys what's your prediction for next week's game against the Broncos. I honestly cant see it being close. I'm definitely not taking Denver and the points.
With the way thngs have been going in Denver over the last 2 months, iy's hard to see the game NOT being close Kyle. I think New England will win, but Denver's D and Tebow will keep it close.
ReplyDeleteAs bad as our defense it, I wouldn't be shocked if Denver, or anyone else for that matter, beats us. The Broncos are tough at home.
ReplyDeleteKyle M. - You would think Ochocinco would be capable of running a simple go-route, but apparently not, seeing as how I only remember him running ONE all season. It was in the Buffalo game, and shockingly enough, he dropped the damn ball.
ReplyDeleteAs far as this weeks game goes, to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised to see Denver win it. The Patriots D has been awful all year, and if the Broncos D manages to keep the game close, Tebow magic will probably kick in at the end (yet again). It's just hard for me to have faith in New England - even WITH Tom Brady - when their defense is just SO BAD. Hopefully, I'm wrong though.
New Englands going to get Tebowed this weekend dog! Bet.
ReplyDelete