Chris Simms defends his low ranking of Tom Brady on QB list

Criticized for slotting Tom Brady at No. 9 amongst his Top-40 quarterbacks in the NFL, analyst Chris Simms defended his choice during a radio segment.

Former-quarterback-turned-NFL-analyst Chris Simms found himself in a bit of hot water after he seemingly dissed two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks – and riled up their passionate fanbases in the process. Counting down his top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL heading into the 2019 season, Simms revealed the rankings of Tom Brady and Drew Brees at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively.

As you’d expect, both Patriots and Saints fans were righteously outraged at the slight. New Englanders, in particular, ranted and raved against Simms online, citing Brady’s astonishing records and unattainable achievements at this stage of his decorated career.

Even Kurt Warner – the quarterback Brady defeated in Super Bowl 36 – felt compelled to come to Brady’s defense, tweeting out “Are u kidding me???” beneath a link to Simms’ article on ProFootballTalk. He then proceeded to eviscerate some poor Twitter user who decried Brady as being “a system QB,” correctly pointing out that “systems don’t have anything to do with great QB play at the biggest moments… they don’t make QBs throw great balls into tight windows.”

Simms used his platform as a radio host on NBC Sports’ “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” to defend his controversial rankings, repeating over and over again that he has been miscast as “a Tom Brady hater” simply because he came down hard on Brady for his alleged role in taking the air out of footballs during the Deflategate scandal four years ago.

Simms then went on to profess his great respect and admiration for Brady as a player, even going so far as to call him “the G.O.A.T.” a few times throughout the segment. And finally, once he felt he’d done enough requisite damage control to pacify the angry New England-based Internet villagers waving their torches and pitchforks, Simms tackled his reasons for putting Brady where he did.

Simms’ primary explanation for ranking Brady at No. 9 revolves around the Patriots’ change in offensive identity. After years of operating as a pass-first aerial attack that featured the likes of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski, New England has slowly shifted gears and become more of a run-heavy, control-the-clock type of offense.

Simms cites last season’s Super Bowl as the perfect example of this transformation, a 13-3 snoozer in which the Patriots’ defense and rush attack were the true stars of the show… not Brady.

In fairness, he still seems to be undervaluing Brady’s contributions in that game – as well as in the two postseason contests before it. Even what many analysts and experts referred to as a “down year” for Brady qualifies as a stellar season for just about any other quarterback in the NFL.

The problem is – and always has been – that the bar is simply set too impossibly high for TB12 these days… and it’s his own fault.

If he hadn’t won three Super Bowls in four years at such a tender age… or rewritten the record books in 2007 while posting a perfect regular season… or won another three Super Bowls in five years at such an advanced age… if Brady hadn’t done all those things (and so many more), maybe a season in which he shares the load with his defense and running backs wouldn’t be considered such a telltale harbinger of personal doom as a player.

Oh well.

Here’s betting Brady uses Simms’ ranking as motivational fuel for his inner fire as he sets his sights on 2019 and the opportunity to win a league record-breaking seventh Super Bowl championship.