Michael Rosenberg on SI.com – [L]ast week the Patriots lost the kind of game they always win. It was in New York, where they always win, against the Jets, who never win, and after first-year Jets coach Rex Ryan and safety Kerry Rhodes both mouthed off before the game. Normally when people publicly question the Patriots, they are calling a timeout by the third quarter to say uncle. This time, the Patriots lost, 16-9. They didn’t even score a touchdown. Brady’s quarterback rating was 53.1. Brady is still recovering from major knee surgery. Like most people, I expect him to play at a Pro Bowl level again, probably very soon. But I keep thinking: What if he never gets back? What if he finishes his career without winning another Super Bowl? What if the Patriots never dominate again?… the point is, it can all slip away very quickly. Twenty-one months ago Brady looked as if he would keep on winning forever. But in sports, forever is a punch line. The landscape changes week to week. If Brady and the Patriots lose to Matt Ryan and the Falcons at home on Sunday, you can expect a slew of stories about a changing of the guard.

… And from Jason Whitlock – Brady’s fearlessness in the pocket is/was the asset that separated him from every other quarterback. Through two games this season, Brady looks ordinary in the pocket… When this season is over, we might be looking for a new quarterback king.

And so it begins. If you had Rosenberg or Whitlock in the “Who Will Be the First Douchebag to Speculate That Brady Might Be Finished?” Pool, it’s a tie. Come bring your ticket to the window to claim your prizes. The Patriots passing offense struggled Sunday. Of that there’s no question. They didn’t produce. On the road. In a division game. On short rest. Against an emerging Jets defense put in by an experienced coach. They were blitzed to death without the best blitz-defeating hot route outlet in the NFL in Wes Welker. The Pats gameplan was thoroughly unprepared to counter the overloaded lines and all out 6 man rushes they saw all day. Guilty as charged. So what are national football writers like Rosenberg or Whitlock to do except fly off the handle and start writing half-assed “What if Brady is finished?” columns. It would be laughable if it weren’t so maddening. Yup, Brady sure looks horrible. I mean, when was the last time he put up good numbers? 2007? Well, there was the business of the 378 yards he put up six days earlier, but the One bad game theory is going to lose out to the He’s finished horseshit every time because it isn’t as sexy. Just like it’s not as sexy to point out that Joey Galloway has been slow to pick up the Pats offense which relies on a lot of coverage reads and timing, or that Julian Edelman (a career QB playing WR for the first time) dropped a sure TD inside the 5. Nah, you’re better off being the first to pull the switch on the fire call box and make everyone run out of the building in panic. That’s how you generate web traffic.

We’ve been over this before, but Carson Palmer had the same surgery as Brady and followed it up with back-to-back 4,000 yard seasons. Peyton Manning had his knee opened up last year in July, the Colts scored a measly total of 52 points in their first 3 games, and he went on to win the MVP. Anyone who thinks knee surgery 11 months ago is going to end Brady’s career is either delusional or stupid and I don’t know which is worse.