Matthew Stafford vs. The Greats: Tom Brady

So far this week, we’ve seen that Matthew Stafford has a few similarities to Dan Marino, but needs to get more movie roles. We also may have uncovered that Matthew Stafford is Brett Favre’s son. So needless to say, this is Pulitzer Prize type stuff. Real investigative reporting.

Today we take a another route. Because today we will undoubtedly set the comment section on fire with a comparison of Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady.

I suppose the only thing to start off with is this” We know Tom Brady isn’t Matthew Stafford’s father. This video proves that.

Sweet fancy Moses. It’s like watching Soul Train, if the train came off the tracks and careened into a school bus full of freshly born ducklings. It’s like watching your father try to do an ollie on your skateboard. It’s like jumping into a pool that has no water. It’s like watching your mother listen to Run The Jewels for the first time. Matthew Stafford has way more rhythm than that. Speaking of rhythm. These are the only guys Janet Jackson kicked out of the Rhythm Nation.

Look, let’s be honest here. There aren’t really any similarities between these two players. In the last two articles, there were a lot. Today’s piece is really more of how Stafford hasn’t been good enough, or great enough, I should say.

Let’s jump into the stats anyways and see if there’s anything at all similar. Again, these pieces have nothing to do with team achievements. I can’t stress enough that quarterback wins are not a real stat.

The Stats

Wicked pisser, this guy is good. There just isn’t anything to go on here. Touchdown Tommy is easily the greatest of all time. Matthew Stafford is just some guy in his world. If the NFL were “Good Will Hunting,” Tom Brady is Matt Damon and Matthew Stafford is the guy that liked them apples.

What stands out the most has to be the 97.2 passer rating. Dig this, that passer rating is the third highest career passer rating in NFL history, behind Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson of all people. Stafford is 23rd, which is not bad, all things considered.

What also stands out to me is that Brady really doesn’t seem to throw the ball as much as we think. Obviously those stats are big. But when you consider the man is pushing 40 and being tagged as the greatest to ever do it, you’d think his numbers would be higher. Maybe I’m just a stickler.

I wonder though. Is there any comparability between Stafford and Brady in his first eight years?

92.9! Come on, man! Again, the guy is just too good. So it’s clear that Stafford throws the ball a lot more than Brady. That explains being ahead in yards, but it also explains why Brady is ahead in everything else. To only throw 86 interceptions in eight years is just incredible.

Style

There’s nothing here to compare. Stafford is a lot more willing to get mobile and make the crazy throw. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. Tom Brady is calculated and stays in the pocket. He always works, like Robitussin.

That’s really the difference here. There’s a reason Brady is as good as he is, and it’s not because he went to Michigan. It’s because the man’s confidence level is off the charts. This guy knows he’s going to beat you. He knows Julian Edelman is going to catch that ball. If not, he’ll put it somewhere Julian can catch it. His accuracy is insane.

Conclusion

It’s really simple: Tom Brady’s confidence, accuracy and high knowledge of the game is just something that Stafford doesn’t match. That’s why there’s really no comparison here. These two players are nothing alike.

Now that doesn’t mean that Stafford doesn’t have tools that are better than Brady’s. Again, we come back to Stafford’s arm ability. It truly is second to none. The issue is what he does with that ability sometimes.

You can’t teach what Tom Brady has, otherwise there would be a thousand Tom Bradys. But don’t throw Stafford out in the cold. To go back to “Good Will Hunting,” it was clear that Will was smarter than the apples guy. He even got Minnie Driver’s phone number.

But the apples guy is still a really smart dude and he was still in Harvard. Things would eventually work out for him in life, just like they may for Stafford. And let’s not forget, the apples guy had something to say in the sequel.