Tom Brady is the greatest player in the history of the NFL, and while some of those years came in the twilight of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady will forever be known for his time with the New England Patriots. During their Week 1 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Patriots will be honoring the recently retired Brady. It is a welcomed and necessary sight after a bittersweet ending to his tenure in New England. With the Patriots celebrating their future Hall of Fame quarterback, we decided to look back at the 10 greatest Tom Brady Patriots moments of all time.
10. Patriots overcome two 14-point deficits in the AFC Divisional Round
Tom Brady is not only the greatest quarterback of all time, but he is also arguably the greatest quarterback ever when it comes to orchestrating comeback wins. His 46 fourth-quarter comebacks are the most of all time. One of his best comebacks was actually two comebacks. On Jan. 10, 2015, in the Divisional Round, Brady and the New England Patriots trailed 14-0 in the first quarter. This was not an insurmountable deficit, and there was plenty of time on the clock. Brady quickly went to work to tie the game back up, but then his squad once again gave up 14 straight.
The Patriots trailed 28-14, and for the second time in the game, Brady had to stage a comeback. He did just that and won the game 35-31. It was an impressive display of offense by Brady, as the quarterback threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns despite his running backs only contributing 14 rushing yards, but it was an even more impressive display of resilience and perseverance, traits Brady was known for throughout his career.
9. Battle of the best: Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship Game
Patrick Mahomes has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in conversations with Tom Brady when it comes to their careers. Still, Mahomes is so talented that he is the one player people think has a chance to surpass Brady as the greatest of all time. Mahomes has a lot to accomplish before that happens, as Brady won a record seven Super Bowls, but fans got to see a preview of the old vs. new on Jan. 20, 2019.
The two best players in the league squared off in the AFC Championship Game, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl. Brady was able to prove he wasn't quite ready to pass the torch to Mahomes when he beat the Chiefs 37-31. The game itself was brilliant. The teams scored 24 points combined in the final three and half minutes of regulation as both quarterbacks tried to will their teams to victory, but it was the Patriots coming out victorious in overtime. For a good chunk of Brady's career, fans and analysts claimed the quarterback was past his prime and ready to slow down. He always delivered performances like this that would shut those critics up.
8. Perfect regular season
The New England Patriots' 2007 season was one of the best ever. Brady led an offensive powerhouse to a perfect 16-0 regular-season record, becoming the only team to ever have a 16-0 regular-season record. Brady threw 4,806 yards in the season, a number that was the second-most ever at the time. While the team wasn't able to bring home the Lombardi Trophy — they lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants — there were still plenty of highlights in the team's first 18 games. Brady captained arguably the best offense ever, and the Patriots' 2007 season can be looked at as one of the main reasons the NFL has become such a pass-heavy league. Brady revolutionized the game of football, and his 2007 season was one of the main parts of his career that highlighted this.
7. Pick 199
Brady is the ultimate underdog. He wasn't even a starter at Michigan until his junior year, and he wasn't drafted until Round 6 in the 2000 NFL Draft. It took until the 199th pick for Brady to hear his name called on draft night, and this went on to fuel Brady's career. He started off his career fourth on the Patriots' depth chart, and he was always underestimated in his career. Most players drafted as late as him end up fizzling out of the league in a few years. Brady went on to become the undisputed greatest football player of all time. The chip on his shoulder that Brady played at was part of what made him so great.
6. First Super Bowl victory in a decade
Quickly into his career, Tom Brady established the New England Patriots as a dynasty. He won three Super Bowls in four years during his first five seasons in the league. However, after Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots didn't win a Super Bowl for a decade. Brady and the Patriots lost the Big Game twice during that time, and the magic appeared to be fading. But in typical Brady fashion, the quarterback hushed the doubters by starting a second run of Super Bowl victories.
This started in Super Bowl XLIX with a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Brady had to overcome the league's most dominant defense, the Legion of Boom, a defensive unit that led the Seahawks to a dominant 43-8 Super Bowl win the year prior. The Patriots win re-sparked Brady's career as he went on to win three more Super Bowls to bring his total to seven victories.
5. Tuck Rule Game
While Tom Brady had lots of moments of brilliance over his career, he also had times of controversy. The Tuck Rule Game was an example of both. In his first career playoff start, Brady played the Oakland Raiders in a blizzard. Trailing with less than two minutes to play, Brady seemingly fumbled the ball and lost the game for the Patriots. Instead, the ruling was overturned. It was decided that Brady had tucked the ball, and the result of the play was instead an incompletion.
Given a second chance, Brady and the Patriots tied the game five plays later before winning in overtime. The game is what started it all for Brady. It was his first playoff win and sparked his first Super Bowl run. It is one of the defining moments of his career and a prime example of why he was hated by many fans but respected by all.
4. Single-season touchdown record
The 2007 Patriots offense was arguably the greatest of all time, and it was, of course, led by their megastar quarterback. Brady passed for a then-record 50 touchdowns in the season, an unfathomable amount at the time. Brady and Randy Moss formed one of the best connections ever as the pair connected on 23 touchdowns, a number that still stands as the record for receiving touchdowns in a season.
3. Five touchdowns in one quarter
Tom Brady was very good for a very long time, but his career was by no means only a product of longevity. He had lots of individual moments of dominance throughout his career, and a prime example of that was on Oct. 18, 2009. In the game against the Tennessee Titans, Brady delivered one of the biggest butt-whoopings of all time. He threw six total touchdowns in a 59-0 blowout win over the Titans. Five of those touchdowns came in the second quarter alone. Had Brady not been pulled for the majority of the second half, he likely would have gone on to break every record in the book. The game was Brady's sixth back from a season-ending ACL injury the year before and proved that the setback wasn't going to hold him back.
2. Super Bowl XXXVI game-winning drive
The Super Bowl that started it all. Brady won his first Super Bowl in a Brady-esque fashion. With 1:30 left to play, Brady led a nine-play, 53-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal. Brady was still somewhat of an unknown at this point, but the victory catapulted him into superstardom. His Patriots were major underdogs in the game to the Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams. The Patriots would rarely be underdogs again when led by Brady over the next two decades.
1. 28-3
Brady was at his best with his back against the wall. This was on full display in Super Bowl LI, when the New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 late in the third quarter. Throughout the rest of the game, Brady continuously marched his team down the field. Brady was named the Super Bowl MVP after leading his team to victory in the only overtime in Super Bowl history. Brady was 43-for-62 for 466 yards and two touchdowns in the largest Super Bowl comeback in NFL history.
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