| There are a lot of hot takes to come out of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ run to the NFC Championship game, but here’s a different one: the title of Tom Brady’s web television series is really bad. Tom vs. Time? Come on, that’s a total mismatch. For while Father Time, that sage old merchant of inevitability, might have eventually triumphed over every National Football League quarterback over the years, here’s the truth: Father Time is losing this battle with Brady, and it’s gone way beyond a blowout. Because Brady keeps doing Brady things, defying the doubters, mystifying the sports scientists, upending conventional logic and yes, believe it or not, hunting down yet another Super Bowl title after sinking the New Orleans Saints and dispatching Drew Brees into likely retirement. “Seeing Brady juxtaposed with Brees, seeing what a 40-plus QB is supposed to look like, and seeing Tom Brady just ticking along, not making any huge mistakes, it’s half-maddening and half-marvelous,” FOX Sports’ Nick Wright said on First Things First. “It’s remarkable that he’s still out there.”  Brady isn’t turning back the clock, he’s just persuaded it to tick far slower for him than anyone ever has. Talk all you like about the TB12 Method and start cooking with coconut oil if you must, but what has truly prolonged his efficacy is brainpower and decision-making. He is making the debilitative elements of advancing time matter less, while capitalizing upon its benefits. In NFL terms, he is a veritable antique, but no one else has the advantage of having 21 seasons of direct knowledge to call upon. Sunday night’s matchup between the Bucs and Saints wasn’t a classic Brady vs. Brees shootout. Brees threw three picks and the Saints’ finest moment came from a masterful trick play that called Jameis Winston into action. Through it all, Brady stayed efficient, keeping the ball in his team’s hands and the team moving. “The offense made plays when we had too,” Brady said, acknowledging how Tampa’s defensive excellence was the primary difference-maker. Brady’s stat line wasn’t spectacular (18-for-33, 199 yards, 2 TDs), but fantasy season is over and postseason football operates by a different set of numbers. If you want data, you’re covered, for Brady comes with a trove of it. When he takes on the Green Bay Packers at wintry Lambeau Field next Sunday (3:05 p.m. ET on FOX), it will be his 14th appearance on Championship Sunday in 21 NFL seasons. Needless to say, no one has featured more. Get this; aside from Brady, only Joe Montana has won more than 14 playoff games (16). Brady has won 14 in the divisional round alone. Despite a big win over the Packers in October, the Bucs will be an underdog again (+4, per FOX Bet), but don’t expect them to care much, for they weren’t supposed to win this past weekend either, not after the Saints dismissed them twice in the regular season and had home field in their favor.  “It’s too much,” wrote Jason Gay in the Wall Street Journal. “He’s showing off. At his age, Tom Brady should be at home, rump on the couch, hand sunk into nachos, struggling to stay awake for the second half of an NFL playoff game—not playing in one. Instead, Brady is football’s Benjamin Button, aging in reverse, denying himself onion rings and chocolate cake and extending a playing career well past the standard expiration.” Brady’s most memorable postgame moment came when he spotted Brees, who was playing with his children on the Superdome turf. Just two old-timers, chatting about shared experiences and reflecting on what has come before. With one key difference. Brees is heading off to a new future, Brady is still very much living in his eternal present. He wasn’t giving much away in his media conference and while he has seemed generally cheerier since his move south, Brady is back into New England mode now. The focus was already on next week and the upcoming task, even with the aftergame glow still rosy. How many more next week’s will there be? Who knows? Common logic would suggest … heck, who cares what common logic says? Common logic didn’t predict anyone could still play well at age 43. Common logic wasn’t thinking of 40 touchdowns in the regular season. Common logic said the Saints would win. Common logic believed that Brady had needed the Patriots more than they needed him. But no. Brady is still here, still going, still winning. Poor old Father Time. He’s taking one heck of a beating.  Here’s what others have said … Greg Bishop, Sports Illustrated: “The fact that Brady is one game from another championship berth is remarkable, regardless of how he threw on Sunday. His 32nd postseason win gives him twice as many as any QB in league history, and next week will be the 14th conference title game of his 21-year career and ninth in 10 years. But Sunday was TB12 over DB9—and it was Time over quarterbacks who have long defied it.” Colin Cowherd, The Herd: “I think this was probably a Top 5 Tom Brady moment for me. That, my friends, was a masterclass on how to win a playoff game when not everything goes well. Rivers looked old, Big Ben looked old, Brees looked old, Tom looked great.” Skip Bayless, Undisputed: “There is one man in sports I do not bet against when the money is pushed to the middle of the table. It is Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. You’re gonna tell your grandkids you got to see that guy play at the highest level at 43 years of age.” |
 “You wanna know which ring is my favorite? The next one.” — Tom Brady |
