Seven-time Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady had some harsh words for the modern NFL game last week, and quarterback / commentator Alex Smith fired back over the weekend, opining that Brady “played in the most uncompetitive division in NFL history”:
Alex Smith totally disagrees with Tom Brady's characterization of the NFL. pic.twitter.com/64FRRqM0jq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 26, 2023
Brady’s “old man yells at cloud” routine certainly deserves some derision, but my question is: was Smith right? Some folks, many of them Patriots fans, have rebutted Smith’s argument:
Everyone celebrating Alex Smith here is denying the fact that the “Easy AFC East” myth is blatantly false propaganda from Brady/Patriots haters
Here’s how the Bills/Jets/Dolphins stack up to other teams ranked 2-4 in their division from 2000-2018
Doesn’t fit your narrative? Sad https://t.co/4ZlRrLvbSn pic.twitter.com/VJlQrVffLX— Sam Sherman (@Sherman_FFB) November 26, 2023
Eric Eager of Sumer Sports suggested taking that Sam Sherman analysis and expanding it to all 32 teams, looking at the records of their three division opponents. As Eager suggested, I’m removing the team’s division games; obviously Miami, Buffalo, and the Jets suffered for having to play New England six times a year. For simplicity I limited this exercise to 2002-2019 (2001 had six divisions, not eight, and 31 teams).
The Patriots rank 29th, which would seem to point towards Smith’s point. On the other hand, many of their rivals of the period faced roads that were just as easy. The division foes of the Brett Favre / Aaron Rodgers Packers and Peyton Manning / Andrew Luck Colts played even worse. And while the Steelers / Ravens rivalry is fondly remembered, the Steelers’ division opponents won just one more game than New England’s. The worst division of all? The NFC West, where Alex Smith started his career, and played from 2005 to 2012.