Clutch Tom Brady
August 21st, 2021
Tom Brady
At one point last year in the Bucs’ win over the Chargers at home, the Bucs trailed 24/7 in the second quarter.
And the Bucs won that game 38-31.
Coming from behind is nothing new for a guy like park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, helmet-tossing, football-punting, Bucs-Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady.
It seems from a Twitter account that documents all things Brady, when Brady falls behind by two scores, it is not unusual at all for him to bring his team back.
Record when down by 10 or more points at any point of the game (playoffs included)
Tom Brady: 36-55 (.396)
Peyton Manning: 29-63 (.315)
Aaron Rodgers: 13-46 (.220)— Tom Brady Facts (@TB_Facts) August 20, 2021
The first thing that jumped out at Joe about these stats? Drama queen Aaron Rodgers is such a front runner. When he’s down by double-digits, he turns into bratty Jay Cutler.
(Go back and watch the Packers-Bucs game where the Bucs thrashed the Packers in October. Rodgers sure looked like Cutler with his white flag body language in the second half. He totally packed in it when Ndamukong Suh started ragdolling him.)
But how awesome is it that in Brady’s career, whenever his team spots an opponent a 10-point lead (or more), Brady rallies his teams back to win 40 percent of the time. That’s unreal.
The come-from-behind win over the Chargers last year was almost another day at the office for Brady.
August 21st, 2021 at 8:45 am
Tom Brady anthem to the rest of the league:
And this one is for the champions
I ain’t lost since I began, yuh
Funny how you said it was the end, yuh
Then I went did it again, yuh
August 21st, 2021 at 8:47 am
Not a good thing to get 10 or more behind…..40% is a far cry from 100%…..but, at least if we do get behind….we’ve still got a chance to win with TB.
August 21st, 2021 at 8:48 am
2:12 left 3rd quarter; 28 to 3
August 21st, 2021 at 11:13 am
And that’s a Super Bowl
August 21st, 2021 at 11:24 am
Week 15 vs atl was another one. Down 24-7 midway thru 3rd quarter only to win 31-27. The season was on the line at that point.
August 21st, 2021 at 11:32 am
Interesting that you used the Chargers game as the example of Tom Brady leading us to a come-from-behind win Joe. That was one of my favorite games during last season.
Bucs trailed 24-7 with less than 1 minute left in the 1st half. One of the reasons for us being behind was Michael Davis’ 78-yd Pick-6 in the 1st qtr. But then, with only 38 seconds remaining in the half, Chargers fumbled (forced by Ndamukong Suh and recovered by Devin White) & the Bucs’ offense had it at the Chargers’ 6-yd line. After 2 incomplete passes, Brady hit ME13 for the TD & the Bucs were back in it 24-14 at the half … with momentum on their side.
Our offense AND our defense were both on fire in the 2nd half half. Brady hit OJ deep for a TD after our defense shut down the Chargers on their 1st drive. Brady then hit Miller deep for a TD on our 2nd possession, after the Chargers missed a long FG attempt. Brady then hit Vaughn for a TD on our 3rd possession (after our defense gave up a TD). We followed that up with a FG from the Chargers’ 7-yd line, after our defense shut them down & forced a punt. Our defense followed that up with an INT to let our offense close out the game.
Tom Brady has almost always had great defenses working with him, both here and at New England. And IMO that’s a HUGE reason for him being the Comeback King. He’s a master at taking advantage of opportunities as they arise, opportunities very often created by his defense forcing takeaways. Hmmm, some might even call that COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL.
August 21st, 2021 at 11:35 am
.396? Huh, he’s a super sport engine…
August 21st, 2021 at 11:35 am
I wonder what his record is when trailing in games that count, ie, pre-season games. I’ll bet it’s a good bit higher. Tom’s middle name is CLUTCH. it’s right on his birth certificate.
August 21st, 2021 at 11:38 am
DUH! I meant POSTseason games of course! My middle name is not CLUTCH…. Sadly, it’s CHOKE! LOL!
August 21st, 2021 at 11:52 am
Personally I am still waiting to see Brady lead us on a late game winning drive in the 2 minute drill. Very rarely will you see a team go all the game without pulling one out late like that…….But thats just how dominate the Buccaneers were.
If I remember right Brady only had one situation like that all year and came up short when he forgot how to count to 4 in Chicago.
August 21st, 2021 at 12:33 pm
Don”t forget about Falcons game 1, down by 17 and looking like warm moist garbage.
August 21st, 2021 at 12:35 pm
Defense rules:
When is the defense win multi SB during the last 2 decades? No team can do it.
If TB always has a great defense, he cannot have 90 games falling behind 10 points like that!
And the reason why he has good Not great defense? Because all avenues went to the defense!
August 21st, 2021 at 1:24 pm
Mike
I think DR’s final sentence say’s it all, “complementary football”.
To get to the final dance, you gotta have at least excellence in one phase and competency in the other.
When looking back at the excellence -vs- competency of previous SB teams I think you will find more winners with an excellent defense.
I don’t think there’s ever been a winner with a less than competent D.
We DID win in ’02 with a very pedestrian O.
We are currently looking at a team with the promise of excellence on both sides of the ball.
If they can keep that promise, this is going to be one he!! of a season!
August 21st, 2021 at 2:16 pm
Mike … Didn’t mean to imply that it’s defense winning Super Bowls; that rarely happens. I’m a big believer that today’s NFL requires at least a modicum of BALANCE between offense & defense to win championships. And when teams have that balance, they tend to play very good complementary football IMO.
I’ve looked at Tom Brady’s career stats before, but took another look just for grins. If you disregard 2000 when he only started 1 game for the Pats, he started as their QB for 19 years. Over those years, his offenses ranked from #1 (actually 3 times) to a low of #12 . His AVERAGE ranking was #5 NFL offense (based on Points Scored). His offenses were obviously excellent at scoring points, ranging from a high of 589 Pts Scored in 2007 (they lost the SB that year) to a low of 348 Pts Scored in 2003 (they won the SB that year). His offenses AVERAGED 445 Points Scored per year over 19 years … Impressive. Never had a losing season, won 6 SBs, and played in a total of 9 SBs in that span of 19 years (almost 50% … scary good).
But look at the defenses that supported him. Over those years, his defenses ranked from #1 (also 3 times) to a low of #17 . His AVERAGE ranking was #7 NFL defense (based on Points Allowed). His defenses were obviously excellent at keeping opponents’ offenses at bay, ranging from a high of 346 Pts Allowed in 2002 to a low of 225 Pts Allowed in 2019 (Tom’s last year with the Pats). His defenses AVERAGED 295 Points Allowed over those 19 years … Equally impressive IMO.
As an aside Mike, I believe that Giveaways & Takeaways tell a huge story, boiling down to Turnover Differential of course. Looking at Tom Brady’s 19 years with the Pats, they had a total of 358 Giveaways over that timespan, for an AVERAGE of a tad less than 19 Giveaways per season. The Pats had 571 Takeaways over those same 19 years, right at an AVERAGE of 30 Takeaways per season. That PLUS-11 TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL is a big reason for the Pats’ success over those years. They had a QB who protected the ball quite well plus a defense that was very successful in taking the ball away from opponents (and Brady capitalized on that very effectively). Again it’s called COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL, and he’s a master at it far as I’m concerned.
August 21st, 2021 at 4:38 pm
Defense Rules- stop making so much sense!!!
August 21st, 2021 at 5:52 pm
Good numbers. Remember though historically Brady has also had above average defenses too.
August 22nd, 2021 at 12:27 pm
In 2011 TB got Pats to Super Bowl w 31st ranked defense. Suh said Brady is very important to defense bc his efficient scoring and low turnover keeps defense fresh. Often playing from ahead they can be more aggressive. Most fans miss the bigger picture.