Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the greatest quarterback-head coach combination in NFL history, winning an NFL record 249 games together (including postseason). Brady and Belichick's success is unmatched in NFL history, winning six Super bowl titles and reaching the Super Bowl nine times -- five more than second place on the all-time list.
Brady and Belichick are each going to the Hall of Fame because of their incredible success together. Since the dynamic duo broke up in 2020, Brady has clearly gotten the better of Belichick -- winning a Super Bowl in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only does Brady have more Super Bowls than Belichick since the split, but his four postseason wins are more than Belichick in his career with quarterbacks not named Tom Brady.
Belichick's success as a head coach without Brady is more than noticeable, a stain on his Hall of Fame resume. This is pretty telling on the impact Brady's had on Belichick's career.
| Record | |
|---|---|
Bill Belichick with Tom Brady (regular season) | 219-64 (.774) |
Bill Belichick without Tom Brady (regular season) | 63-75 (.457) |
Bill Belichick with Tom Brady (playoffs) | 30-11 (.732) |
Bill Belichick without Tom Brady (playoffs) | 1-1 (.500) |
The 13 starting quarterbacks Belichick's had not named Tom Brady aren't much to brag about, showcasing how hard it is to find a good starter in the league. Let's take a look at all the starting quarterbacks under Belichick not named Tom Brady.
Bernie Kosar
- Starting QB: 1991-1993 (Browns)
- Record: 11-18
The first starting quarterback Belichick had as a head coach, Kosar set a league record by throwing 308 consecutive passes without an interception between 1990 and 1991 -- yet didn't have much support around him. A broken ankle in 1992 caused Kosar to fall out of favor with Belichick, and the head coach signed Vinny Testaverde in 1993.
Cleveland released Kosar midway through the 1993 season. Kosar completed 61.8% of his passes for 5,864 yards with 34 touchdowns to 19 interceptions (86.3 rating) in 34 games with Cleveland (29 starts).
Mike Tomczak
- Starting QB: 1992 (Browns)
- Record: 4-4
Signed to be a backup in the 1992 season, Tomczak filled in for Kosar after a broken ankle cost him half the year. Tomczak completed 57.1% of his passes as a starter, throwing for 1,552 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions (80.1 rating).
Vinny Testaverde
- Starting QB: 1993-1995 (Browns)
- Record: 17-16
Testaverde is one of just two quarterbacks to start more than 10 games under Belichick and have a winning record, leading Belichick to his only playoff victory without Tom Brady in 1994. While Testaverde never made a Pro Bowl under Belichick, he led the league in yards per completion in 1993 (13.8).
In 37 games with the Browns, Testaverde completed 57.9% of his passes for 7,255 yards with 47 touchdowns and 37 interceptions (80.9 rating). He led the Browns to their last playoff victory prior to last season.
Todd Philcox
- Starting QB: 1992-1993 (Browns)
- Record: 2-3
Filling in for an injured Testaverde, Philcox struggled in his four starts in 1993. He completed just 48.1% of his passes for 699 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions (54.5 rating). He also threw for three touchdowns in his lone start in 1992.
Mark Rypien
- Starting QB: 1994 (Browns)
- Record: 2-1
Rypien filled in for Testaverde (injury) but the former Super Bowl MVP never completed more than 50% of his passes or threw for over 200 yards in any of his three starts. Rypien completed 43.9% of his passes for 436 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions (57.8 rating).
Eric Zeier
- Starting QB: 1995 (Browns)
- Record: 1-3
A third-round pick in the 1995 NFL draft, Belichick had Zeier throw 100 times in his first two NFL starts for the injured Testaverde. With the Browns relocation controversy taking center stage and the team in a free-fall, Zeier didn't have a chance. He completed 50.9% of his passes for 864 yards with four touchdowns to nine interceptions in seven games for the Browns (51.9 rating).
Drew Bledsoe
- Starting QB: 2000-2001 (Patriots)
- Record: 5-13
Bledsoe made three Pro Bowls prior to Belichick's arrival, and wasn't poor statistically under Belichick. He completed 59% of his passes for 3,691 yards with 19 touchdowns to 15 interceptions (77.1 rating). Bledsoe signed a then-record 10-year, $103 million contract in February 2001, so Belichick had no intention of benching him -- until Mo Lewis sheared a blood vessel in Bledsoe's chest and Tom Brady replaced him in Week 2 of the 2001 season.
Bledsoe actually replaced an injured Brady in the AFC Championship Game later that season and led the Patriots to the win, completing 10 of 21 passes for a touchdown (Brady had gone 12 of 18 for 115 yards before the injury). The Patriots traded Bledsoe to the Buffalo Bills in the 2002 offseason.
Matt Cassel
- Starting QB: 2008 (Patriots)
- Record: 10-5
Cassel, a seventh-round draft pick in 2005, played the 2008 season in place of Brady, who tore his ACL in the first game of the year. The Patriots finished 11-5 in that 2008 season and missed the playoffs -- the only 11-win team to miss the postseason since the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams in 1990.
Cassel -- who had never started a game at quarterback in his college career, playing as a backup at USC -- completed 63.4% of his passes for 3,693 yards with 21 touchdowns to 11 interceptions (89.4 rating). He was sacked a league-high 47 times.
Jacoby Brissett
- Starting QB: 2016 (Patriots)
- Record: 1-1
Thanks to the "Deflategate" scandal that caused Brady to miss the first four games of 2016, Brissett got the start as Brady's backup. A 2016 third-round pick, Brissett completed 61.8% of his passes for 400 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in his two starts (83.9 rating). A thumb injury prevented Brissett from starting all four games of the suspension.
Jimmy Garoppolo
- Starting QB: 2016 (Patriots)
- Record: 2-0
Garoppolo filled in for Brissett and was even better. The 2014 second-round pick completed 68.3% of his passes for 402 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in his two starts (113.3 rating). Once considered the heir apparent to Brady, the Patriots traded Garoppolo in 2017 for a second-round pick.
Cam Newton
- Starting QB: 2020 (Patriots)
- Record: 7-8
The first starting quarterback of the post-Brady era, Newton was part of the Patriots finishing with their first losing record since 2000. He completed 65.8% of his passes for 2,657 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions (82.9 rating) -- and rushed for 592 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Newton also set the Patriots' record for most rushing attempts (137) and rushing yards (592) in a season. He was released prior to the start of the 2021 season.
Brian Hoyer
- Starting QB: 2020 (Patriots)
- Record: 0-1
Newton had to miss a start due to COVID-19, and the longtime Patriots backup filled the void. Hoyer completed 15 of 24 passes (60.5%) for 130 yards with no touchdowns and an interception (59.4 rating) in his only start for New England.
Mac Jones
- Starting QB: 2021 (Patriots)
- Record: 1-2
The only first-round quarterback Belichick has ever taken, Jones has been the best of the rookie quarterbacks in his three career starts. He's completed 67.5% of his passes for 737 yards with two touchdowns to three interceptions (79.1 rating), as the Patriots have a bottom 10 offense in points scored and passing touchdowns.
Jones is the long-term quarterback for the Patriots, seeking to turn around Belichick's career post-Brady. Belichick is just 26-30 as the Patriots' head coach without Brady -- and 8-11 since Brady left for Tampa Bay.
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