Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning
Tom Brady’s
career began on the bench. After he was drafted in 2000, Brady was the 4th
string quarterback on opening day behind starter Drew Bledsoe and backups
Michael Bishop and John Friesz. The only game action he got was late in a
blowout versus the Lions in which he was 1 for 3 for 3 yards.
Brady worked up
to the 2nd string backup prior to the 2001 season but the highly
paid Bledsoe was the starter although head Coach Bill Belichick said that Brady
had the better training camp and preseason. The only thing that held Brady from
being the starter was inexperience. In the second game, Bledsoe took an
extremely hard hit from Mo Lewis and Brady was thrust into the lineup. Brady
started his career throwing 163 consecutive passes before an interception, an
NFL record. Brady quarterbacked a team led by a strong defense and led them to
an 11-5 record and the 2nd seed in the AFC playoffs. In his first
playoff game, the snow was coming on furiously against the Oakland Raiders.
Late in the game Brady had a career changing drive, leading the Patriots on a drive,
which he was 10 for 10 and ended by running into the end zone for a touchdown. The
next drive, the Patriots needed a field goal to send the game to overtime and
Charles Woodson came on a corner blitz and strip sacked Brady, his former
Michigan teammate. The play was reviewed by the officials and was determined an
incomplete pass under the tuck rule (Which was recently removed). Brady led
them to a field goal to tie the game and then in overtime, he led then on a
drive that culminated in a game winning field goal. The next week in
Pittsburgh, Brady was efficient until he suffered a brutal hit, which forced
him to leave the game, limping hard. Bledsoe came in and secured the win and a
trip to the Super Bowl. Belichick declared Brady as the starter for the Super
Bowl. By halftime, Brady had a touchdown pass to David Patten and the Patriots
led 14-3. The Rams staged a furious rally, bringing the score to 17-17 with a
1:21 remaining. The Patriots got the ball around their own 20 yard line with no
timeouts and the announcer at the time, John Madden said “You gotta play for
overtime”. Instead Brady engineered a legendary drive to set up a game winning
field goal and capturing his first ring and Super Bowl MVP honors. He was the
youngest quarterback to ever win Super Bowl MVP. It was the second greatest
upset in Super Bowl history.
In 2002, Brady
and the Patriots missed the playoffs, marking the only time in his career Brady
did not advance. He made the Pro Bowl, despite playing on a separated shoulder
and lost the tiebreaker for the division crown to the Miami Dolphins.
In 2003, Brady opened
the season against Drew Bledsoe and the Bills and got shutout 31-0, a game in
which Brady had 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns and 3 total. After a
couple of wins, the Patriots lost again, this time to the Washington Redskins
because of a horrible 4-interception performance by Brady. That marked the last
time the Patriots would lose that season, rolling off 12 straight wins
including a huge game against Manning and the Colts to clinch the number one
seed in the AFC. Brady then had a passing touchdown in the divisional round to
defeat the Titans 17-14. Next up were the pesky Colts and a high-octane
offense. Brady had 1 passing touchdown and beat the Colts 24-14 for a second
trip to the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl featured the Patriots vs. the Carolina
Panthers. After a scoreless 27 minutes for both teams, there was a scoring
frenzy and the Patriots went into halftime leading 14-10. After trading punches
throughout the second half, the Patriots found themselves in a Déjà vu
situation. 29-29, tie game with 1:08 remaining with a couple of timeouts. Brady
started at the 40 yard line but was backed up to the 30 after a penalty and led
the offense down for another game-winning field goal and capturing his second
ring. Brady set the record for most completions in a Super Bowl with 32 for 354
yards and 3 touchdowns along with an interception.
In 2004, the
Patriots started off undefeated until they were beat on Halloween by the
Steelers. Later in the season they would lose to the Miami Dolphins and capture
the second seed in the AFC at 14-2. In a snowy first playoff game at Foxboro,
Brady and the Patriots defeated Manning and the Colts and advanced to
Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. Brady was masterful throughout the game and
won the game 41-27, advancing to his third Super Bowl. Facing the Philadelphia
Eagles, Brady had 2 passing touchdowns and completed 11 to his go-to target
Deion Branch. The Patriots won 24-21.
In 2005, Brady
had a solid year leading the Patriots to 10-6 and the playoffs. However for the
first time in his career, Brady was sent home by the Denver Broncos, ending his
10 game playoff winning streak.
2006 was arguably
one of Brady’s finest years, though it does not seem that way on the stat
sheet. He was throwing to a depleted cast of receivers with his top four being
Troy Brown, Chargers castoff Reche Caldwell, Eagles castoff Jabar Gaffney, and
Doug Gabriel, who got cut by the team before the playoffs. In his first game,
Brady beat the Jaguars to advance to the divisional round against the top
seeded Chargers. Brady had 2 passing touchdowns but had a critical interception
late. However after the pick, Troy Brown stripped Marlon McCree of the ball and
Brady led the Patriots down for a game winning field goal on his second chance.
In the AFC Championship game, Brady faced his nemesis Peyton Manning and the
Colts. The Patriots led at halftime 21-6 and looked to be going to another
Super Bowl. However, Manning engineered a masterful comeback and Brady ended
the game with an interception to end the season.
In 2007, the
Patriots realized they had short-handed Brady so went out and got Wes Welker,
Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth to complete Brady’s arsenal. Never having these
kinds of weapons before, Brady took advantage and showed the world what he
could do when he was given weapons as Manning has been given his whole career.
Ultimately Brady threw for 50 touchdowns, breaking Manning’s mark of 49, and
led the Patriots to a perfect regular season at 16-0 and the number 1 seed. In
the playoffs against the Jaguars, Brady completed 26 of 28 passes for 3
touchdowns for the highest completion percentage in playoff history. The next
week against the Chargers in the AFC Championship, Brady struggled mightily,
throwing 1 touchdown to 3 interceptions. The Patriots won the game however
21-12 and advanced to face the Giants in the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, the
Giants pass rush grounded Brady’s highflying offense. However trailing 10-7
with 7 minutes left in the game, Brady engineered a 90 yard drive and threw a
touchdown to Moss with 2 minutes left in the game to give the Patriots a 14-10
lead. The following drive, the Patriots made a series of mistakes. The Giants
first converted on 4th down, then Asante Samuel dropped an
interception along the sideline, and lastly the Patriots pass rush let Eli
Manning get away from a sack and lob up a prayer on 3rd and 15.
David Tyree caught the pass and the Giants went on to spoil the Patriots
perfect season.
In 2008, Brady
was hit by Bernard Pollard, safety of the Kansas City Chiefs in the first game
and tore his ACL, ending his season.
In 2009 as Brady
made his comeback, he had an up and down season. His best game came in October
when he beat the Titans 59-0 and threw 6 touchdowns, 5 in the second quarter
alone. The Patriots reached the playoffs, however with Wes Welker out with a
torn ACL, Brady struggled against the Ravens defense as they thumped Brady and
the Patriots. Brady had 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions in the game.
Brady and the
Patriots struggled a little early in the season, especially with the team
trading away Randy Moss in midseason. However Brady responded in remarkable
fashion, ending the season throwing 335 consecutive passes without an
interception and throwing 26 touchdowns in that span. In the playoffs, Brady’s
newfound postseason struggles continued as he was picked off once against the
Jets and they beat the Patriots 28-21 in an upset. For the season Brady threw
36 touchdowns to 4 interceptions and was the first unanimous MVP in NFL
history.
In 2011, Brady
had a remarkable season and led his team to 13-3 and the number one seed in the
AFC playoffs. In his first game of the playoffs against the Broncos, Brady
threw a record-tying 6 touchdowns as the Broncos downed Tebow and the Broncos
45-10. The following week, Brady had a horrible performance against the Ravens
but had a rushing touchdown and with a little luck (dropped touchdown, missed
field goal), the Patriots advance to their second Super Bowl against the
Giants. Brady started that Super Bowl with an intentional grounding penalty in
the end zone resulting in a safety and also had an interception in the game.
Although he did also throw a touchdown, the Patriots last Hail Mary attempt
fell incomplete as Brady and the Patriots lost to the Giants once again, this
time 21-17.
In 2012, Brady
had a spectacular season as he led the Patriots to 12-4 and the second seed in
the AFC playoffs. In the playoffs, he beat the Houston Texans in the Divisional
Round. Brady was lethal, throwing for 344 yards and 3 touchdowns. However, the
next week Brady once again had a horrible performance against the Ravens and
this time, he lost.
In 2013, Brady
started the season without his top five receivers from the previous year. Wes Welker
(free agency), Brandon Lloyd (Cut), Aaron Hernandez (jail), Rob Gronkowski (injury),
and Danny Woodhead (free agency) were all gone. Danny Amendola was the
signature signee and he could not stay on the field. Although Brady has
struggled for the better part of the season, he has shown that with his
weapons, he is still the same guy. He had a vintage Tom Brady game-winning drive
against the at-the-time undefeated Saints in which he threw a game winning
tcouchdown to undrafted rookie free agent Kenbrell Thompkins. With his weapons at full strength, Brady also
led the offense to a 55 point outburst against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last
week, Brady did a fine job against the number 2 defense in the NFL, but failed
to make the crucial plays in a game against the Carolina Panthers that ended in
controversy.
The Patriots face
the Denver Broncos next as Tom Brady faces Peyton Manning for the 14th
time.
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