FOXBORO, Mass. — For all the right reasons, Tom Brady's career has always been linked to that of Joe Montana. On Sunday, though, Brady mirrored one of Montana's streaks that he hoped he'd never have to experience.
Brady lost his third consecutive playoff game, something Montana endured from 1985-87. Montana's streak happened just after he won his second Super Bowl, and the first-ballot Hall of Famer followed it up by winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
That's a trade-off Brady would be happy to take.
The Patriots quarterback was uncharacteristically poor during Sunday's 28-21 loss to the Jets. And the MVP jinx — assuming, of course, Brady wins the award during next month's announcement — has claimed its 35th victim during the 45-year Super Bowl era.
Brady completed 29 of 45 passes for 299 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the loss to New York. He was also sacked a season-high five times, and he looked rattled, hurried and confused time after time. He looked like a shell of the guy who paced the Patriots to an NFL-best 14-2 record in the regular season.
"I think we're a pretty good football team, but not when we play like [Sunday]," Brady said. "It's disappointing the way we performed. I certainly wish I did a better job."
Brady's playoff record dropped to 14-5, which was the same mark Montana had during his 13-year career with San Francisco. In Brady's last three playoff losses, he has completed 81 of 135 passes (60 percent) for 719 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. (For comparison's sake, Montana completed 46 of 88 passes for 503 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions during his three-game losing streak.)
"Our expectations were very high," Brady said. "You finish [the regular season] the way we did, we won a bunch in a row against some very good teams and played well. But playoff football comes, and really it comes down to who makes the plays, and we made too many mistakes."
