Madden GOAT Simulation

I fact checked that ESPN stat the other day because I had a feeling they screwed it up. They did. It's actually 5 Brady playoff wins where the defense has given up 28+ points. The sixth one they counted was SB 51 which of course Atlanta scored on a pick six. Brady still has more than twice the number of playoff wins (5) than any other QB in history (2) where his defense has given up 28+ points. And those are just the wins. I could get a tally on the losses in which they've given up that many points. And the number of wins goes up if you drop the threshold by 1 point to 27. Is that a good defensive performance? The worst statistically ranked defense ever to make the Super Bowl was the Patriots in SB 46. The longest scoring drive in Super Bowl history happened against Belichick's defense in Super Bowl 42. (The Giants also ate the ball against the Bills in SB 25, which was the deciding factor in that game, not Belichick's defense. Go look at the game summary, don't take my word for it.)

Goff choked and Gurley couldn't play in SB 53.  The Rams had no plan B so they lost.  The best individual defensive play in Patriots SB history is Malcolm Butler's end zone pick, which came immediately after he gave up the bomb that put Seattle there in the first place.  The Patriots scored a TD with 31 seconds remaining in the first half of SB 49, but still gave up the tying TD before the half.  Belichick's D got lit up by Jake Delhomme and Nick Foles in the Super Bowl, what else has either of those QBs ever accomplished?  The Patriots had leads late in the 4th qtr in both SB losses to the Giants.  The game before the amazing shutdown of the great Jared Goff, the Patriots gave up 24 points in the 4th qtr to the Chiefs.  In that game, the Patriots took a 3 point lead with 39 seconds left and the game still went into overtime.  But yeah, Belichick sure had Goff's number.  Vintage Belichick defense, that was.

The Patriots QB (and I'm not naming him because this isn't a QB vs. coach getting credit argument, this is strictly about Belichick's alleged defensive prowess) has the second most 4th qtr comebacks of all time, which is really strange considering the coach is a 'defensive genius' and the QB has over 500 passing TDs in the regular season alone, which means those comebacks aren't resulting in 10-7 final scores.                  


People think I'm the crazy one because they're following the established narrative by the media. When you watch the games over the years, and actually look at the numbers, you can't help but accept reality. Do you think this is a conclusion I wanted to come to as a Patriots fan? At what point do you think I wanted to start thinking negatively about Bill Belichick?  I've been saying this for years, and I didn't hear a word from anyone as the Patriots season went up in smoke last season when the defense couldn't stop a 4-11 Dolphins team from driving 75 yards for the game winning TD at the end of the 4th quarter.

The real tragedy in all of this is that the Patriots have had some great individual defenders over the years.  Law, Bruschi, McGinnest, Vrabel, Wilfork, Seymour, Hightower, Jones, Rodney Harrison, Devin McCourty, the list goes on and on and they're some of my favorite players of all time.  But they've had bad games, and regardless, somehow their contributions get overlooked because it must be that genius coach putting them in position to win.  Except he doesn't, as I've outlined above.  Nobody was singing his praises in Cleveland or his first season plus here, but hand him a top five all time QB (I'd say greatest but I won't make you agree) and suddenly he's a genius.