New England Patriots bye week: examining the quarterbacks

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Welcome to the first edition of Bye Week Boredom here at Musket Fire. To help pass the time until the New England Patriots play again in Week 5, we’re doing a daily breakdown of each position group. To get things started, we’re examining the quarterbacks.

Tom Brady

Brady has been the best quarterback in the NFL through the first three weeks of the 2015 regular season, and it’s not even close. Here’s his stat line thus far: 72.2 completion percentage, 1,112 yards, nine touchdowns and no picks.

Related: 10 things we liked about the Pats in Week 3

No other quarterback has even flirted with the 1,000-yard milestone, and only Aaron Rodgers has thrown more touchdowns (10). Rodgers and Eli Manning are the other quarterbacks who join Brady in the no-interception category heading into October. Somehow, Eli hasn’t thrown to the opposite team yet.

Yesterday, ESPN showered Brady with praise. Now that real football is being played, it’s clear that Brady simply is the best quarterback in the league who doesn’t wear green-and-gold (although he is arguably better—we’ll save that debate for another day).

As it stands right now, Brady is one of the frontrunners for MVP. I say “one of” because that conversation must also include Rodgers as well as Brady’s favorite chew toy, Rob Gronkowski.

I don’t know how many pairs of earplugs Brady purchased over the inflated offseason. I don’t know how many stress balls he squeezed while everybody was getting ready for Jimmy Garoppolo to take the reins in Week 1. But I do know that Brady is playing the best football of his life. It’s unfortunate that the Patriots drew this early bye week; I’m not the only Patriots fan eager to see him continue to tear-up the league.

Jimmy Garoppolo

A quick note on Garoppolo is necessary, as he was about to be the starting quarterback before common sense (a.k.a. a federal court) reigned supreme. I’m sure that Garoppolo is chomping at the bit for his starting debut after preparing for it all summer. Keep grinding, Jimmy, your time will come. Not for another three or four seasons, though.

Check back tomorrow as we continue Bye Week Boredom by taking a look at the stable of running backs.

Next: AFC Power Rankings entering Week 4: Pats lead the pack