Which Is It?
August 14th, 2013
So was Pats all-world quarterback Tom Brady sloppy against the Bucs or was he Hall of Fame worthy?
Ah, the tale of two cities. And how things can look so differently to disparate pairs of eyes used to a different prism.
Joe hunted for Bucs morsels last night when he came across a headline on NESN.com (for the uninitiated, that acronym stands for “New England Sports Network”) that wailed how the Patriots offense was sloppy and out of sync.
Then, there were the Twitter feeds of Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune and Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times, both in Foxborough for the joint Bucs-Pats practices. They both waxed poetic about the arm of Tom Brady .
Cummings, as Joe passed word, documented how Brady took Bucs rookie cornerback Johnthan Banks to NFL school. Holder professed that Brady was throwing laser after laser so often, that free agent wide receivers should pay Brady for the honor to line up with him.
Perhaps reality is somewhere in the middle?
Pats beat writers may be used to as close to perfection from a quarterback as a man can get. If Brady is just above average, he looks sloppy because the man sets such a high standard. Bucs beat writers, used to the ups and downs of Freeman, and eras of schlock before him, see a man in Brady who practiced consistently above average, and are wowed.
If one listens to the words of NESN Pats beat writers Doug Kyed and Luke Hughes, it seems the Bucs fared quite well for themselves yesterday against the Mighty Belicheats.
August 14th, 2013 at 9:33 am
I really like the idea of these joint practices, especially against elite quarterbacks, since you could argue we have 2, if not 3 right in our own division. It can only help our defense down the road. I hope Freeman is taking notes when Brady is on the field too…
August 14th, 2013 at 9:38 am
The local media are always more critical, and have much higher expectations, of their own team. They are always enamored by the other teams players. The “grass is always greener” syndrome. Plus the fact that NE has been a dynasty for so long.
Kraft has been known to spend the money, and field a good team, year in, and year out, for the last decade. But, I have a feeling a lot of that dynasty stuff, will come to an end with the new salary cap rules in the CBA. Teams are required to keep up on spending now, which will eventually balance out the talent pool, as far as money goes, on each team.
Still, the teams with the “elite” QBs will always have an advantage, but at least there won’t be a huge disparity on how much each team spends.
August 14th, 2013 at 9:38 am
These guys are in complete denial when it comes to Talib. They think he is this All-World CB and after he gets burned for 4 or 5 TD’s in their first couple games, they might change their tune. And by then, his hammies will kick into full breakdown mode for the next several games. Then when the playoffs are on the line, Talib will give up game winning TD’s to the other team and the Pats will be sunk. Aqib is about as disappointing of a player as it comes, and these clowns love him. One good play followed by 2 bad.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
@bigmacattack
You’re right they do think the world of Talib and he is definitely not the world. But if you can look past all of his dumbass mistakes, which most Buc fans can’t including myself, you can’t deny his talent. He’s well above average when not matched up against Hakeem Nicks. If he can stay on the field and play consistently dont be surprised if he makes the pro bowl. Especially with the hype and media attention New England receives. Talib never had this much press in Tampa, unless it was in the police beat 🙂
August 14th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Well, I would err on the side of trusting the Pats media, as the hardest thing I have found about trying to stay a bucs fan for the past 10 years I have been living in other places is how extremely terrible the local sports media is in Central Florida. It’s really pathetic compared to the rest of the country.
August 14th, 2013 at 1:21 pm
^^^^ Tom Jones for instance.
August 14th, 2013 at 3:36 pm
These two guys are trying to convince themselfs about how good are the Pats, but at the same time their words are saying , Uhhmm,, they sucked on this practice. LOL