Tom Brady is 40 years old. You might have heard that fun fact when the New England Patriots quarterback’s birthday fell, as usual, during training camp in early August.
His birthday was accompanied by the annual columns debating when Brady’s talent level would finally fall off a cliff. Would it come this year? When he’s 40?
The Brady detractors started salivating when he struggled in Week 1, completing just 44.4 percent of his passes in a surprising loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. “Ding, dong, the GOAT is dead” they all recited in their heads while skipping down the yellow brick road.
The GOAT is not dead — he might even be better than ever. “The TB12 Method,” for all its potential junk science, is a worthy read for quarterbacks who have the time, money and patience to adhere to his diet, workout regimen and massages, because there’s a 40-year-old quarterback in the NFL who actually appears to be improving.
Brady leads the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns through three games. He’s second in yards per attempt and passer rating. And perhaps what’s most impressive is how much Brady has improved and is relying upon his deep ball when his arm strength is supposed to be decreasing.
Brady leads the NFL in deep attempts over 15 yards. He’s 16-of-33 for 500 yards with five touchdowns on deep passes. He’s on pace for a ridiculous 176 deep passes this season. The most he’s previously attempted is 119 in 2012. His passer rating on deep passes is 134.2. His previous best passer rating on deep passes came in 2016 when it was 129.3. So, it’s not as if Brady’s improved deep ball is some fluke. This has been building for years now.
And Brady isn’t just throwing deep. He’s dropping dimes. Like this throw to wide receiver Brandin Cooks early in the third quarter of the Patriots’ 36-33 win over the Houston Texans. Brady’s throw came on a rope and hit Cooks perfectly in stride. Cooks was able to catch the ball and quickly accelerate past defenders for the score.
With 54 seconds left in the game while facing third and 18, Brady dropped the ball between two defenders to trusty slot receiver Danny Amendola on a 27-yard first down while defensive end J.J. Watt was bearing down behind him.
Brady had an arm directly in his face as he chucked the ball 25 yards down the field to Cooks for the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute remaining the game.
These aren’t just pretty throws. These are pretty throws with an insane level of difficulty.
For years, Brady was criticized for simply dinking and dunking down the field to collect Super Bowl rings along the way. Now Brady is on pace for over 5,800 yards, and almost half of those would come on bombs downfield.
Here are our other observations from Sunday’s win over the Texans:
— It might not be time to worry about Mike Gillislee yet, but the Patriots’ lead running back is only averaging 3.2 yards per carry. His offensive line isn’t helping, but Gillislee also isn’t making defenders miss at the same clip he was last season with the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots have struggled in non-goal line short-yardage situations. They failed on a third-and-1 on a Gillislee carry early in the fourth quarter.
— It turns out that Cooks guy is pretty good. Patriots fans and media were starting to wonder what was wrong with the high-profile acquisition after a quiet game against the New Orleans Saints, his former team, in Week 2. He’s on pace for a 1,300-yard season and leads the NFL in yards per reception.
— The Patriots neutralized Texans defensive end J.J. Watt about as well as they could have hoped, and he still had two quarterback hits and three tackles for loss. Offensive tackles Cameron Fleming and LaAdrian Waddle whiffed on Watt on the Patriots’ first two offensive plays. Tight end Rob Gronkowski spent a lot of time chipping pass rushers but still wound up with eight catches on 10 targets for 89 yards with a touchdown.
— It’s safe to wonder what’s wrong with left tackle Nate Solder, who struggled, allowing two sacks, including a strip-sack touchdown. Is he still feeling lingering issues from his training camp injury?
— Defensive end Cassius Marsh is improving every game. He’ll be valuable depth when Dont’a Hightower returns.
— The Patriots need Hightower back, if only because Trey Flowers shouldn’t be dropping back into coverage eight times a game. Flowers and Deatrich Wise continue to bring impressive pressure.
— The Patriots didn’t seem to get the memo Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is quite mobile. They’ll have to fix issues at defending a running quarterback before facing Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday. Edge players lost contain, and linebackers found themselves dropping too far back into coverage before Watson took off. The Patriots’ defensive linemen also could use a primer on tackling.
— Malcolm Butler played like a starting cornerback, allowing just two catches, both to DeAndre Hopkins, for 5 yards apiece. He never should have lost his starting job in the first place.
— It’s as if Duron Harmon has football magnets on his hands in the final plays of games. There’s a reason we call him “The Closer.”
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
