Tom Brady: 10 Reasons His Patriots Are Better Than the 2007 Pats
Another week, another amazing performance.
The New England Patriots defeated the Chicago Bears 36-7, and now stand at 11-2 on the season. No one will argue they are the team to beat in the NFL, and a favorite to reach the Super Bowl in Dallas. Players aren't getting carried away, though. They clinched a playoff spot Sunday, but their reaction was more so what, than look-at-us.
"It doesn't mean much," wide receiver Wes Welker said. "We're still just playing football, and that's what it's all about. We're enjoying showing up to work and working hard and practicing hard and getting ready for the next game."
Welker was on the Patriots' 2007 team that finished the regular season 16-0 and remained undefeated until losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in what many will say is the greatest Super Bowl ever. Can this year's team compare? Are they better?
Statistically, it's ridiculous to even argue the point. This year's team has now scored over 30 points for five straight games, and eight times overall. The 2007 team? It began the year with eight straight games of 30 or more points. Tom Brady also threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes in 2007, and the offense averaged nearly 37 points per game.
There's more to the discussion besides numbers, however. Here are 10 reasons why this year's Patriots are better than the 2007 team:
10. They Came Up Short
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Statistically, the 2007 team is the standard, but what was the final result? They came up short. That team not only dealt with pressure from the season, but also from leaving its mark as one of the greatest teams in NFL history. If they would have defeated the Giants, that would have happened.
This team still has a shot to do what that one couldn't, and quarterback Tom Brady continues to keep his team focused.
"This was another important game in what we're trying to accomplish to become a division champ. But we haven't done anything," he said on his weekly radio show following Sunday's victory. "We really haven't. I know everyone gets carried away at times, but it's our jobs as players not to ride the roller coaster, the emotions of a long season. It's our job to show up every day, to work, to practice and to prepare to play a good game every weekend. This team, for a young team, has been pretty focused and mature in doing that.''
9. Belichick's Role
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Coach Bill Belichick has had a huge influence on this year's team, from the moves he made in the draft to the job he's done with a young defense that's shown steady improvement as the season's evolved. He's also led this team to wins over opponents who, on paper, appeared way more talented than New England.
8. Big Wins
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This year's Patriots already have big wins over Baltimore (23-20), Pittsburgh (39-26), the New York Jets (45-3) and Chicago Bears (36-7).
Stop and think about that. All of them have great defenses. Those final three teams? New England went out and dropped 120 points on them.
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7. More Balance
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Tom Brady pointed out the 2007 team relied more heavily on its spread offense, but said this year's group is much more balanced. The numbers back him: In 2007, New England finished with 4,731 yards passing and 1,849 rushing. This year, the team is averaging 250.7 yards passing and 112.5 yards rushing per game.
"We're running the ball very well, our play-action passes has been very good, our drop-back passes; it's been OK," he said on his weekly radio show.
"There's different ways to get the job done out there and I think this year we've found some different ways using the skill set of the guys we have our team. That was a very prolific team in '07, different work habits, different personality.
"I'd say that there's a lot of really great guys on our team and that's what makes it enjoyable, the effort and toughness that the guys are showing every week. It's a younger team and we practice quite a bit more than we did in '07 and the practices are longer and we're going over situational stuff every week, the way we watch film is different as a team, there's just some things we're doing different."
6. A Bunch of Guys
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The 2007 Patriots defense was loaded with talented players like Richard Seymour, Adalius Thomas, Tedy Bruschi, Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs and Rodney Harrison. Vince Wilfork was the youngster of the bunch. Now, he's a leader on a group that is much younger and is showing much more improvement as the season's evolved.
"Our defense is making some great plays on the ball, we're intercepting passes and we got to be up there somewhere in turnover margin in the league," Brady said. "We've been good on offense, and we've been taking care of the ball, we got lucky yesterday and we've been getting lucky quite a bit the last seven or eight weeks with some tipped balls and some balls they got their hands on. That's what really skews the game is those turnovers, because they're not getting points and we're converting those into points and it doesn't end up being very close."
5. Keep It In Context
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When you talk about the 2007 team, you have to remember they won three games during the regular season by four points or less, including a thrilling 38-35 victory over the Giants in Week 17. This year's Patriots faced a Cleveland Browns team led by a rookie quarterback, and lost 34-14.
New England wasn't picture perfect from the beginning, and its defense has ranked near the bottom of the league, but the Pats are gaining confidence when it matters most.
4. Not Complacent
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Go back to the first point, and remember: As good as the 2007 team was, it still didn't bring home the hardware. This year's team refuses to believe the hype, and players are still pushing each other on a weekly basis. No one remembers what you did in December.
“I’ve seen this in spurts with other teams I’ve been on,” kicker Shayne Graham told Yahoo Sports. “I have never been on a team where it happens for 60 minutes every game with everyone holding everyone else accountable.”
3. Look at the Numbers
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For those who want to get worked up and point to the stats, let's consider two points from Boston Globe writers Gerry Callahan and Dan Shaughnessy.
Since losing to Cleveland, Callahan noted New England is averaging 425 yards of total offense. In 2007, the Patriots averaged 411. They also haven't turned the ball over since a Brian Hoyer interception against Cleveland. In 2007, Callahan also points out during a four-game stretch that the team turned the ball over six times.
The 2007 Patriots offense may seem like one of the greatest ever, but credit Shaughnessy for this brilliant stat: From the middle of the third quarter against Detroit, into the early third quarter Sunday against Chicago, New England out-scored three opponents, 109-3.
2. Tom Brady
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Once again, you'd be foolish to say Brady's having a better season when you just compare statistics. In 2007, he threw for 4,806 yards, with 50 touchdowns and had a quarterback rating of 117.2. This year, he's already passed for 3,398 yards and 29 touchdowns, and has a rating of 109.9.
Consider, however, that Brady hasn't thrown an interception since Week 6, has only four on the season (half of what he had in 2007) and has four 300-yard games in his last five outings.
"I think the thing is that we all just need to continue to work, and I think Tom just needs to continue to do that each and every day from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday," said wide receiver Deion Branch, also a member of the 2007 team.
"This guy—it starts in the classroom—and then he takes it to the football field."
1. The Scary Part
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CBS analyst and former quarterback Phil Simms noticed something about the Patriots during Sunday's game against Chicago, which he pointed out to the Boston Globe.
"This team is getting better," he said.
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