Heading into Saturday’s showdown with the Chiefs, Tom Brady and the Patriots have their work cut out for them against a Kansas City team who will likely give them a tough battle when the two compete for the right to advance to the AFC Championship.
After what happened during Wild Card weekend, one of the biggest storylines came down to the teams and quarterbacks who played their best football in the second half and upon further review, that’s an area where Brady has completely blown away the competition during the postseason over his career.
Going back to 2000, Brady has thrown nearly double the amount of touchdowns compared to the next closest quarterbacks by a wide margin in the final two quarters, showing just how clutch of a player he is when it comes to putting the pressure on teams in the second half.
Here’s a quick rundown of how it breaks down:
SECOND HALF PLAYOFF PERFORMANCES (Since 2000):
*via Pro-Football-Reference.com
1) Tom Brady 355/555 (64%) 3795yds 27 TDs, 15 INT’s
2) Peyton Manning 280/437 (64.1%) 3118yds 15 TDs, 11 INTs
3) Donovan McNabb 175/299 (58.5%) 1986yds 14 TDs, 10 INTs
4) Drew Brees 158/237 (66.7%) 1922yds 14 TDs, 1 INT
5) Ben Roethlisberger 140/218 (64.2%) 1691yds 13 TDs, 7 INTs
6) Joe Flacco 131/226 (58%) 1636yds, 11 TDs, 8 INTs
7) Matt Hasselbeck 126/211 (59.7%) 1556 10 TDs, 6 INTs
8) Aaron Rodgers 129/203 (63.5%) 1521 12 TDs, 2 INTs
9) Kurt Warner 119/175 (68%) 1499yds 9 TDs, 4 INTs
10) Philip Rivers 87/148 (58.8%) 1251 8 TDs, 5 INTs
The biggest number that stands out how strong Brady has been in the third quarter of play, with Brady using that time to help New England take control after totaling 15 touchdowns, which again, was nearly twice the number of the next closest quarterback:
3RD QUARTER PLAYOFF PASSING (Since 2000):
*via Pro-Football-Reference.com
1) Tom Brady: 167/250 (66.8%) 1824yds 15 TDs, 6 INTs
2) Peyton Manning: 138/204 (67.6%) 1357yds 8 TDs, 4 INTs
3) Donovan McNabb 93/159 (58.5%) 981yds 4 TDs, 5 INTs
4) Drew Brees 75/106 (70.8%) 913yds 6 TDs, 0 INTs
5) Joe Flacco 61/103 (59.2%) 830yds 6 TDs 2 INTs
6) Matt Hasselbeck 70/103 (68%) 810yds 4 TDs, 0 INTs
7) Ben Roethlisberger 72/108 (66.7%) 810yds 5 TDs, 3 INTs
8) Aaron Rodgers 60/102 (58.8%) 740yds 6 TDs, 1 INTs
9) Andrew Luck 42/67 (62.7%) 628yds 5 TDs, 4 INTs
10) Brett Favre 51/81 (63%) 602yds 4 TDs, 4 INTs
Overall since 2001, New England has outscored opponents 176-149 during the 3rd quarter in the postseason, including 35-17 during their Super Bowl run following the 2014 regular season. That’s been one of the key areas where they’ve been able to take control of games and then deliver the knockout blow after outscoring their opponents 214-175 in the fourth quarter, with Brady throwing an NFL leading 12 touchdowns over that span.
Watching Sunday’s games, Tom Brady admitted that it comes down to players stepping up and playing well when it matters most, some guys can do it, while others struggle.
“When your whole season is on the line, there’s just a different level of pressure,” Brady told WEEI on Monday. “Some guys it gets the best out of you and some guys it doesn’t.”
Thankfully when it counts, Brady’s been that player here in New England.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
