Tom Brady Deserves Much More Blame Than Media Is Willing to Pile on

New England quarterback Tom Brady may well be the "face" of the National Football League; a fantastic quarterback with millions of dollars, who has a supermodel wife (with a big mouth), endorsement deals and three Super Bowl rings that have made him a superhero in the Northeast.

However, as the fallout from the Patriots' Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants continues and fingers across Massachusetts are wagged at the likes of wide receiver Wes Welker, Bill Belichick and any number of other targets, one player has surprisingly more or less escaped the criticism.

The "Golden Boy" himself.

Brady's numbers on the day (27-of-41 for 276 yards and two touchdowns with one interception) aren't bad at all on their face, but there were, at the very least, three instances during the game where Brady made plays that helped the New York Giants a lot more than they did the Patriots.

The first occurred on New England's first drive of the game, when a pressured Brady heaved a ball downfield from inside his own end zone that was whistled for intentional grounding, giving the Giants their first two points of the game.

Intentional grounding is being called more often in the NFL these days (often after lengthy conversations amongst the officials), and Brady knows full well that you have to be outside the tackle pocket and throw the ball past the line of scrimmage. He was golden on the second one, but nowhere near close on the first, and the throw was ill-advised at best.

Brady's second gaffe came in the fourth quarter when, while once again under pressure, he threw a ball up for grabs deep downfield that was intended for tight end Rob Gronkowski but intercepted by linebacker Chase Blackburn.

If you know (which Brady did) just how badly Gronkowski's sprained ankle was hindering him, why in the world are you throwing him a jump ball—and on first down no less? If it were 3rd-and-long I'd understand, as you're effectively punting. But on first down, if the play isn't there, you get rid of the ball and try again on second down.

That's Quarterbacking 101.

The Golden Boy's last goof came on Wes Welker's infamous "drop"—the play that will haunt the talented wideout for weeks, mostly because the media won't let it alone for 10 seconds for the next month and a half.

Was it a catchable ball? Yeah.

Was it any sort of bull's-eye-right-in-the-numbers dart? Hardly, but no one seems inclined to mention that.

Tom Brady is, as I said earlier, a fantastic quarterback who will all but certainly one day be enshrined in Canton.

However, he isn't perfect and had far from his best game Sunday night. The fact of the matter is that Tom Brady has blame of his own to shoulder after the Patriots lost Super Bowl XLVI.

However, no one seems inclined to shovel any on to him.