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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

Tom Brady’s terrible season might also be one of his best

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Tom Brady’s 23rd NFL season hasn’t been easy. It also hasn’t been all that great for the seven-time Super Bowl champ.

We’ve seen a lot of tantrums from the GOAT, as he’s yelled at teammates, he has screamed at refs, and he has thrown tablets.

But still, despite all those struggles and all of those times when it looked like Brady might be cooked, this 2023 season might be one of the most impressive years of his legendary career.

And now, once again, he has his team in a familiar spot – division champs and hosting a home playoff game.

That’s not bad!

I know what you’re saying – the NFC South is garbage and that the division title, which is Brady’s 19th(!) division title of his career,  shouldn’t mean all that much. And there is some small truth to that – the Panthers, Saints, and Falcons aren’t exactly the toughest teams to beat.

But what makes this year so impressive for Brady is that at his very old age of 45 he has still been able to figure out ways to get W’s when it looked like he shouldn’t get a W.

And he’s been doing that at 45 years of age! I can’t reiterate that enough. We’ve never seen QB do the stuff he’s doing at his age. It’s just bananas and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

There are a lot of younger quarterbacks in the league that would kill to have a division title and a home playoff game this year. There are a lot of younger big-name QBs in this league that aren’t going to last long in this league. And then there’s old-man Brady still leading last-minute game-winning drives when everything looked so bleak for his team.

The Bucs have dealt with a bunch of significant injuries on the offensive side of the ball this year. The offensive line was decimated right before the season began and his favorite wide receivers , Chris Godwin and Mike Evans also missed some time.

It would have been very easy for this Bucs team to win four games this season and for Brady to limp away from the game forever. But now they’re playoff bound and Brady looks like he can still play for, well, a little while longer.

Brady wrapped up the NFC South title Sunday with a vintage Brady performance – he threw for 432 yards, 3 touchdowns and zero picks and looked very much like the Tom Brady we’ve grown used to seeing over the past two decades.

Division titles and home playoff games came easy to Brady during his years with the Patriots. There was really nothing to those. He was young, in his prime, and could do anything he wanted.

Now he’s finally nearing the end his playing days and has shown us all again that when things matter the most, No. 12 will be right there making all the throws.

Which is pretty darn impressive.

Quick hits: Bucs punter’s ridiculously impressive punt… Latest NFL playoff picture… Livid NFL RedZone viewers… And more. 

– Bucs punter Jake Camarda had one of the most athletic punts you’ll ever see yesterday and it ended up saving the Bucs’ season.

– Here’s what the NFL playoff picture looks like after Sunday’s games.

– NFL RedZone viewers were livid once again after they couldn’t watch the 49ers-Raiders ending.

– Ohio State’s missed field goal at the end of the Peach Bowl was kicked in 2022 and landed in 2023.

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