Is Brady’s Suspension a Blessing in Disguise?

What are the New England Patriots going to do without Tom Brady and how will they manage to win? These are two questions that became commonplace after the news of Brady’s suspension. He’s only possibly the best quarterback in the league.

However, his suspension could be a good thing. Brady is only getting older and the Patriots still don’t have a plan in place to replace him. The team can gauge how they’d perform without Brady and get their quarterback situation in order, while getting experience under the belt of their backups. The Patriots face two tough teams as well as two teams that aren’t quite as strong. It’s good for the team that it isn’t an overly tough stretch on the schedule.

Brady won’t have to deal with JJ Watt or Arizona’s vaunted pass rush, which can help his health as they’re sure to deliver some hard hits, especially with New England’s line being mediocre.

Brady is only suspended for four games, then can come back in week 5 and build momentum going forward. He’s not suspended long enough that they’d be guaranteed to miss the playoffs, even if they lost all the games. The ironic note is that they’re not even likely to lose all of them.

They’re not in as much trouble as people think. Brady may appeal the decision, but as it stands, Jimmy Garapollo is likely to be the week 1 starter. Some experience in their backups could help the Patriots for future reference. All Pats fans sit and think about it, this isn’t bad.