The Patriots are 7-2 this season, but they’ve advanced to that mark with few heroics from two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
Brady is having one of his most underwhelming seasons in years, completing just 57.1 percent of his passes (by far a career low) and recording just 2,256 yards and 13 touchdowns so far. Still, with the track record of what Brady has been able to do throughout his career — and him showing his knack for pulling bunnies out of hats this year, as Rob Ryan and the Saints found out the hard way — no one is counting him out just yet.
Brady and the Patriots head to Carolina on Monday night for one of their biggest tests of the season. Having beaten just one quality team so far this year in the Saints, the Patriots are looking to show the league and themselves they’re for real.
It sounds like Brady is also raring to prove something.
Brady was asked about his legacy and how long he wants to play football in an ESPN interview previewing the Monday night game. He made it clear that, as many laurels as he has from previous years, he knows he has to prove himself now.
“The important part for me in the offseason and for me during the season, I want to earn the respect of the guys that I play with today,” Brady told Mike Tirico. “You don’t want to sit here and have your guys respect you for what you did 10 years ago. Those things aren’t important to me.”
Brady linked how many years he’ll play to his current production.
“What’s important is I show up every day to be a leader, to perform at a high level,” he said. “There’s nothing more I love than to be around the stadium in the offseason, be around those guys running and lifting. That’s where you develop the camaraderie between everybody, that’s where you put the work in. … This is the reason why we work hard, for moments like this, Monday Night Football, the 11th week of the year, our season’s on the line. We’ve got to go out there and play our best.”
New England seemed to hit its stride in the last matchup before its bye, beating the Steelers in Brady’s most complete game so far this season. The Patriots will try to make that win stick with another against a tough Panthers defense Monday night.
