If you’re a Patriots fan, I guarantee at some point during the late third, early fourth quarter of Saturday night’s divisional game that you had a ‘moment’ in regards to Tom Brady and what he’s been doing for so long now and what he seemingly will continue doing for the rest of time. I know I sure did.
When you watch Tom Brady play, once the game starts to wind down and it’s a blatant Patriots win, you can’t help but just sit back and laugh and reflect on just how lucky you are to have the privilege of watching someone like Brady perform on a weekly basis. After Brady made that insane lollipop toss to Amendola early in the fourth quarter, a wave of emotion hit me like a brick wall (this happens regularly and I’m sure you can relate).
I mean, come the heck on. A forty-year-old make that pass. A forty-year-old. Not just any forty-year-old, though. A forty-year-old who became the oldest quarterback in NFL history to merely start a playoff game, let alone win one. A forty-year-old who completed 37 of 53 passes for 337 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Not to mention, this was his tenth career postseason game in which he threw three touchdown passes, breaking his tie with his then-and-current idol Joe Montana for the record. Brady extended his record for most 300-yard playoff passing games with 13 Saturday evening.
After an unusual, sluggish start to the game in the first quarter, Brady and co. upped the tempo and set out on a fast-paced attack against the vulnerable Titans defense in the second quarter and turned the game completely around. In the days leading up to the game, Tennessee safety Kevin Byard said that he was going to make it his mission to make Brady look like Blake Bortles. How did that work out, you may ask? Brady posted a 139.6 passer rating when targeting the safety. When he was covering Rob Gronkowski, Byard was targeted four times, allowing four catches and a touchdown.
January 13 marked Brady’s 21st multi-TD playoff game; for the sake of comparison, Brett Favre had 15 and Montana had 14 such games. Brady has now thrown 66 postseason scores; again, for comparison’s sake, Montana threw 45 and Favre threw 44 in his playoff career. Brady also tacks on to his playoff passing yards record, now standing at 9,431 yards with Peyton Manning throwing for 7,339 yards as a distant second.
This was Brady’s 35th postseason start; he now sports a 26-9 record in January and February. Behind him, Montana had 16 wins. Brady has now played in 14 divisional playoff games and has won 12 of them, fittingly. He hasn’t made the AFC Championship Game only four times in his 17-year career. Sunday’s Championship game will be his seventh straight, extending his already-NFL record.
Since missing the playoffs in 2002 with an 11-5 record, Brady has missed the playoffs only once: the year in which he was sidelined for the season with a torn ACL in 2008.
Nothing to see here, just business as usual at 1 Patriot Place in Foxborough, MA. This is as cliche as it gets, but seriously – just think about how Drew Bledsoe went down back in 2001. Brady ended up being his permanent replacement and became easily the greatest quarterback of all time, and arguably the greatest NFL player of all time and one of the greatest athletes in the history of professional sports. All you can do is shake your head at this point. Sometimes I question whether or not he’s actually one of us. How one human being can do what he’s done for as long as he has and not show even a sliver of aging is beyond my personal comprehension.
Brady had his healthiest arsenal of weapons since probably Week 1 of the regular season, which meant an automatic win the second the Titans beat Kansas City a couple weekends ago. As a Patriots fan, I’m done arguing with people who hate Brady or attempt to downplay his legacy. I completely understand why he’s so hateable outside of New England. Like Tony Romo said, most people watch playoff Patriots games in hopes of watching the dynasty crumble. Little do they know, it won’t happen anytime soon. As long as Brady’s two legs and his right arm are attached to his body, this will not end. They’re going to keep winning. Brady will continue defying all odds. Most importantly, it will never get old.
Comments