Brady's Greatest NFL Career Moments

[sean10mm]

Man, this is tough.

36 was the first, they were huge underdogs, the whole thing just seemed impossible, and it set the stage for everything to follow. It's probably my sentimental pick.

51 was INSANE, but it wasn't a good game start to finish, it was 3 quarters of the Pats having everything go sideways and 1 quarter + OT of furious comeback out of nowhere. But it was 28-3! First OT Super Bowl win! How is it not #1?

49 was the best game, against the strongest opponent (they MURDERED pey-pey 43-8 the year before), just two strong teams just slugging it out without any bad reffing BS to stink the joint up, with a great 4th quarter comeback by Brady capped off with that insane pick after that insane Kearse catch made it look like they were hosed. That whole game was an A+ start to finish. The Seahawks were so easy to hate, but they were legit as hell and beating them felt GREAT. Plus it broke a 10 year title drought.

55 gets an honorable mention for proving Brady could win it all outside the almighty Belichick "system," plus Brady had to kill off every pretender to the GOAT throne back-to-back-to-back (Brees, Rodgers and then Mahomes) to get there. And every score was by somebody on the team because of Brady, as if it needed another cherry on top.

 

[venecol]

SB 49 for me. Crazy game, back and forth w/ an epic finish. Too many great memories in that one.

 

[crawhammer]

As far as the best "Unexpected Season", it may be far from his best statistically but 2013-2014 will always hold a special place in my heart, even if it sucks how it ended at the hands of Manning.

I mean, Brady loses Welker and Hernandez during the offseason, with Gronk's health a topic of continued concern. There were forecasts that the team would go 9-7, even, and I didn't think they'd do any better than 10-6. Then Wes's planned replacement in Amendola gets hurt in Game 1 and is consequently a shell of himself the entire year, and then a ton of major contributors (Wilfork, Vereen, Vollmer, Mayo, et.al) all get sidelined with injuries for extended periods of time. as the season goes on. Nonetheless, Tom essentially led the offense to a 12-4 record, with 5 of those being comebacks, with the ones against the Saints and the OT win against the Broncos being some of the fondest victories I can remember.

Brady worked his magic that season for sure with the 5 fourth quarter comebacks. Brady somehow made use of rookie's Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins (undrafted) that season. Both did absolutely nothing in their NFL careers after that 2013 season. It was a miracle that team made it to the AFCCG in a total mismatch with Peyton's Broncos (who set all sorts of passing records that season). On the bright side, it set up a Peyton beatdown at the hands of the Legion of Boom (who Brady would gloriously conquer the following season).

 

[crawhammer]

49 was the best game, against the strongest opponent (they MURDERED pey-pey 43-8 the year before), just two strong teams just slugging it out without any bad reffing BS to stink the joint up, with a great 4th quarter comeback by Brady capped off with that insane pick after that insane Kearse catch made it look like they were hosed. That whole game was an A+ start to finish. The Seahawks were so easy to hate, but they were legit as hell and beating them felt GREAT. Plus it broke a 10 year title drought.

That's the thing about this game too, who they beat, the Legion of Boom (aptly titled), who laid waste to Peyton's multi-record setting 2013 Broncos offense. Seattle's defense smacked around the Patriots offense pretty good in this one but they fought through it and prevailed in the 4th quarter. It was agonizing watching Seattle go right down the field on their final possession. The Malcolm pick was an unbelievable moment (that too I don't think Wilson has ever taken enough criticism for). Seattle may have been on the brink of their own dynasty there, but they blew it, and they never got back to that level again.

 

[crawhammer]

51 was INSANE, but it wasn't a good game start to finish, it was 3 quarters of the Pats having everything go sideways and 1 quarter + OT of furious comeback out of nowhere. But it was 28-3! First OT Super Bowl win! How is it not #1?

Yes, this game has a very obvious replay start, exactly after the Patriots fell behind 28-3. From then on out there's no better 25 minutes of Patriots football.

 

[Efstratios]

As far as favorite playoff runs, even if it didn't have as many "holy ****" moments as 2014, Brady's 2004-05 outing is one that I typically cite when pointing out just how dependable the guy was under center. Didn't throw a single pick in those 3 games, complimented the dominating performance Bill and that HOF defense put on by completely outclassing Peyton in the divisional, and then followed that up with a 130.5 QB rating game while an IV bag was lodged into his arm.

 

[1960Pats]

Yes, this game has a very obvious replay start, exactly after the Patriots fell behind 28-3. From then on out there's no better 25 minutes of Patriots football.

I went back and re-watched that game from the 28-3 point on. If the Falcons didn't pass the ball and ran the clock down for each play the Pats wouldn't have had enough time to catch up. One of the saddest videos I saw, I actually felt sorry for those fans, was this one;

atlanta falcons fans react to super bowl loss - Yahoo Video Search Results

The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

video.search.yahoo.com

 

[MahomestoKelce]

3rd and 14 to Edelman in SB 49. Seattle was up by ten. The Patriots were in their own territory. After Edelman caught that pass while getting destroyed, I don't remember one incomplete pass. They went down the field and got a TD. D holds. They go through the D again and get a TD. Then, the Butler pick.

I think the TD's get lost by some because of the Kearse catch and subsequent Butler pick. But Butler does not have a chance to be a hero if Brady doesn't have a near perfect quarter against an all time great D. Regardless, I would say Seattle likely wins if the Edelman catch does not happen. You would have no choice but to punt. And hope Seattle does not score anymore.

No SB win in 49 changes alot. Is Brady still the Goat today? Does three straight SB losses mean they can't get back to win the other two SB's?

On a side, the D was nearly perfect from the time Seattle went up 24-14 to the fluke Kearse catch. Not one single point given up.

I think his performance in SB 49 was actually better than the Atlanta SB.

 

[MahomestoKelce]

I went back and re-watched that game from the 28-3 point on. If the Falcons didn't pass the ball and ran the clock down for each play the Pats wouldn't have had enough time to catch up. One of the saddest videos I saw, I actually felt sorry for those fans, was this one;

atlanta falcons fans react to super bowl loss - Yahoo Video Search Results

The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

video.search.yahoo.com

Yeah this is why I don't put SB 51 as Brady's greatest game. In order to come back from a 28-3 deficit, the Patriots needed to be perfect. And they were. But you also need the Falcons to implode. And they did. Running the ball would have killed clock. NE runs out of time. Brady had a near perfect 4th quarter. But that is moot if Atlanta just runs the ball. Takes a knee three times. Anything vs what they did.

In SB 49, Seattle didn't really implode. Brady executed at a top notch level against an historic D. There was no dropped pick by Seattle. Or a guy missing a blatant tackle that lost it for them.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

3rd and 14 to Edelman in SB 49. Seattle was up by ten. The Patriots were in their own territory. After Edelman caught that pass while getting destroyed, I don't remember one incomplete pass. They went down the field and got a TD. D holds. They go through the D again and get a TD. Then, the Butler pick.

I think the TD's get lost by some because of the Kearse catch and subsequent Butler pick. But Butler does not have a chance to be a hero if Brady doesn't have a near perfect quarter against an all time great D. Regardless, I would say Seattle likely wins if the Edelman catch does not happen. You would have no choice but to punt. And hope Seattle does not score anymore.

No SB win in 49 changes alot. Is Brady still the Goat today? Does three straight SB losses mean they can't get back to win the other two SB's?

On a side, the D was nearly perfect from the time Seattle went up 24-14 to the fluke Kearse catch. Not one single point given up.

I think his performance in SB 49 was actually better than the Atlanta SB.

He had to look off Wagner on that throw.

 

[everlong]

It's SB 49 for me as well but I want to acknowledge this great moment as I feel it's been largely forgotten.

 

[crawhammer]

It's SB 49 for me as well but I want to acknowledge this great moment as I feel it's been largely forgotten.

I call it Brady's greatest pass...

Brady's greatest pass = 82-yard TD pass to Troy Brown in OT vs MIA in 2003

Obviously there are many to choose from, and I probably wouldn't argue against others, but this was just a perfect throw in a season full of 4th quarter victories and they needed all of them to secure the 1 seed that season.

 

[crawhammer]

He had to look off Wagner on that throw.

Brady was absolutely perfect in that 4th quarter and this was one of his better plays. Wagner was staring down Brady the entire play, and he had a good bead on the play, but Brady looked him off in a split second to get Wagner out of the line of the throw. Nice pop by Kam Chancellor on Edelman too. Anyone think Edelman wasn't concussed on that play?

 

[sb1]

2 years ago today.

The final minute… what a moment for the GOAT. Sent the Chiefs on the sad walk back to the locker room lol.

 

[Pats1971]

I went back and re-watched that game from the 28-3 point on. If the Falcons didn't pass the ball and ran the clock down for each play the Pats wouldn't have had enough time to catch up. One of the saddest videos I saw, I actually felt sorry for those fans, was this one;

atlanta falcons fans react to super bowl loss - Yahoo Video Search Results

The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

video.search.yahoo.com

People always say things after a loss of what they should have done and things like that. Atlanta had a MVP QB and all year what had got them there was their passing game, they were trying to put the game away with their best option on offense and the pats stopped them. People always try to diminish an accomplishment by saying the other team blew the game instead of a team won it. The amount of things the pats had to do in a short time frame and how perfect it had to be is nothing short of amazing and its pretty sad that this is overlooked by people saying what the falcons should have done over what the Pats actually did.

 

[sb1]

Even though Brady's stats were pedestrian in that game the win over the Pats in 2021 still has to be a career highlight for him. Didn't help that AB dropped a 30 yard TD pass and misplayed another one that would have been a TD pass.

I'm sure the win meant a lot to TB12 personally and it would have to BB too if it was the other way around.

 

[PatsWSB47]

Even though Brady's stats were pedestrian in that game the win over the Pats in 2021 still has to be a career highlight for him. Didn't help that AB dropped a 30 yard TD pass and misplayed another one that would have been a TD pass.

I'm sure the win meant a lot to TB12 personally and it would have to BB too if it was the other way around.

Personally I think Brady was a wreck internally going into that game. I think he's been more relaxed going into Superbowls. It was that big of a deal. Add in the coach who knew him better than anyone on the planet going up against him and it's no wonder the pressure of all that would effect his playing. Still he mustered up enough to win. Losing it would still be haunting him today.

 

[1960Pats]

People always say things after a loss of what they should have done and things like that. Atlanta had a MVP QB and all year what had got them there was their passing game, they were trying to put the game away with their best option on offense and the pats stopped them. People always try to diminish an accomplishment by saying the other team blew the game instead of a team won it. The amount of things the pats had to do in a short time frame and how perfect it had to be is nothing short of amazing and its pretty sad that this is overlooked by people saying what the falcons should have done over what the Pats actually did.

Of course it was an amazing comeback but that doesn't change the fact that the Falcons could have and should have salted that game away without giving the Pats any chance. The Pats were lucky as well as good.
After the completion to Jones at the 22 near the end all the Falcons had to do was run the ball to kill time, force the Pats to burn their timeouts and then kick a chip shot FG to put it out of reach. That was the reality of the situation.
Tom Brady was a great passer but he would have known enough to kill time there instead of trying to put the game away with passes that resulted in sacks and fumbles that gave the Pats the chances they needed.
Finally a question. Was Hightower's strip sack more of a great play by him or a missed assignment by the RB?

 

[1960Pats]

It's SB 49 for me as well but I want to acknowledge this great moment as I feel it's been largely forgotten.

That was the play where I heard an interview with one of the Miami DBs afterward and he said that he looked at hours and hours of film of Troy Brown and never saw him go that far down field. Gotcha!
That was also the game where the refs totally missed a Miami WR going out of bounds and it gave them a chance to win at the end of regulation.

 

[stinkypete]

I put this list together:

Brady's greatest regular season = 2007
Brady's greatest postseason = 2014
Brady's greatest overall season = 2016
Brady's greatest unexpected season = 2020
Brady's greatest postseason game = Super Bowl 49 (conquered the Legion of Boom)
Brady's greatest regular season game = Week 17, December 29, 2007 (capped off 16-0)
Brady's greatest quarter = 2nd quarter, October 18, 2009 (5 TD passes vs TEN)
Brady's greatest OT = Super Bowl 51 (completing 28-3 comeback vs ATL)
Brady's greatest pass = 82-yard TD pass to Troy Brown in OT vs MIA in 2003

What do others think? Also, answer the poll question. ty

I agree with most of those, but the 2002 game against the Bears remains my favorite regular season game from Brady.