Brady leaves the Patriots

Photo by Jeffrey Beall via Flickr

By Lou Roesch
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 18, 2020) Tom Brady has left the New England Patriots for greener pastures both figuratively and literally. The time has come where we will now find out if the system made Tom Brady or Brady really is the G.O.A.T.  The argument has raged for years as to whether Bill Belichick made Tom Brady or Brady made Belichick. 

It all began when the sixth round pick stepped in following the hit that benched then Patriots star quarterback Drew Bledsoe. The 199th pick of the 2000 NFL draft has been the New England field general ever since.

So is it the system or is Brady just that good? Well to hedge the bet, it’s a little bit of both. In the seasons previous to Brady taking over the offensive reins, the Bledsoe led Patriots had not made it to one SuperBowl. Without Brady in 2011, the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassell under center. With Brady sidelined for DeflateGate in 2016, the Patriots went 3-1 with Jimmy Garrapolo and Jacoby Brissett before Brady returned to finish 11-1 and 14-2 overall.  

Here’s where the system doesn’t matter….. the Super Bowl. With Brady, they have won six SuperBowls in 9 appearances. No other quarterback, not Joe Montana, not Terry Bradshaw, not Troy Aikman, not Bart Starr, not Johnny Unitas not anyone has come close to Brady’s accomplishments when the lights were the brightest. 

You can’t pooh-pooh a quarterback who has thrown for more than 75,000 yards, won three regular season MVP’s and is the only player ever named SuperBowl MVP four times. Plus throw in the 54 other NFL records he holds including most career wins by a quarterback with one team. Brady is also tied for the record in these two categories; most seasons with 35 plus touchdown passes and most touchdown passes in a single postseason game with six scoring strikes.

Brady, under Belichek, led New England to a 215-64 regular season record. More importantly, it was done with a plethora of good pieces but not great parts. With really only one running back (Corey Dillon), fans might remember, one wide receiver Randy Moss, one slot receiver (Wes Welker) and two tight ends in Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski who else has Brady had to win with in nearly two decades?

Brady will get his money (L.A. is my guess) and he will deliver the payroll too with another Superbowl title. After all where else would the final chapter to be written on the G.O.A.T be more perfect for the San Mateo California Kid.

Tom Brady; Should he stay or should he go?

Photo by
Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

By Joe Pulley 

Special for TexSport Publications

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (March 17, 2020) Tom Brady (No. 12, shown right) the hottest free agent on the NFL market has yet to announce where he will be taking his talents for the upcoming 2020 football season. Bearing that in mind, the question many are asking is should he stay or should he go? There are several arguments and reasons for both sides of this equation and here we provide you with the top three reasons he should stay and the top three places he should consider should he go.

Three Reasons To Stay

Loyalty: The New England Patriots have been nothing but good to Tom Brady ever since the hit that benched Drew Bledsoe. They have right there with him through thick and thin especially when it came to to Deflategate. The Patriots threw others under the bench but not their star signal caller. They have consistently tried to surround him with weapons even questionable character athletes. Robert Kraft has always made sure of that and if it comes to taking care of Tom, expect him to do it again over head coach Bill Belichek's objections.

Money: Brady has made more money then he has fingers and toes by multiple double digit exponents and if that is an issue, they have offered more then most might to a would be 43 year old NFL quarterback. With free agency nearly in full swing, it won't be long till we know how much it will cost to keep Brady. After all, everyone has a price.

Family: This seems to be the most logical reason to stay. First, his dad Tom Sr. (and mom) are regulars at Patriots games. It was reported his dad suffered separation anxiety when he went Michigan for college. Moving your family is always difficult but that is exactly what the Brady bunch has done putting their Brookline home up for sale and buying another in Greenwich, CT. It is just a short two hour drive to Brookline and another 45 minutes or so down the road to Foxborough, MA. home of the Patriots. So don't read a lot into the move.

Three Places He Should Consider

Chicago Bears:  Mitch Trubisky has not set the NFL on fire and it might actually do the him good to watch the G.O.A.T. for a couple of seasons. They have a solid back in David Montgomery and experienced receivers in their prime like Allen Robinson II and Anthony Miller. Not to mention a well built offensive line and a darn good defense.

Indianapolis Colts:  The Colts if they don't land Phillip Rivers whom most think they will should really be in the Brady sweepstakes. With the re-signing of left tackle Anthony Castonzo, the Colts have a front line equal to the task of protecting Brady's body. Castonzo only missed 2% of his blocks in 2019 and was hardly ever penalized. Behind that line, you have a top young runner in Marlon Mack and weapons in tight end Jack Doyle and receiver Ty  Hilton. If that isn't enough, there is the head coach Frank Reich not just a former quarterback himself who engineered the greatest NFL comeback outside of the Super Bowl but also engineered the greatest comeback in college football in 1984. Oh and he's a pretty darn good play caller.

Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton is on his way out the door and what quarterback would not want to have Christain McCaffery in the backfield with him. Kyle Allen has not impressed to the point that Carolina is sold on him long term. The wide receiving corps would reunite Brady and Chris Hogan but more importantly give him in Curtis Samuel a young Randy Moss and then there is DJ Moore who snagged 87 balls for 1,175 yards.

However it might all be a moot point when Brady re-signs with the Patriots.

Houston Texans down New England Patriots 27-23 in NFL pre-season action

Jaelen Strong (11) scored the first touchdown for the
Houston Texans on a two-yard pass from Tom Savage.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 19, 2017) In a game that saw a good amount of give-and-take action the Houston Texans battled the New England Patriots to a 27-23 win in front of 71,504 fans at NRG Stadium in the first home appearance for the Texans in 2017. The win pushes the Texans pre-season record to 1-1, while the 2016 Super Bowl Champions fall to 0-2. Hosuton will return to pre-season action on Saturday, August 26 against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. In their final pre-season game of 2017, they will return home to face the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, August 31, 207. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. CDT start.

The game saw a large amount of ppalying time by players hoping to make both team's rosters. Afetr both teams played a series of downs, the Texans scored in their second possession when Tom Savage connected with a pass to Jaelen Strong for a touchdown. Nick Novak split the uprights for the extra point to give the Texans a 7-0 lead at the 1:13 mark in the first quarter. Savage drove the ball 58 yards in 11 plays in 6:48. In their first possession of the game, they moved the ball 79 yards in a drive that ended on a fourth and six play with only a two-yard game. At that point, the Patriots took over and advanced the ball 17 yards before being forced to punt, giving Houston their second possession of the game.

The Patriots came right back in the second quarter to even the score when Tom Brady engineered a 75-yard drive that ended in a 22-yard pass to Rex Burkhead for the Patriots' first touchdown. Stephen Gostkowski kicked the obligatory extra point to tie the score at seven. After the kickoff, the Texans replaced Savage with rookie Deshaun Watson, who took the reins of the Texans. He drove the ball seven yards before having to punt. New England took possession of the ball and advanced 38 yards before settling for a 38-yard field goal by Gostkowski with 9:53 remaining in the first half. After the kickoff, Watson took the Texans 62 yards before Ka'imi Fairbaim booted a 31-yard field goal to tie the score at 10 at the 5:11 mark in the second quarter. The Patriots added three more points right after the two-minute warning with a 51-yard Gostkowski field goal to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Tom Brady (12) compeletd six passes for 67 yards and
one touchdown, in limited action, against the Texans.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography,
Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

New England added another field goal to their total at the 6:03 mark of the third quarter with a 42-yard Gostkowski attempt. On their next possession, the Texans drove 75 yards in five plays, which was capped by a two-yard run by Watson. The Houston drive was highlighted by a 63-yard pass from Watson to D'Onta Foreman to set up the score. Novak added the extra point to give the Texans a 17-16 lead at the 4:18 mark in the third quarter. New England took the kickoff at the 25-yard line and on the first play, Jimmy Garoppolo was sacked for a seven-yard loss, causing a fumble which was recovered by rookie Matthew Godin on the Patriots' 18-yard line. The Texans turned the possession into a 35-yard field goal by Fairbaim to take the score to 20-16. The Patriots responded with a 10 play, 83-yard drive; resulting in a 25-yard Garoppolo pass to D.J. Foster for the score. With the kicking extra point, New England regained the lead 23-20. The Texans were not content to let New England remain in the lead. After the Texans had a series on down, the ball went over to the Patriots. On the first play for that set of downs, Garoppolo had an intended pass for rookie Cody Hollister was intercepted by Denzel Rice at the New England 43-yard line. He returned the interception 39 yard to the Patriots four-yard line. On the very next play, Foreman rushed the final four yards for the score. Novak added the conversion to take a 27-23 lead with 11:07 remaining in the game.

Savage saw limited action in the first half, completing 8-of-9 passes for 89 yards and one TD. Brady's appearance was similar to Savage's, going 6-of-9 for 67 yards and one touchdown. Watson completed three-of-10 passes for 102 yards. Quarterback Brandon Weeden saw action late in the game, completing five passes for eight yards. Ellington led the Texans in receiving, catching four passes for 93 yards, while Alfred Blue had five carries for 20 yards.