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Why would you still do this? Why would anyone still do this?
Nickell Robey-Coleman, self-named Slotgod most famous for being the villain of the Rams versus Saints game decided to talk about Tom Brady in an interview for Bleacher Report.
Here’s what he had to say: “Yes. Yes. Age has definitely taken a toll. For him to still be doing it, that’s a great compliment for him. But I think that he’s definitely not the same quarterback he was. Movement. Speed. Velocity. Arm strength. He still can sling it, but he’s not slinging it as much. Whatever he was doing – because of his age and all that – he’s not doing as much of that any more. He’s still doing the same things; he’s just not doing as much of it. And sometimes, it’s not the sharpest. But it still gets done.”
That doesn’t seem too bad, but it does rather enforce the idea that Brady is losing his edge, and, well, it simply isn’t wholly true, and even if it were, do you really want to give the guy an extra reason to target your secondary? Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib are top class corners, but so were A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey last year before Brady decided to turn on his ever-present 4th quarter powers and blow them way. Ramsey wrote the Patriots off, saying the Jags would be in the Super Bowl. Definitely.
Brady had other ideas, and that secondary definitely felt the backlash. The Patriots’ Brandin Cooks, Danny Amendola, and Chris Hogan – the guys shadowed by that secondary – finished with a combined 15 receptions on 21 targets, 204 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He also drew both Bouye and Ramsey in to 35-yard pass interference penalties. His passer rating when targeting those players was 133.8. Remember, on top of that, Gronkowski missed a massive portion of that game meaning Brady had to play in to the Jags’ strengths, but they still failed to stop him.
You’ll also remember Brady and Richard Sherman‘s very public trash-talking, and with that, Brady torched the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom in the 4th quarter of a Super Bowl ending the game with 328 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Don’t talk about Tom Brady. This guy really doesn’t need any further motivation.
In truth, Robey-Coleman has a point; Brady hasn’t looked perfect all season. He has had bad games, and he has made some errant throws, but he still went toe-to-toe with Golden Boy Patrick Mahomes twice this season, coming out on top both times, and he was on fire against the Chargers.
It’s not a completely disagreeable take on Brady, just mostly, but if you think Brady isn’t going to take that and use it to fuel another Super Bowl performance, you haven’t been listening over the years, and so far in the playoffs TB12 is firing on all cylinders. It’s also worth mentioning that Brady’s two favourite targets are active in the slot – Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, so Nickell had better prepare for a busy night. On top of that, Brady knows Robey-Coleman from taking apart Buffalo repeatedly over the years.
Robey-Coleman has since stated that his words “were taken out of context”, but they were his words and Brady will take them as criticism regardless of how you meant them. Cooks and Aqib Talib were a lot more reserved about Brady, maybe being respectful as friends and former teammates, but as they know him, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re decidedly trying to not antagonise him. They know how Brady works; they’ve seen it first-hand. Maybe one of them took Robey-Coleman aside afterwards and had a word.
Myles Jack summed up Tom Brady in these situation by saying, simply; “Brady gonna Brady. We got Brady’d.”
Nickell Robey-Coleman, don’t get Tom Brady’d.
