Brady has stayed consistent throughout, and has become more than just a 2nd string "game manager" on a great team. And with every changing year, New England has stayed one of the league's elite for a reason. My guess is that it's not just luck. You're supposed to build around your star player, and surround him with the best talent available. And it's the QB's job to exceed with the given circumstances and help the team win (which Brady has proven).
The whole Cassel argument should be null (even though he played well) the guy came into a pretty good situation last year as the Patriots, like Miami, played a weak AFC and NFC West (with the exception of Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, both lossess). Or you can look at Cassel like Hostetler coming in for Simms, or Earl Morrall coming in for Griese.
Here's a list of some of the worst calls in sports history:
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/worstcalls/010730.htmlGranted, "the tuck" was a horrible call, but the call didn't exactly
win them the Super Bowl.
Oh, and was Aikman lucky with the Dallas/Minnesota trade?