Nobody wants to hear it anymore, but Tom Brady is still here, and is doing things that are completely unprecedented.
To this point in the NFL season, Tom Brady has established himself as the favorite and front runner for the league’s MVP award. What Tom Brady is doing at age 44 is absolutely mind-boggling. He’s playing arguably better than he ever has, and the numbers back it up.
Through seven games Tom Brady leads the NFL in touchdown passes (21), completed passes (203), passing yards (2,275), passing yards per game (325.0), and first downs (125). He’s second in the NFL in QBR (69.4), and second in the NFL in EPA/Play (0.282).
To put this in perspective, Brady’s best NFL season is mostly known as 2007. That was the season in which Brady tossed 50 touchdown passes. At that point it was an NFL record. Well, through seven games this season, Brady is on pace for 51 touchdown passes. I know there is an extra game on the schedule this season, but to put up these impressive numbers at his age is just down right phenomenal.
Sure, there has been other worthy candidates to enter the MVP conversation, guys like Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Matthew Stafford have had superb years. But, Brady at age 44, is continuing to light the world on fire week-after-week. Brady hasn’t had the luxury of having a top-10 defense in the NFL this season. The Tampa Bay Bucs defense has been mediocre to say the least, as they have been riddled with injuries throughout their secondary. This team is no longer a defensive juggernaut, as they have allowed 25 or more points in three games this season.
Brady has also been dealt with injuries with key personnel on the offense. Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, and Giovani Bernard have all missed time at some point this season. Despite the injuries, Brady’s offense leads the NFL in points, and are third in points per game. Tampa’s offense also ranks first in the NFL in EPA/Play (0.194).
If it wasn’t for Tom Brady this Bucs team would likely be sitting with 2-3 wins.
Tom Brady is undoubtedly the greatest football player of all time. But, to me this was established in 2016 when Brady came back from a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl LI. Now, he’s chasing the goal of being the most accomplished athlete in team sports history. He added to his accolades this past Sunday, as he tossed his 600th career touchdown pass, which is the most in NFL history.
There is still plenty of time left in the NFL season, but right now, Tom Brady has played better than anyone else, and is currently the leader in the MVP race.
But, when it comes to Tom Brady we all know what he is really after.