Originally Posted By: deven
I have to disagree with you on protection for Bledsoe. He would literally need at least 7-10 seconds of protection to get the ball out and he wasn't the best at deciphering the defense.
I remember the game against the Jets when he got hurt. Tom Brady came in and on the first drive took them down the field for a TD. Bledsoe in the 1 and 1/2 quarters he played he could not get anything going against that defense. To me he was mediocre at best and that's why even after getting traded he couldn't hack it too much in the NFL.
I am a fan of Pete Carroll and on the contrary Bledsoe and the Patriots did better under him(9-7, 8-8)than Bill Belichick. I believe Bledsoe and BB first year together they were 5-11 or something like that.
No QB needs 7-10 seconds to throw the ball. Not even Bledsoe who did his best on 5 step drops to give WR's time to get down the field and open. 3-5 seconds is much more accurate on the time he needed. 7-10 seconds is longer than needed for hail mary throws. Bledsoe would get the ball handed to him and before he could drop back 2-3 steps was getting hammered by blitzes up the middle. No QB, and that includes Brady( who is very quick to get rid of the ball ), can survive under that. In games Brady does poorly and struggles it is for the exact reasons Bledsoe did = he is getting hammered almost as soon as he gets the ball. That gives any QB happy feet including Brady.
And before you say Bledsoe hung onto the ball too long you have to remember most routes for him were 10-20 yds or more down field not 5-10 like Brady's. He had to hold the ball long enough to let the WR get open and that takes longer when the routes are deeper. Yes, he should have thrown the ball away more than he did but he had such a good arm he always felt if he could just wait a fraction longer he could make a big play - and he did A LOT!
Bledsoe was not great at the quick little short throw West Coast style offenses. He was a down the field guy. If you asked him to make those short quick throws he wasn't as good at it. If you let him look down the field and make the longer throws he excelled( given the time to do so ). It isn't that he could read defenses he just had a style he was better at. Brady excels at that quick short throw and Bledsoe excelled at the medium to deep throws. Both can read a defense. Brady has a quicker reaction time.
In the Jets game where Bledsoe was hurt Brady did not come in and take them right down the field for a TD. He didn't throw a TD in the game at all. Also, there was less than 5 minutes left in the game when Lewis took Bledsoe out and then Drew came back and played after that hit as well. Brady only played a couple minutes at the very end and there was no TD. As far as him not getting anything going in the game as I recall Edwards fumbled a couple times at crucial times killing scoring drives. I know Bledsoe had an INT in the end zone too which didn't help but it wasn't all him. The Jets didn't exactly light it up that game either as I recall. Low scoring D battle.
You need to go back and refresh your memory on what really happened. What you posted sounds more like Bledsoe coming into the AFC Championship game half way through when Brady got hurt and taking the team right down the field for a TD to David Patton. Your Jets game recollections are not accurate.
Couldn't hack it in the NFL after being traded huh? Hmm, I seem to recall something like 4400yds and 26 or 27 TD's, a higher passer rating than Brady, a ProBowl berth, and quite a few other significant things his 1st year in Buffalo. If Buffalo had even a halfway decent defense in 2002 the Bills would have easily been in the playoffs and made some noise. No matter how many points the offense put up that defense gave the game away far too often. If not for Bledsoe and how well he played they wouldn't have even made 8-8 with that god awful D. The next 2 years in Buffalo they took away his offensive weapons and wrecked the o-line. The defense got better but the offense crashed. His 1st year in Dallas he again put up good numbers ( 3700 yds, 24'ish TD's )and had that team on the cusp of the playoffs as well. An average defense and a string of horrible kickers turned a 12-4 team into a 9-7 team.
Bledsoe was never the problem when the team played to his strengths. When it didn't the team did not do well nor did he. If you want to say Brady is better at getting through with what he has that is fine and probably true. However, it is easier to do that when your game is the short passes and letting the receivers do all the work than it is when your game is to throw the medium to deep stuff and you need good WR's who can get open. Bledsoe played in the wrong era really. He would have done much better if he had been in the league 10-20 years prior when longer passing was the key.
I never said that the Patriots did better under BB than PC. I said Pete Carrol and Bobby Grier ruined the team and they did. Their drafting and player moves were awful and Pete Carrol was not a good coach here( he became one at USC and is for the Seahawks but here he was average at best - better than he was with the Jets but he took a SB team and ran it into the ground ). Those 2 ruined the team Parcells had built which could have been a dynasty powerhouse. Instead, it suffered a slow and agonizing death under those 2 with their poor decisions. 10-6 year one, 9-7 year 2, and 8-8 year 3. Yes, the team was 5-11 under Bellichik in his 1st year(2000 ). He came into a bad team thanks to PC and BG, his own draft that year sucked other than Brady( and anyone who is honest will admit it is luck that a 6th rounder turned into what he did ), and he did not try and build the team or game plan around Bledsoe's strengths. He tried to force Bledsoe to play a style he wasn't good at which is a coaching mistake.
Bledsoe is far from the greatest ever but he was a lot better than most Patriot fans will give him credit for.
I have to disagree with you on protection for Bledsoe. He would literally need at least 7-10 seconds of protection to get the ball out and he wasn't the best at deciphering the defense.
I remember the game against the Jets when he got hurt. Tom Brady came in and on the first drive took them down the field for a TD. Bledsoe in the 1 and 1/2 quarters he played he could not get anything going against that defense. To me he was mediocre at best and that's why even after getting traded he couldn't hack it too much in the NFL.
I am a fan of Pete Carroll and on the contrary Bledsoe and the Patriots did better under him(9-7, 8-8)than Bill Belichick. I believe Bledsoe and BB first year together they were 5-11 or something like that.
No QB needs 7-10 seconds to throw the ball. Not even Bledsoe who did his best on 5 step drops to give WR's time to get down the field and open. 3-5 seconds is much more accurate on the time he needed. 7-10 seconds is longer than needed for hail mary throws. Bledsoe would get the ball handed to him and before he could drop back 2-3 steps was getting hammered by blitzes up the middle. No QB, and that includes Brady( who is very quick to get rid of the ball ), can survive under that. In games Brady does poorly and struggles it is for the exact reasons Bledsoe did = he is getting hammered almost as soon as he gets the ball. That gives any QB happy feet including Brady.
And before you say Bledsoe hung onto the ball too long you have to remember most routes for him were 10-20 yds or more down field not 5-10 like Brady's. He had to hold the ball long enough to let the WR get open and that takes longer when the routes are deeper. Yes, he should have thrown the ball away more than he did but he had such a good arm he always felt if he could just wait a fraction longer he could make a big play - and he did A LOT!
Bledsoe was not great at the quick little short throw West Coast style offenses. He was a down the field guy. If you asked him to make those short quick throws he wasn't as good at it. If you let him look down the field and make the longer throws he excelled( given the time to do so ). It isn't that he could read defenses he just had a style he was better at. Brady excels at that quick short throw and Bledsoe excelled at the medium to deep throws. Both can read a defense. Brady has a quicker reaction time.
In the Jets game where Bledsoe was hurt Brady did not come in and take them right down the field for a TD. He didn't throw a TD in the game at all. Also, there was less than 5 minutes left in the game when Lewis took Bledsoe out and then Drew came back and played after that hit as well. Brady only played a couple minutes at the very end and there was no TD. As far as him not getting anything going in the game as I recall Edwards fumbled a couple times at crucial times killing scoring drives. I know Bledsoe had an INT in the end zone too which didn't help but it wasn't all him. The Jets didn't exactly light it up that game either as I recall. Low scoring D battle.
You need to go back and refresh your memory on what really happened. What you posted sounds more like Bledsoe coming into the AFC Championship game half way through when Brady got hurt and taking the team right down the field for a TD to David Patton. Your Jets game recollections are not accurate.
Couldn't hack it in the NFL after being traded huh? Hmm, I seem to recall something like 4400yds and 26 or 27 TD's, a higher passer rating than Brady, a ProBowl berth, and quite a few other significant things his 1st year in Buffalo. If Buffalo had even a halfway decent defense in 2002 the Bills would have easily been in the playoffs and made some noise. No matter how many points the offense put up that defense gave the game away far too often. If not for Bledsoe and how well he played they wouldn't have even made 8-8 with that god awful D. The next 2 years in Buffalo they took away his offensive weapons and wrecked the o-line. The defense got better but the offense crashed. His 1st year in Dallas he again put up good numbers ( 3700 yds, 24'ish TD's )and had that team on the cusp of the playoffs as well. An average defense and a string of horrible kickers turned a 12-4 team into a 9-7 team.
Bledsoe was never the problem when the team played to his strengths. When it didn't the team did not do well nor did he. If you want to say Brady is better at getting through with what he has that is fine and probably true. However, it is easier to do that when your game is the short passes and letting the receivers do all the work than it is when your game is to throw the medium to deep stuff and you need good WR's who can get open. Bledsoe played in the wrong era really. He would have done much better if he had been in the league 10-20 years prior when longer passing was the key.
I never said that the Patriots did better under BB than PC. I said Pete Carrol and Bobby Grier ruined the team and they did. Their drafting and player moves were awful and Pete Carrol was not a good coach here( he became one at USC and is for the Seahawks but here he was average at best - better than he was with the Jets but he took a SB team and ran it into the ground ). Those 2 ruined the team Parcells had built which could have been a dynasty powerhouse. Instead, it suffered a slow and agonizing death under those 2 with their poor decisions. 10-6 year one, 9-7 year 2, and 8-8 year 3. Yes, the team was 5-11 under Bellichik in his 1st year(2000 ). He came into a bad team thanks to PC and BG, his own draft that year sucked other than Brady( and anyone who is honest will admit it is luck that a 6th rounder turned into what he did ), and he did not try and build the team or game plan around Bledsoe's strengths. He tried to force Bledsoe to play a style he wasn't good at which is a coaching mistake.
Bledsoe is far from the greatest ever but he was a lot better than most Patriot fans will give him credit for.
