Eagles obstruct Brady’s path
Philadelphia ran its way into playoffs
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady’s looking ahead, though not beyond this weekend.
No one’s had more success in the NFL playoffs than the seven-time Super Bowl champion, who says his focus is on trying to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles and not a dazzling postseason resume or how well he’s played at age 44.
The Bucs (13-4) set a franchise record for wins in the regular season, with Brady joining Drew Brees and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks in the past 30 years to lead the league in passing yards, touchdowns, attempts and completions.
With a career-best 5,136 yards — the third-highest single-season total in NFL history — and 43 touchdowns, the argument can be made that this has been his finest season.
If Brady agrees, he’s not saying.
“I feel like it’s, for me, always about the team’s success so it’s hard to compare one year to another. I feel like I want to play as a championship-level player. That’s what I’ve said for a long time,” the Bucs star said.
“I said a long time ago when I suck I’ll retire. But what I really meant was when I’m not capable of leading the team to victory, then someone else has to do the job. I feel like I can do that,” Brady added. “Obviously, we’ve put ourselves in a decent position. Now we’re in the postseason, and we’ve got to take care of a very tough opponent.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was 3 years old when Brady made his first postseason start in 2001.
Brady enters Sunday’s NFC wild-card round matchup at Raymond James Stadium with a sparkling 3411 playoff record. He has thrown for 12,449 yards and 83 touchdowns — both alltime league bests — in those 45 games.
Hurts, 23, is in his first year as Philadelphia’s fulltime starter. The Eagles have won seven of 11 games since losing to Tampa Bay 28-22 on Oct. 14 at home.
One of the keys to the surge has been the NFL’s top rushing attack.
Hurts is one of eight quarterbacks in league history to throw for more than 3,000 yards and run for more than 750 in the same season. He led the Eagles with 784 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns on the ground, with most of that production coming since facing the defending Super Bowl champs.
“He has definitely gotten better throughout that time, which doesn’t surprise me at all because Jalen is a student of the game. Jalen wants to get better and craves to get better. ... I think you’re just seeing him grow closer and closer to his ceiling,” firstyear Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.
With Hurts making his playoff debut and Brady beginning his NFL-record 19th postseason, the experience factor obviously favors Tampa Bay.
But it’s not as if Hurts has never performed on a big stage, having done so in college with Alabama and Oklahoma.
Brady was asked where his glittering playoff record ranks among his many accomplishments, including being the NFL’s career passing leader.
“That’s a good question. If you had asked me what my record was, I would have said: ‘I don’t know.’ It’s just the reality of doing this and staying focused on what’s ahead and not looking back,” Brady said. “I’d love to get to 35-11 — that would be my answer.”
Turning to the run
The turning point in Philadelphia’s season came when running the ball became the focal point of the offense. A glimpse of that success occurred in the sixpoint loss to the Bucs in October. The Eagles only handed the ball to a running back once in the first half of that game and trailed, 21-7. But Miles Sanders ran seven times for 55 yards in the second half as Philadelphia made it a one-score game.
The Eagles ran for at least 130 yards in the next nine games.
Next man up
Tampa Bay’s high-scoring offense hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, even after losing receiver Chris Godwin (98 receptions, 1,103 yards, five TDs) to a season-ending knee injury and the dismissal of receiver Antonio Brown. Wide receiver Mike Evans (74 catches, 1,035 yards, 14 TDs) and Rob Gronkowski (55 receptions, 802 yards, six TDs) have had big seasons, and lesser-known receivers Breshad Perriman, Cyril Grayson and Scotty Miller are making the most of the opportunities they’ve been given to contribute.