Will any QB ever win as many Super Bowls as Tom Brady?
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. You can make an argument Aaron Rodgers has more skill or Peyton Manning was better at pre-snap play calling, but everyone usually defaults to Brady as being the most well-rounded QB. The one thing no other player has on him is the number of rings he has. He currently has 7. The next closest quarterbacks are Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, both with 4. Will this record ever be broken? I say no. Besides his crazy high level of skill, Brady has also been one of the luckiest players to ever set foot on an NFL field. A lot of people think you manufacture your own luck by working hard. I am not talking about that kind of luck, more the actual “how the hell did that end up working out in our favor” kind. Brady had a full tank of that his whole career.
Weak AFC East
In order to make it to the playoffs, you have to either win your division or secure a wild card spot. Everyone knows this. Some divisions are easier to win than others though and during Brady’s time at New England the AFC East was a constant disaster.
While at New England, Tom Brady went a combined 87-22 against AFC East teams. That means during his 20 year stint in NE, he collected 4.35 wins/year in his division alone. I know this is an oversimplification, but basically every year he started 4-2. In a 16 game season, you usually only need 9 wins to at least get a WC spot. His weak division got him halfway there.
Continuing on the downright garbage the AFC East was during a majority of Tom’s tenure in New England, 7 different seasons 2 teams in the AFC East had double digit numbers in the L column. No other AFC East team had continued success while Brady was there. A few teams would come alive and have a decent year or two, but they never kept it going. As soon as Buffalo started showing signs of an up-and-coming program, Tom left (can’t say I blame him though).
Historical Defense
Bill Belichick is the greatest defensive mind of all time. When opposing players are admitting to seeing ghosts on the field because of how well you disguise your packages, you know you’re doing something right. Obviously, Tom didn’t have anything to do with the defensive side of the ball, but he greatly benefited from it. 9 times he went into the playoffs with a top 5 scoring defense. It’s a whole lot easier to win football games if the other team can’t score.
Speaking of opposing team scoring, Brady’s defenses allowed 20.59 ppg in his playoff starts. That is a pretty strong regular season number, but Brady received that help in the playoffs. For comparison, other all-time greats didn’t receive the same level of assistance. Aaron Rodgers, a guy who has recently run into playoff difficulty, consistently gets little to no help from his defense. His defense has let up 26 ppg in his playoff starts, almost a full touchdown more than New England’s. Drew Brees is another quarterback who has been shafted by his defense. New Orleans gave up 25.22 ppg in his playoff career there.
Playoff Luck
Tom Brady is one of two players ever to have a winning playoff record in games with a QBR lower than 80. He’s 11-7 in such matches (Russell Wilson is the other at 3-2). This means in games he objectively performed badly to average, he still won 61% of the time. Other guys weren’t so lucky. Dan Marino was 1-9 in the same situation, Brett Favre was 1-7, Donovan McNabb was 1-6 and the beloved Joe Montana was 2-4. When you play poorly and still win it has nothing to do with you or your skill in that game, it has more to do with how often the rest of your team bailed you out. Brady has been bailed out more than most.
There has also been a number of head-scratching plays called by opposing teams in Tom’s playoff career. Everyone remembers the Seattle Seahawks decision to throw the ball from the goal line instead of giving it to one of the “brusiest” running backs of all-time, Marshawn Lynch. Russell Wilson doesn’t throw that HORRIBLE interception and Brady has to give one of those rings back.
Everyone also remembers the infamous “Tuck Rule” game between New England and the Oakland Raiders. If the umpire doesn’t switch that call, the Raiders take the ball and secure the game. Instead, the umpire gave it back to Brady, New England drove down the field and kicked a field goal to force overtime, where they eventually won. The list seemingly goes on and on. If Dee Ford isn’t offside (did not affect the play whatsoever) in the 2018 AFC Championship Game, Tom’s interception stands, and the Chiefs send the Patriots packing.
Tom being Tom
I know those moments are all what if situations and I probably come across as “salty” for writing this blog. The point isn’t to diminish Tom’s career. Again, he is arguably the greatest of all-time. The point is to show you how much has to go right if you want to win as many championships as Brady has and how a record like that will never be repeated. At the end of the day, we just have to tip our caps and realize he has had an otherworldly presence on his side us mere mortals can’t compete with.