As great as Tom Brady has been throughout his career, he’s had one weakness that was exposed in the playoffs. The Super Bowl loss to the Giants, coupled with playoff losses to the Ravens and Jets, showed us that Tom struggles against pressure. That’s not the case this season.
According to ESPN’s Stats, “Brady has the highest completion percentages (67.1), yards (1,582) and passer rating (135.6) of any NFL quarterback when teams bring five or more rushers. Brady also is tied with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the most touchdown passes (16) this season against the blitz.”
Brady is smart and prepares well for games, so that helps him recognize blitzes. He also has tight ends like Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, along with receiver Wes Welker, who are great weapons for short read routes on blitzes. The numbers are encouraging for Pats fans, but all it takes is one bad matchup in the playoffs and they could be bounced early like they have been the past two seasons. They’ve looked really good this year, but I think they would struggle against the Ravens or Steelers if they faced either team in the playoffs.
