Worry thwart
Brady delivers once again under adversity
FOXBORO — Facing a 10-point deficit to the Jaguars in the fourth quarter, Patriots fans had to be just a little bit nervous.
The offense had been sputtering all day, unable to move the ball consistently.
Tom Brady was fighting valiantly, ditching the red glove in favor of black tape to protect a nasty 12-stitch gash inside of his hand below his thumb. But there were more obstacles to overcome, not just the cut, in trying to make a comeback against the Jags.
After the second quarter, Brady no longer had Rob Gronkowski at his side, as his all-world tight end left the game with a concussion. Of course, Julian Edelman was taken away before the season started, so the prospects of the Patriots getting back to the Super Bowl to defend their title seemed pretty grim.
There are those who believe the offense can work with Gronk, or with Edelman, but not without both.
But this is still Brady. This is the quarterback who authored the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all-time in February in beating the Falcons, erasing a 25-point third-quarter deficit in Super Bowl LI.
A huge gash near the base of the thumb on his throwing hand? No Gronk? No Edelman?
Piece of cake for the GOAT as the legend continues to grow.
We’ve seen this type of performance before, as Brady merely turned it on when he absolutely had to have it — in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. And thanks to his heroics, along with the defense delivering in the end, the Patriots are headed to Minneapolis with a shot at their sixth championship, as they took down the Jaguars, 24-20.
“He’s the GOAT man,” defensive captain Duron Harmon said of Brady. “He did GOAT-like stuff . . . some people didn’t think he was going to play, but all he did was go out here and show people why he’s the best quarterback of all time.” What’s GOAT-like stuff? Brady went 9-for-14 for 138 yards with two touchdowns in that decisive fourth quarter. His quarterback rating was 136.3. His rating was 87.5 the first three quarters (17for-24 for 152 yards). GOAT-like indeed.
For his part, Brady was just proud how the team hung in and continued to battle, especially after losing Gronk.
“I was proud of the way we fought,” said Brady, who engineered his 11th playoff comeback. “It’s a mentally tough team and we needed a lot of mental toughness (yesterday) and we found a way to dig deep and get it done, even on offense without one of our very best players. It was a great win.”
Brady didn’t seem all too hampered by the injury, as he made all the throws during the game. He just didn’t get results. He started out 6-for-6 for 57 yards on his first drive. That led to a field goal. The Patriots just couldn’t sustain drives, failing on third down, as they finished 3-for-12 for the game.
“Points are a product of playing really good football down after down. We finally could get the field on our side and get some field position, some short fields and turn the one score into two scores,” said Brady. “That’s why you play all four quarters, too. The game is never over after the halftime, and you’ve got to go to the end.’’
Without Gronk, and with the game on the line, he found Danny Amendola (seven catches, 84 yards, two TDs), Brandin Cooks (six catches, 100 yards), Dion Lewis (seven catches, 32 yards), James White (three catches, 22 yards) and Phillip Dorsett (one catch, 31 yards).
The best delivery was a pivotal completion to Amendola, as he connected on a third-and-18 from the Pats 25 in the fourth quarter. The play went for 21 yards to Mr. Clutch.
“Tom’s the best. He’s the toughest guy I’ve ever met physically (and) mentally. If there is anything that happens to Tom, I know he can handle it,” said Amendola. “It was unfortunate to see him get injured mid-week. I know mentally it probably stressed him out a bit and physically I know it’s hard to throw a football with stitches in your thumb. Everybody knows how tough he is. Everybody knows that he’s our leader. It’s a testament to his career, his personality, the man he is. Not only is he the best player in our locker room but he gets everybody else to play well and step their game up and that’s why he’s the best.”
Coach Bill Belichick, naturally, downplayed the injury.
“Tom did a great job. He’s a tough guy. We all know that,” said Belichick. “But we’re not talking about open-heart surgery here.”
Brady, too, didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. But, when the injury occurred on Wednesday, he wasn’t totally sure he’d be able to play.
“I thought out of all the plays, my season can’t end on a handoff in practice. We didn’t come this far to end on a handoff. It’s just one of those things,” said Brady. “Everyone did a great job kind of getting me ready and the training staff and the doctors and Alex (Guerrero). It was a great team effort. Without that, I definitely wouldn’t be playing.”
And showing, once again, why there’s no one better.