Brady and Brees at season’s peak, have their first playoff tango
The NFL has never seen anything quite like this: two legendary quarterbacks, both in their 40s, starting in the same playoff game. Tom Brady, generally regarded now as Greatest Of All Time, vs. Drew Brees, who might be second or third GOAT. So it’s Duel of the Greats, Sunday evening in the Superdome. Matchup of the ages, and of the aged, with Tampa Tom 43 and New Orleans’ Brees on Friday turning 42. This is the first time they will have met in a postseason.
“I guess it was inevitable,” Brees told ESPN. “The minute that he signed with the Bucs and came in the (NFC South) division, you felt like that was gonna be a team to contend with. That was gonna be a team that had playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us.”
The records – Saints 12-4, Bucs 11-5 – and the players’ stats would indicate a smooth journey for Brees and Brady. The Buccaneers’ gunslinger has thrown 40 touchdowns, to 12 interceptions. Brees, a more cautious thrower, has missed four games – rushed back before 11 fractured ribs had healed – but still has 26 TDs, just 6 interceptions.
But for all their obvious brilliance, America has not been entirely satisfied. There’s been much bemoaning about Brady losing his nerve and Brees losing distance.
Whatever critics may say, there are probably no NFL coaches who would rank either lower than top ten among quarterbacks in the sport. We are lucky to have them still performing at near their historic peaks.
The Saints and Buccaneers have played twice this season, with New Orleans winning the season opener, 34-23 in the Dome, and even more decisively, 38-3, in Tampa two months ago. Brees has been far more efficient, throwing 6 touchdowns to 0 interceptions, to Brady’s ratio of 2/5.
Brees, in his 16th season in New Orleans, all with one head coach, Sean Payton, has been consistently accurate and efficient. Brady has struggled to mesh with a new team after spending his previous 20 years with the New England Patriots.
Brady played so poorly in September and October that he was a target not only of football pundits but by his own coach, Bruce Arians, who faulted him for not seeing open targets and for misfiring when he did see them.
But neither Arians nor anyone else has found much fault with Brady’s performance in December and January.
Brandon Marshall, former All-Pro receiver, said Monday on FoxSports1’s First Things First: “At the beginning of the season, I wondered about Tom Brady. ‘Where’s the zip? Where’s the spin? Where’s your mobility in the pocket?’ But when I look at where he’s at now, I think he’s on his way to the next Super Bowl.”
One key development is the increasing reliance on the troubled but Hall of Fame-talented receiver Antonio Brown. In Tampa’s 31-23 Wild Card victory over Washington, Brown scored the game’s first touchdown, a 36-yarder from Brady. In the final game of the regular season he caught 11 passes for 138 yards and 2 TDs.
Dan Orlovsky, former NFL quarterback who’s now an analyst for ESPN, said that Brown, who seemed hesitant and slow in his early appearances with Tampa Bay, “has settled into the rhythm of this offense. He’s winning on routes, seeing the field the same way as Tom Brady. In the last five games, Brady has a completion percentage of 77 on throws to AB – 10.4 yards per attempt, 5 touchdowns.”
The Buccaneers still aren’t a fully synchronized football machine. Brady was having consistent success with Pro Bowl slot receiver Chris Godwin – until he dropped four passes Saturday.
The offensive line has had Brady squawking at times, but his protection was almost flawless against a Washington front four that will some day be the best in the NFL if it isn’t already. The Football Team’s Chase Young, who had shouted, “I want Tom Brady,” never could get him. He tried both edges, but Tampa’s tackles, the veteran Donovan Smith and rookie Tristan Wirfs, blocked him at every turn.
And on the few occasions when Brady was pressured, he did not flinch, but bought enough time to deliver. He passed for 381 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT and did not seem bothered by 3 sackings.
Brees had a less eventful experience in a 21-9 cruise past the outmanned Chicago Bears in Sunday’s Wild Card. He was 28-of-39 for 265 yards. Like Brady he had 2 touchdowns and no picks.
More important than the numbers, the all-time NFL leader in passing yards threw easily and far against Chicago. He showed full range of motion, with ribs seeming to be no issue.
He even showed improvisation and youthful athleticism with a 6-yard touchdown pass to running back Latavius Murray late in the third quarter. Under heavy pressure and with his first two reads not materializing, Brees fled the pocket and dumped off to Murray wheeling out of the backfield.
If Brees makes it to the Super Bowl, it will almost certainly be his final game. Brady, however, intends to play at least one more year, regardless of how this one turns out.
