# Tom Brady, 517 yards



## drjeff (Sep 12, 2011)

AWESOME!!  'nuff said!


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## SkiDork (Sep 13, 2011)

I thought he was done last season.  I was wrong.


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## Cannonball (Sep 13, 2011)

Pretty F'ing sweet.  Although tacking on 99 yards in one play somewhat inflated a 400+ game (which would still be sick).  Makes me wonder about the other top yardage records.  Were there a few big plays like that?


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## ALLSKIING (Sep 13, 2011)

He sure was on last night...


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## speden (Sep 13, 2011)

I think the NFL has made it too easy to make passes.  Touchdowns come fast and cheap now.  Maybe that's what the fans want, but I think the corners deserve more of a fighting chance to break up passes.

I was disappointed that the Pats defense wasn't getting more pressure on the QB.  It's very early, so hopefully the defense will start to gel better in the next game.


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## drjeff (Sep 13, 2011)

speden said:


> I think the NFL has made it too easy to make passes.  Touchdowns come fast and cheap now.  Maybe that's what the fans want, but I think the corners deserve more of a fighting chance to break up passes.
> 
> I was disappointed that the Pats defense wasn't getting more pressure on the QB.  It's very early, so hopefully the defense will start to gel better in the next game.



I can see both sides of the touchdown/defense equation.  First off, I think that most fans (especially the more casual fan that makes up a significant portion of the total NFL fanbase), would rather see a 35-28 game than a 10-7 game.  And I think that most serious fan enjoy a display of offensive firepower too.

Secondly, with the size and speed that corners, safeties, and even some linebackers have these days and how many of them seem to have become more focused on the big hit instead of the tackle of a receiver (who might very well be stretched out and defenseless),  you do have to take into account the physical safety of the receiver,  since they way things have been going the last few years it seems like its only a matter of time until a marquee name receiver sustains a career ending (and potentially life threatening injury) from a big hit, and you do have to take that into account.  As much as the big hit is an exciting play to see for the fans,  I'd much rather see a greater emphasis on the "tackle" instead of the "hit" and get to see that receiver catching balls for a longer career.


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## speden (Sep 13, 2011)

I'd say the big hit syndrome is a consequence of the rules that have turned it into a passing league.  If you're not allowed to touch the receiver or disrupt their route until they catch the ball, about all you have left to stop them is making a big hit to make them drop the ball, or intimidate them from making the catch.  Now they are trying to stop big hits, so what's left for the secondary to do?  Not much, so teams are running up record passing yards and high scores.  I think they should loosen up the pass interference rules a little.


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## drjeff (Sep 13, 2011)

speden said:


> I'd say the big hit syndrome is a consequence of the rules that have turned it into a passing league.  If you're not allowed to touch the receiver or disrupt their route until they catch the ball, about all you have left to stop them is making a big hit to make them drop the ball, or intimidate them from making the catch.  Now they are trying to stop big hits, so what's left for the secondary to do?  Not much, so teams are running up record passing yards and high scores.  I think they should loosen up the pass interference rules a little.



I totally think that they do need to free up the defenders for some more hand checking and light contact downfield.  The way the rules are now, its almost getting to the point of glorified flag football style rules once you leave the line of scrimmage until the ball is caught.  Should the defender be able to grab and pull the hand/arm of a receiver awy before the ball gets there?? No way.  Should the defender be able to do some hand checking to the body and/or bumping in an attempt to get to the ball and NOT have to worry about being flagged for pass interference, YUP.

As for passing and scoring records too.  Lets be honest. The offensive schemes run by a modern offense these days and the physical size and speed of the players is playing a bit of a roll in that too.  And if you've got a GREAT receiver, they can make a QB look much better than they really are.  Heck, I'll admit as a big Brady cheerleader, he's one heck of a talent,  but that 3 seasons ago,  I will fully admit that the catches and the totally different dynamic that a fully committed Randy Moss gave him made him look even better, even if all his passes weren't dead on target


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## Geoff (Sep 13, 2011)

speden said:


> I think the NFL has made it too easy to make passes.



It mostly seems to be a NY  Jets thing if you ask me.


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## TheBEast (Sep 13, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> Pretty F'ing sweet.  Although tacking on 99 yards in one play somewhat inflated a 400+ game (which would still be sick).  Makes me wonder about the other top yardage records.  Were there a few big plays like that?



ESPN had the stats up.  Five other QBs had 500+ yard games, now there are 6.  Dan Marino was among them.  Don't remember the others.


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## Cannonball (Sep 13, 2011)

TheBEast said:


> ESPN had the stats up.  Five other QBs had 500+ yard games, now there are 6.  Dan Marino was among them.  Don't remember the others.



Yeah, I saw that.  My question is: Did random big plays create those numbers?  Henne had basically the same passing yardage (416) as Brady last night....except for the one 99yard play.  So it was really that one big Welker play that bumped Brady into the top 6 and left Henne in obscurity.


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## Grassi21 (Sep 13, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> Yeah, I saw that.  My question is: Did random big plays create those numbers?  Henne had basically the same passing yardage (416) as Brady last night....except for the one 99yard play.  So it was really that one big Welker play that bumped Brady into the top 6 and left Henne in obscurity.



Why discount Brady's perfect pass that set Welker up for that score?  And what about the other two guys who passed for more yards than Henne?

1	Tom Brady, QB	NE	48	32	66.7	*517*	10.77	99	4	1	1	121.6	517
2	Cam Newton, QB	CAR	37	24	64.9	*422*	11.41	77	2	1	4	110.4	422
3	Drew Brees, QB	NO	49	32	65.3	*419*	8.55	36	3	0	3	112.5	419
4	Chad Henne, QB	MIA	49	30	61.2	*416*	8.49	31	2	1	4	93.6	416


And of those 4 QBs I would argue that Cam Newtown had the most impressive game seeing that it was his first NFL start.


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## SkiDork (Sep 13, 2011)

From Wiki:

500-yard games:

Quarterbacks have thrown for at least 500 yards passing eleven times; most recently, Tom Brady threw for 517 yards against the Miami Dolphins in 2011. Norm Van Brocklin holds the NFL record with 554 yards passing in 1951. The other 500-yard passers include


 Warren Moon 527 yards 
 Boomer Esiason 522 yards 
 Dan Marino 521 yards 
 Tom Brady 517 yards 
 Phil Simms 513 yards 
 Drew Brees 510 yards 
 Vince Ferragamo 509 yards 
 Elvis Grbac 504 yards 
 Y.A. Tittle 505 yards 
 Ben Roethlisberger 503 yards.


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## TheBEast (Sep 13, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> Yeah, I saw that.  My question is: Did random big plays create those numbers?  Henne had basically the same passing yardage (416) as Brady last night....except for the one 99yard play.  So it was really that one big Welker play that bumped Brady into the top 6 and left Henne in obscurity.



Good point.  Would be interesting to know.

Edit: I see a researching among us has already found the complete 500+ yard passing list.


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## wa-loaf (Sep 13, 2011)

It seems to me the running the receiver does after catching the ball shouldn't count to the total throwing yards ...


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## Nick (Sep 13, 2011)

Missed the game as I'm out in Missouri on business but did follow it a bit on Sportstap. Go Pats!


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## Black Phantom (Sep 13, 2011)

Nick said:


> Missed the game as I'm out in Missouri on business but did follow it a bit on Sportstap. Go Pats!



Are you drumming up business at Snow Creek? Trip Report to follow?


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## ALLSKIING (Sep 13, 2011)

wa-loaf said:


> It seems to me the running the receiver does after catching the ball shouldn't count to the total throwing yards ...


I would agree with this....5 yard throw and 95 yards run by the receiver should never be 100 yards for the qb..He did nothing after the throw..


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## speden (Sep 13, 2011)

ALLSKIING said:


> I would agree with this....5 yard throw and 95 yards run by the receiver should never be 100 yards for the qb..He did nothing after the throw..



He did nothing after the throw, but he may have made the whole run possible.  Good QB's can move the safeties and coverage around by staring down one receiver and then throwing to a different one, or reading the defense and changing the play to one that will break loose for 95 yards.  So it's hard to say how much of the run after the catch was due to the QB.  He did pick who he threw it to after all.


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## deadheadskier (Sep 13, 2011)

ALLSKIING said:


> I would agree with this....5 yard throw and 95 yards run by the receiver should never be 100 yards for the qb..He did nothing after the throw..



true

but several times a game, a QB does his job and puts the ball right on a WRs hands and they drop it.  The QB did his job, but doesn't get the stat.  

There are also times in games where the WR tries to cut back and actually gains less yardage than the point where he caught the ball.  QB loses in that situation.

On that 99 yard play, Welker deserves credit for getting open and the stiff arm, but the only reason it went to the house is because of the defensive scheme and Brady reading it correctly.  If Miami was playing a cover 2, Wes likely gets tackled by the safety rolling over.  It was an exploitation of the safeties cheating up on Brady's part. Watch the replay and you'll see that he is looking for the 1 on 1 on both sides and audibles the Tight End into protection off route to cover a strong side blitz and then makes the read on which safety is out of position to help.  



I think the stat is measured correctly.  WRs in the Patriots offense (or the Colts where Manning is equally as smart) only get the catches and YAC they do because of the QB calling audibles and making the right checks to get the man the ball in space.

Brady was WAY more responsible for those 99 yards than Welker was.


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## from_the_NEK (Sep 14, 2011)

deadheadskier said:


> true
> 
> but several times a game, a QB does his job and puts the ball right on a WRs hands and they drop it.  The QB did his job, but doesn't get the stat.
> 
> ...



Completely correct. The other thing I might add is an accurate pass from the quarterback  that hits a receiver in stride can do wonders for breaking a long run after the catch.


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## St. Bear (Sep 14, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> Yeah, I saw that.  My question is: Did random big plays create those numbers?  Henne had basically the same passing yardage (416) as Brady last night....except for the one 99yard play.  So it was really that one big Welker play that bumped Brady into the top 6 and left Henne in obscurity.



How do you know that Brady doesn't complete 6 passes for 99 yards on that drive, rather than a single pass for 99 yards?  You can't arbitrarily leave out plays that happened on the field.


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## Cannonball (Sep 14, 2011)

St. Bear said:


> How do you know that Brady doesn't complete 6 passes for 99 yards on that drive, rather than a single pass for 99 yards?  You can't arbitrarily leave out plays that happened on the field.



He probably would have.  I wasn't suggesting leaving anything out, wasn't deriding the performance, wasn't implying anything about what should count or not, wasn't dismissing the stats.  I was asking a simple question:  Does anyone know if the other 500+ yard games were reached in part because of a few huge plays?


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## jack97 (Sep 14, 2011)

speden said:


> I'd say the big hit syndrome is a consequence of the rules that have turned it into a passing league.  If you're not allowed to touch the receiver or disrupt their route until they catch the ball, about all you have left to stop them is making a big hit to make them drop the ball, or intimidate them from making the catch.  Now they are trying to stop big hits, so what's left for the secondary to do?  Not much, so teams are running up record passing yards and high scores.  I think they should loosen up the pass interference rules a little.



IMO, safety for the players is a high priority .... so taking the big hits like heads or knees shots out the game is ok. 

I just hate the judgment calls on the pass interference rule, imo make the penalty like the college ranks, a 5 or 15 yard w/ first down and not at the spot of the infraction. Yes it makes the DBs more aggressive but that makes the passing play so exciting. Otherwise you will start seeing more teams just chuck it down field hoping the penalty... a couple years back, that was the Bears basic game plan.


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## darent (Sep 14, 2011)

drjeff said:


> AWESOME!!  'nuff said!



take away one play and it was a 400 yard night, the other quarterback had more passing yards, doesn't say much for the pats passing defense!!


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## 4aprice (Sep 15, 2011)

Had a good laugh this morning.  Warner Wolf on the Imus program played a clip of Tom Brady saying that This weekends game was a 4:15 start and that the fans should have plenty of time to get good and "lubed up" for the game (Dr Jeff?),  He (Wolf) went on to say that the Patriot PR department later came out and said Brady meant on water.  Imus had a field day with that one.  It was pretty funny.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ


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## wa-loaf (Sep 15, 2011)

4aprice said:


> Had a good laugh this morning.  Warner Wolf on the Imus program played a clip of Tom Brady saying that This weekends game was a 4:15 start and that the fans should have plenty of time to get good and "lubed up" for the game (Dr Jeff?),  He (Wolf) went on to say that the Patriot PR department later came out and said Brady meant on water.  Imus had a field day with that one.  It was pretty funny.
> 
> Alex
> 
> Lake Hopatcong, NJ



Imus is still alive? :lol:


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## Riverskier (Sep 15, 2011)

darent said:


> take away one play and it was a 400 yard night, the other quarterback had more passing yards, doesn't say much for the pats passing defense!!



The yardage from the long pass counts, just as it does for every pass every QB makes all season. Given that, looking at Brady's total yardage for anything other than what it is, is just plain silly. That said, I do think you bring up a good point about the pass defense, and I think many fans are a little more excited about this game than perhaps they should be. Sure, the win is great, and Brady's performance was amazing. However, I sort of expected that, and to me, the big question this year is their defense. The run defense was good, but Henne pretty much threw at will. I think the offense is good enough to make them a virtual lock to make the playoffs, but I don't think without a much improved defense that they will make it very far. It is only week 1 though and often times as the season progresses, especially with the Patriot's, thinge really start to come together.


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## drjeff (Sep 15, 2011)

4aprice said:


> Had a good laugh this morning.  Warner Wolf on the Imus program played a clip of Tom Brady saying that This weekends game was a 4:15 start and that the fans should have plenty of time to get good and "lubed up" for the game (Dr Jeff?),  He (Wolf) went on to say that the Patriot PR department later came out and said Brady meant on water.  Imus had a field day with that one.  It was pretty funny.
> 
> Alex
> 
> Lake Hopatcong, NJ



Fans at ANY professional sporting event that starts late afternoon (ok let me alter that a bit).  

Take 2:  Fans at ANY professional sporting event, reguardless of starting time, been "lubed up" to for the start of a game??  Blasphemy!  :lol:

On a serious note, from the crew that I tailgate with at Patriots games,  we bring just as many beverages (beer, vodka + cranberry, other assorted adult beverages) whether its a 1PM kick off, a 4:15 kick off or an 8:15 kick off, and we still always get there 4 hours prior to kick off (and we're far from the only ones that do that, and I think that's a pretty "normal" occurrance at all 31 NFL stadiums around the country   :beer:


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## John W (Sep 15, 2011)

Tom Brady is the Best QB in the NFL.  I say this and I HATE him.  I am a die-hard Jets fan.   Brady does the most with the least.  He works the hardest and it pays off.  He is what Derek Jeter is to Mets fans....  

The Pats Offense is going to be exceptional this year and improved on defense.. They took care of business against a very poor dolphins defense.  If they keep giving up points like that they will lose more then 5 games this season...


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## drjeff (Sep 15, 2011)

John W said:


> Tom Brady is the Best QB in the NFL.  I say this and I HATE him.  I am a die-hard Jets fan.   Brady does the most with the least.  He works the hardest and it pays off.  He is what Derek Jeter is to Mets fans....
> 
> The Pats Offense is going to be exceptional this year and improved on defense.. They took care of business against a very poor dolphins defense.  If they keep giving up points like that they will lose more then 5 games this season...



It's the age old dilemna.  If your offense is on, and can put up 30 points a game, your defense can give up 24.  If the offense isn't on, and your defense gives up 24, hello loss column.  This has seemed to be the Patriots trend at the start of the last few seasons.  Their defense has some issues and their offense carries the team.  But, what has also happened, is that same defense that is suspect the 1st 1/2 of the season has tended to gel together and become a strength for the 2nd half of the season.  So in one sense as a Pats fan, am I concerned about their defense right now, yes,  but not too concerend based on what I've seen happen time and time again over the last few years.

As for the Jeter analogy - perfect!  And i'm saying that as a Red Sox fan!  Nothing but respect for what he does, and has done on the field, even if it is/has been, for my least favorite team in baseball


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