One of the more frustrating arguments during Tom Brady’s tenure with the Patriots was the fact that many questioned what he accomplished given who he battled to get there.
The “AFC Least” is the argument people made year after year, saying that Brady had an easy road in the division to get to the postseason. When he got to the postseason, they said either his opponent or the opposition’s coaching staff was inferior, diminishing the road to the title game.
In his previous Super Bowls, most recently in New England where he beat Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and Jared Goff, they criticized the coaching by Pete Carroll, Dan Quinn, and Sean McVay with others also pointing out that Brady hasn’t ever had to face the likes of Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees in-route to a Super Bowl title.
It’s safe to say, they should be silent moving forward.
What Brady accomplished on Sunday night is nothing short of remarkable and how he got there should quiet the doubters. He went out and won three straight games on the road, which included barreling through Brees and Rodgers to get there.
Beating Rodgers is probably even more impressive given that the showdown took place at Lambeau Field, which like Brady at Gillette Stadium, it’s a place where the Packers quarterback almost never loses.
Well, Brady certainly took care of that.
The trifecta took place Sunday night, with the “experts” believing the changing of the guard was up next and they expected Patrick Mahomes to spoil Brady’s amazing story and see the Chiefs win back-to-back titles, something the man he was facing had been the last to accomplish.
Instead, Brady had one of his best games of the postseason, missing on just 8 passes all night as the offense put up 31-points, which saw Brady toss three touchdown strikes in a dominating effort. He got some help from the defense, which completely shut Mahomes down, holding the high-powered Kansas City offense to just three field goals.
But make no mistake, unlike Mahomes, Brady did a terrific job of overcoming everything the Chiefs did to try and confuse him. He was in command all night, adjusting out of plays at the line and putting Tampa Bay in good positions as the Buccaneers had no trouble moving the football and putting up points.
Some of the discussions on Monday morning centered around people placing most of the credit for the Buccaneers defensive effort, which was certainly one for the ages given how miserable they were able to make Mahomes all game. But this wasn’t another 13-3 effort like it was against the Rams two years ago. Regardless of what the defense did, Brady didn’t take his foot off the gas and as Tampa Bay reached the 31-point mark, there was never any doubt that the Buccaneers would walk away with the win.
Brady gave them credit, especially for the fact that they stepped up when it mattered most and played a big role during their historic run.
“They stepped up to the challenge,” said Brady of his defense after Sunday night’s win. “You go up against a guy like Pat [Mahomes] – incredible player – Aaron [Rodgers] – MVP – two weeks ago [and] they played incredible. Drew [Brees] they played great. They stepped up. They rose to the occasion. We needed it because we were playing extremely talented offenses. Just so happy we all came to play tonight.”
We’ve seen games where teams have had terrific defensive performances and lost the game due to not having a quarterback like Brady to compliment their effort. Great quarterbacks simply know how to win, which the future Hall of Famer did Sunday night.
At the end of the day, Brady accomplished a historic mark after winning his 7th title, putting him all alone in that category ahead of every NFL franchise, including his former team. He also did it having to win four-in-a-row for the first time in his career as a Wild Card, while marching through an unbelievable group of names to do it.
They say to be the best, you have to beat the best. He was already there before the game started but beating Mahomes put the cherry on top of an incredible playoff run. It’s safe to say, this was easily the toughest road of Brady’s NFL career and one that should now solidify the legacy of a player who is simply the best ever. Period.
Whether the critics like it or not.
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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.
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Thanks for a Fantastic summation of the challenges Brady had to overcome to win his 7th Superbowl title. Brady is the GOAT!!
Appreciate that. People have already said he’s never beaten anyone to win it all. It’s safe to say, this was definitely the toughest road yet and he got it done. Good stuff.