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At 44 years of age, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw for five touchdowns on Sunday, and he leads the NFL in touchdown passes with nine.
Brady still isn’t satisfied despite his unprecedented performance and a 2-0 start by the Bucs.
“What I think, and I’m sure other guys feel the same way, is I think we can do better. I really do,” Brady said in the postgame press conference via ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “And I really think we have the opportunity, with the way that the games are flowing and the opportunities we’re getting with the ball — we have even more. …”
The seven-time Super Bowl champion pointed out specific mistakes in the 48-25 win over the Falcons. He called out his team in the process but took ownership of where he could improve, too. Brady committed the lone turnover for the Bucs, losing the ball on a sack.
“We’ve been a little loose with the ball,” Brady said via Laine. “Some penalties at different times that have knocked us out of some scoring drives, some missed throws that I’ve had, some missed reads. I certainly wish I had made some better throws tonight. But it’s good to get the win, be 2-0 and there’s a lot to build on, and it’s good to beat a division opponent.”
Best Brady Season Ever?
It’s only Week 2, but Brady’s nine touchdowns and 655 yards passing already have media pundits talking about him breaking the touchdown record and having his best season ever.
That’s on top of being in unprecedented territory at age 44, Yahoo! Sports’ Frank Schwab points out.
“Among all quarterbacks at least 44 in NFL history before this season, there were 14 passing touchdowns. Combined. That’s it,” Schwab wrote.
Peyton Manning set the single-season touchdown record of 55 in 2013, and Schwab believes Brady “seems like he’s taking aim at it.” As Schwab noted, “Brady is on pace for 76.5 touchdowns” right now.
Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote that Brady “is better than he was in 2007 when the Patriots went 18-0” or any other time in his career, including his 20s. Brady had a relative down year in 2019 with the Patriots before leaving for Tampa Bay as a free agent and only got better. He threw for 40 touchdowns in 2020, the second-best single-season total in his career, on the way to winning Super Bowl LV.
Brady Aiming for a Bigger Record Than Touchdowns?
While Brady is unlikely to publicly campaign for a perfect 20-0 Bucs season in 2021, how his almost perfect 2007 season ended isn’t lost on him.
During the 2021 Draft-a-Thon, Shannon Sharpe asked Brady if he would trade a couple of Super Bowl rings for finishing the 2007 season with a Super Bowl win over the New York Giants. Brady said “I would.”
Brady has been even more open on how much that Super Bowl loss to the Giants haunts him. He said as much to Jim Gray on Westwood One last season.
“You always think about the ones that got away,” Brady told Gray via Boston.com. “That was the one that got away. Michael Strahan has become a good friend. Obviously Eli (Manning) I’ve known for a long time. A lot of players on that team, I’m still holding a little bit of a grudge over that one because that one would have been — immortal would be the word.”
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