- Tom Brady threw for 400+ yards and five touchdown passes in Tampa Bay’s 45-17 win over the Miami Dolphins.
- Brady achieved these impressive numbers despite suffering a thumb injury early in the game.
- Tampa Bay improves to 4-1 and takes sole possession of first place in the NFC South.
Tom Brady still has something left in the tank. That was obvious last season–his first as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers–and he took his new team to a Super Bowl victory. Brady hasn’t seen his play drop off this season, defying the frequently seen ‘post Super Bowl victory slump’. The seven time Super Bowl champ is near the top of the league in passing yardage and touchdowns which is a big part of why the Bucs are 4-1 on the year and in sole possession of first place in the NFC South.
His performance in Tampa Bay’s 45-17 win over the Miami Dolphins was yet another amazing chapter in his Hall of Fame career. Brady threw for 400+ yards with five touchdown passes and zero interceptions. It is the first time he’s accomplished this and it was just the 14th such performance in NFL history. At 44 years old, Brady is by far the oldest quarterback to put up these numbers. Previously, the oldest quarterback was Peyton Manning who was 37 years and 165 days old in 2013 when he put up 462 yards and 7 touchdowns with no interceptions against the Baltimore Ravens. Want more? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Brady’s 15 touchdown passes are the most over the first five games of the season by a quarterback who started for the previous year’s Super Bowl champion. No surprise that Brady was a co-holder of the previous record of 14.
Making the performance all the more phenomenal–Brady suffered a thumb injury early in the game. Bucs’ head coach Bruce Arians wasn’t sure when it happened though he thinks it was early in the contest:
“Whenever it happened, it happened early, so it didn’t affect him too much.”
Brady said that in his younger days he would have kept his injury ‘on the QT’:
“In my younger days, I probably would have never showed you guys. I’d probably try to keep it a secret. But, I think, at my old age, I don’t care so much. It’s just kind of a football injury, so I’ll do my best to get ready for this game — we’ll see what happens.”
One issue that Brady faces this week–a short turnaround time. The Bucs will play on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night, presenting a greater challenge for Brady to be ready to go:
“We have a short week — a quick turnaround. Last year, we didn’t do very well on a short week. We’ve gotta put a lot into this coming game. [We’re] playing against a good football team in Philly that’s done some good things.”
“It’s a challenge. But they have the same challenge, too. Get a lot of hydration, get a lot of treatment, get a good night sleep and then be ready for the week.”
Brady even threw in a bit of self effacing humor about a 13 yard scramble in the second quarter where he reached a maximum speed of 16.36 MPH:
“I feel fast. I’ll have some QB outside pitches. I’ll leave those to the guys who are much more talented than me. Most of the guys in the NFL are probably making like 30 yards on a run like that. I can turn a 30-yarder into a 10-yarder better than anybody.”
Arians marveled at Brady’s youthful energy that is on display every day at practice:
“Every day he comes to practice, he’s 12. I think it’s (Brady’s son) Jack out there instead of him. He’s like a little kid out there.”
Tampa Bay easily covered as a -11 or -11.5 home favorite against Miami. The game also went ‘Over’ the posted total of 48. For Thursday’s game against the Eagles at Philadelphia the NFL betting line shows Tampa Bay as a -7 or -6.5 road favorite with the total at 52.5, 53 or 53.5 depending on the book.
