As fans, media and even family members figure out the convenient assignment of assigning blame for the New England Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XLVI, quarterback Tom Brady is an easy target.
Quarterbacks and coaches, after all, often get the glory and the blame.
There are arguments, many of them, to be made on both sides of the current Brady divide. But NBC analyst Rodney Harrison, a former teammate in New England, doesn't believe the heat Brady is taking in New England and elsewhere is justified.
"I don't think it's fair," Harrison told "The Dan Patrick Show" Tuesday. "I think it ultimately comes down to 'team.' A lot of times, quarterbacks, as well as coaches, they get too much credit sometimes. But I don't think Tom should take the heat. He had opportunities to make some plays, and he did. Some guys dropped some balls, that's all part of football. They had opportunities.
"But I think it's just the media's way of saying, 'Finally, we get a chance to say something negative about him. Finally, we get a chance to torch him.'"
Brady wasn't at his best against the Giants, but even if his legacy is erased and he's only as good as his last game, quarterbacks have played far worse in Super Bowls than he did against the Giants and still earned MVP awards (such as his performance in Super Bowl XXXVI).
While defending the dropped pass by teammate Wes Welker during his postgame media session, Brady was the first to suggest no one play cost the Patriots a win. They simply didn't make the plays at the crucial moments of the game.
If the chip on Brady's shoulder is now bigger, Harrison believes he will get another chance to earn his fourth Super Bowl ring based on the way the Patriots are built for the future. The Patriots own the 27th and 31st overall picks in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft and two others in the second.
"If you're the Patriots, you're in a good situation," Harrison suggested. "You lost to a very, very good team, the hottest team in the NFL coming into the playoffs, coming into the Super Bowl. ... They'll be fine. Bill Belichick has positioned this team in a perfect situation so in the next three, four years they'll still have success."
