Patriots: Colin Cowherd revives Tom Brady-Bill Belichick debate after Bucs win
By Jerry Trotta
FOX Sports radio host Colin Cowherd resuscitated the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick debate after the Buccaneers’ big playoff win.
As if watching the New England Patriots stumble to their worst season in two decades wasn’t hard enough for the fan base, they’ve also been forced to watch Tom Brady enjoy a tremendous debut campaign with the Buccaneers.
For better or worse, that story is still being written as Brady and the Bucs bested the Saints to advance to the NFC Championship Game. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the win once again sparked the ongoing debate about whether him or head coach Bill Belichick was more vital to the Patriots’ dynasty.
While the pendulum is no doubt swinging in Brady’s favor, it’s obviously far too early to come to a decisive conclusion. However, Fox Sports radio host Colin Cowherd felt the need to resuscitate a take from earlier in the year in which he proclaimed that the three-time MVP was winning the debate in a “landslide.”
The crazy part is that he based his argument entirely around the first month of the season, when Brady led Tampa Bay to a 3-1 record while arguably playing like the best quarterback in the league, ranking first in touchdowns (12) and fourth in passer rating (110.0)
"“Nobody in the history of the Buccaneers has been named Offensive Player of the Month,” said Cowherd. “Folks, between New England being bad and Tom Brady being the best player in football, this is the biggest landslide in the history of divorces. She upgraded to a superstar, he now lives with his parents. There’s never been a divorce like this.”"
Cowherd has long been a Brady apologist, so it’s really not much of a surprise that he decided to revive this debate after the Bucs’ big win. However, acting like the 43-year-old would’ve had the Patriots in this position had he signed an extension is preposterous.
Let’s not forget that they largely finished 12-4 last season because of their historically-dominant defense. Brady’s statistics might look pretty on paper, but anybody who watched them in 2019 knows how much of a struggle it was for him to consistently put together scoring drives.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1351189897114169354
This isn’t to say that Belichick should be absolved of blame in terms of where the Patriots currently stand from a talent perspective. Nor does it mean that Brady wasn’t justified to pursue a championship with a team that seemingly had all the pieces in place but an experienced quarterback.
However, even if Brady manages to win his seventh ring in his first season without Belichick, that doesn’t mean he won the divorce. He’s obviously has the upper hand, but the sheer gap in talent between the Patriots and Buccaneers simply gives us zero context to properly analyze their respective separate journeys so far.