It’s a chilling outcome for Brady
Patriots quarterback establishes several Super Bowl records but can’t get a victory.
MINNEAPOLIS — Tom Brady walked away from Super Bowl LII with all sorts of records — and no sixth Lombardi Trophy.
And that left the New England quarterback as cold as this frigid city.
“Losing sucks,” Brady said after the Patriots’ 41-33 defeat Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles. “You try to win and sometimes you lose. That’s the way it goes.”
Brady’s play was as gaudy as that glistening trophy, even though the results wound up as hollow.
His Super Bowl records: Most games (eight), most passes (357), completions (235), yards (2,576), yards in a game (505), touchdown passes (18) — you get the idea.
“We had opportunities to, I thought, take control,” he said. “We just didn’t. We did a great job in the first half. We moved the ball a lot, didn’t score a lot of points. We did a better job in the second half, had a chance.”
The pivotal play came with 2 minutes 16 seconds left, when Brandon Graham had a strip-sack of Brady, who was looking to bring the Patriots back from a 38-33 deficit. The Eagles recovered at New England’s 28, and inched ahead four plays later with a 46-yard field goal.
“We knew it was going to be about matchups, and I knew the way the center was pointing,” Graham said of the strip-sack.
“I had one on one all game, I’ve been bulling him and I switched it up. … Tom Brady’s arm happened to be there and I swiped. I didn’t even realize I got [the ball] until I saw Derek Barnett pick it up.”
Said Brady: “We had a good chance there and they made a good play. They made a lot of good plays today. I thought we were competitive but we just obviously didn’t get the job done.”
There was a report before the game that the 40-yearold Brady might call it a career afterward. Asked whether he planned to return next season, Brady didn’t give a rock-solid answer but said: “I expect to be back. It’s 15 minutes after the game ended, so I would like to process this. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be back.”