The Chicken or the Egg?

The first time I ever beat my father in pickup basketball on my front driveway he uttered one of his (and now my) favourite sayings: Once is lucky, twice is good. As week 1 anomalies shift to week 2 trends, one thing is perfectly clear. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are in a class all by themselves. They all possess strong arms, a cerebral football mind and the accuracy of an Olympic archer (actually, Brees has proven he’s better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVoqA-LKGb4 ).


They also share another thing in common: great coaching. I was watching the Patriots-Chargers yesterday with a friend of mine. At one point in the second half he turned to me and asked “why is Tom Brady so good?” At first the question seemed like an easy one to answer, but I was surprised at how the conversation unfolded. He has a strong arm, but not the strongest. He is not very athletic. He’s tall, but not big. He definitely has one of the most accurate arms, but I can’t sit here and tell you he’s more accurate the Brees, Rodgers, a healthy Manning, or Philip Rivers. He definitely has the ‘it’ factor and can read defenses better than most, but one thing that has stood out to me lately is the success of coaching schemes.

A perfect example can be found in Philadelphia. When Donovan McNabb was with Andy Reid in Philly, he was a consistent Pro Bowler and a top level quarterback. Since leaving he has looked like a completely different player, nowhere near the top 50% of starters in the league. Some say it’s aging, but he was only 33 last year. Since his departure, Andy Reid turned Kevin Kolb into one of the most sought after QB’s in the league, has gotten way more out of Michael Vick than Atlanta ever did, and if you watched the game last night, Mike Kafka looked like a 10 year veteran in his first NFL action going 7/9 for 72 yards including a blatant drop by Jeremy Maclin on a late 4th down that ended the game.

Drew Brees was a good player in San Diego but not good enough to pass on Philip Rivers as the future. Brees joined with Sean Payton and has since been dominant, putting up ridiculous passing numbers in a spread offence, all while collecting a Super Bowl along the way.

Since they are linked, let’s turn to Rivers. In Norv Turner’s offence, Rivers is masterful. He has torn up the AFC West and has the best passer rating over the last 3 years.

Despite his recent neck injury, Peyton is ‘the sheriff’ and is his own dominant offensive coordinator whereas Aaron Rodgers benefits from Mike McCarthy and the most talented offence in the league.

Need more proof that coaching matters? Take a look at how Kyle Orton has done since Josh McDaniels left. How about Rex Grossman’s renaissance with Mike Shanahan?

I started relating this to my own experience in football. Having played for two different University teams I can tell you that the difference in coaching can be monumental. I played for four years in a pro-style offence that had advanced route concepts and progression reads, and finished playing for a team that had fundamental errors in play design. Although coaches in the NFL all have different philosophies, there is clearly a difference and the quarterbacks we constantly see at the top, are the ones with the best coaches. You could try and make the argument that the QB makes the coach but the Grossman/Orton/Vick examples would trump that.

Which brings me back to Brady. I can’t and won’t take anything away from the player I’ve nicknamed ‘the surgeon’. He is the best quarterback of our era and has a realistic shot at retiring as the unquestioned greatest of all time. Just don’t think he did it all himself. He has had the honour and privilege of playing for the best coach in the history of football. Need proof? Look at Matt Cassel’s numbers with and without Belichick’s influence:

BB Influence: 61% for 6809 yards, 48TDs, 18Int

Without: 55% for 2924 yards, 16TDs, 16Int

The ‘Influence’ tag includes last year as a Chief because he had Charlie Weis (long time disciple of Belichick) as his offensive coordinator. We’ll see how he does this season as Weis has gone to the University of Florida. So far he hasn’t looked good.

It looks as though the move to a more pass happy league is still in full force, and we have already seen records fall this year. Just remember, behind every great quarterback is a great coordinator. Football is often referred to as ‘physical chess’ and while Brady may be the King, Belichick is the best at moving the pawns.