Tom Brady: 6 Reasons to Be Concerned About New England Patriots QB in 2012

The New England Patriots seem to be back on pace for a high playoff seeding.

The Bills and Jets, who both looked impressive early on, have fallen off a bit, and the Patriots will lock up the AFC East soon enough.

Still, the Patriots obviously have some problems they need to fix. However, they may have a bigger problem next year in quarterback Tom Brady.

Yes, he's still great this season, but he's showing some signs the Patriots should be concerned for next season.

1. His Age

Tom Brady isn't exactly a geezer a 34, but he's no spring chicken either and will be 35 years old next year.

For the record, the average player lasts about four years in the NFL; 2012 will be Brady's 12th year.

Keep in mind that Brady is only one year younger than Peyton Manning, and Manning's career might very well be over.

Being one year older makes every sack that much more dangerous, it makes throwing the ball 40 times a game that much tougher, and it makes keeping up with younger guys in practice that much harder too.

Brady isn't showing his age just yet, but he's probably not too far from it.

Speaking of sacks...

2. Sacks

Brady is on pace to get sacked 30 times this season; he hasn't been hit that many times since 2003.

Worse yet, the Patriots are in the process of replacing their offensive linemen. Next year, Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon will likely be the bookend tackles for Brady. Both will be in their sophomore seasons, and may give up a couple of more sacks.

Like I said, at Brady's age, sacks are a big deal. Brady has already sustained a season-ending injury once. If he keeps taking so many sacks, he might take another one.

All it takes is an unfortunate injury at just the wrong time to keep a team from the postseason—just look at the Bears right now.

3. Ryan Mallett

What hurt Ryan Mallett's draft stock in between the end of the college season and the draft was the rumors of drug use.

Those rumors seem to have ceased, and if it turns out that they weren't true, the Patriots got a steal on a good quarterback prospect.

Of course, we likely won't get to see Mallett in action until the end of the season, when teams already clinched for the playoffs begin to give their backups playing time. When we do see Mallett though, we'll get a glimpse at what Brady is up against.

Bill Belichick has no qualms putting in the younger guy if he outplays the veteran—that's how Brady got his job, after all. If Brady slips up next year and Mallett looks good, we have a pretty good idea of what Belichick will do.

4. Interceptions

Brady is on pace to throw a career-high 15 interceptions this season.

One of the first things that coincided with the beginning of Peyton Manning's decline was the increase in interceptions. Also, they came in clusters.

In four of the five games where Brady has thrown 40-plus passes, he's thrown at least one interception. In all other games combined, he's thrown one.

What that tells me is that Brady's arm gets tired with a heavy workload, affecting his accuracy as well. This is especially disconcerting since he's throwing a lot of those passes to tight ends at midfield.

I see that and begin to think Brady has started his decline. Once a quarterback starts to decline, it isn't pretty, just look at Peyton Manning. Manning was MVP in 2009, but in 2011, he might be forced to retire.

5. The 3-4 Defense

More and more teams are switching to the 3-4. Why is that?

Well, the 3-4 is designed to defend the pass first. Instead of two defensive tackles and two ends on the line, there is one nose tackle and two large defensive ends. Then, instead of three linebackers, there are four—two inside and two rush linebackers.

A rush linebacker's entire job is to rush the quarterback, hence the name. This is a problem for quarterbacks.

More pass-rushing means less time to throw and more sacks. Neither of those things are good for 35-year-old quarterbacks.

Also, in case you didn't know, the 2012 draft class features a ton of talented pass-rushers, so it's only going to get harder for quarterbacks next year.

6. His Defense

This will be Tom Brady's biggest problem next season.

Have you heard the saying that the best weapon you can give a quarterback is a great defense? Well it's true.

When a defense can't hold up, the quarterback has to do more, and like I said a few slides ago, when Tom Brady is asked to do a lot, he makes mistakes.

The Patriots are still weak at cornerback, they need a new free safety, a new defensive tackle/3-4 end, and some better pass-rushers. That's a lot of needs and they can't possibly address all of them in this draft.

Even if they do, they still have a need at wide receiver. So Tom Brady will either be asked to throw a lot more to keep up with opponents, or he'll continue having to play with no legitimate downfield threats.

Neither situation is favorable for Brady. He'll still be a great quarterback in 2012, but he'll struggle, and he may never claim that "elite" tag again.