Julian Edelman just as valuable as Tom Brady in Super Bowl

The New England Patriots finally got the monkey off their back after many narrow misses since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick last led the team to Super Bowl glory. With the Seattle Seahawks snuffing out the Patriots balance on offense, the focus turned to Brady and the passing attack, and he had a similar volume of passing attempts as he did in the divisional round against his former foil, the Baltimore Ravens. While Brady played a solid game, precisely throwing dimes against the Seahawks defense, Julian Edelman deserves to be known as the Super Bowl MVP.

Rob Gronkowski is the Patriots most talented non-QB on offense, but Edelman is easily the most reliable. After bursting onto the scene with 105 receptions in 2013, Edelman added 92 more to the haul in 2014, and he finished it all off with three excellent performance in the postseason.

Of course, Edelman saved his best for last against the Seahawks, taking advantage of a secondary whose only weakness is defending top-notch short-area quickness guys who have enough toughness to hold onto passes over the middle of the field.

Working his magic connection with Brady that has been developed and fine-tuned over years of film study and practice sessions, Edelman weaved his way to a game-high nine receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown on 12 targets; those are almost unheard of numbers for a team’s No. 1 receiver against the Seahawks defense.

As we all know, Edelman isn’t your average No. 1 receiver, because while he is the team’s top option, he’s not the “X” guy. But that’s OK, since receivers on the outside generally don’t fare out as well against Seattle’s elite secondary. Instead, it’s the guys who can work mis-matches over the middle of the field and find the soft spots in zones by creating subtle separation that tend to succeed against the Seahawks defense.

Danny Amendola finished with a touchdown reception, but the TD on that drive could have easily went to Edelman, who was overthrown by Brady after getting open perfectly. He used a ridiculous spin move, and I’m absolutely shocked that he managed to make that cut to spin off to the outside. But the crazy thing is that Edelman’s touchdown reception for three yards with 2:02 left in the fourth quarter to give the team a decisive lead came on the exact same route.

Not only did Edelman show off some nasty cuts and moves to create separation both before and after the catch, but he continues to show the kind of scrappy toughness that has made him a fan favorite not just in Foxboro but throughout the NFL. Even though he was ruled down and couldn’t pick up those extra yards after the catch, Edelman had a memorable reception over the middle in which he absorbed a hit from all 232 pounds of Kam Chancellor, whose hit would have coaxed the ball out of the hands of most other receivers.

With a 75% catch rate and an average of 12.1 yards per reception, Julian Edelman worked the intermediate regions of the field and the slot with great aplomb, and it’s sometimes hard to appreciate just how amazing he is at getting open. The connection he has with Brady is up there with the connection Wes Welker had with the Hall of Fame QB, and we got to see that today. Jeremy Lane’s injury certainly helped the Pats, but Edelman would have gotten open against any slot corner with the way he played today.

Per Advanced Football Analytics, the Patriots averaged 9.1 yards per target when throwing it to Edelman, and that’s not something to be taken lightly when the dink-and-dunk, precision-passing offense averaged 6.6 yards per attempt as a whole. Not only did Edelman lead all pass-catchers in WPA, EPA, and receptions, but he also led them in yards per reception. Sometimes, big plays aren’t about downfield passes, but rather timely receptions and consistent moves before and after the catch. Edelman bossed the Seahawks today, and he was instrumental in the Patriots victory.

It’s not that Brady doesn’t deserve to win the MVP, as throwing four touchdowns with over 328 yards without a running game against the Seahawks is no easy feat, but he wouldn’t have been as successful without Edelman consistently getting open and making things happen. Brady didn’t play a flawless game, but it’s hard to say that he outplayed Edelman, who was simply uncoverable against a Seahawks defense that almost never allows a 100-yard receiver.

Next: Where do the Patriots rank among the best franchises in NFL history?

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/New England Patriots