Tom Brady Becomes All-Time Winningest Quarterback With Win No. 201
Tom Brady is alone at the top. Image: https://twitter.com/PatsMilitia
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady become the NFL's all-time winningest quarterback Sunday with a 26-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, surpassing previous record holder, Peyton Manning.
In a game that no one expected to be close, the Patriots came out and took care of business early. The much maligned Patriots offense showed relentless pressure against 2016 No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, and, even if temporarily, gave fans a reason to believe in them going forward. The story, though, was Brady, who went 33-46 for 269 YDS and a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Hogan.
The four-time Super Bowl winner and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Brady now has 179 regular-season wins and 22 in the playoffs. Comparatively, Manning's 200 wins were split 186 in the regular season and 14 in the postseason. Last week, Brady engineered his 50th come from behind victory in a 22-17 win over the New York Jets, which propelled him past Brett Favre (199) and into a tie for wins by a quarterback with Manning. Also against the Jets, Brady became the fifth NFL quarterback to reach 60,000 passing yards, joining Manning (71,940), Favre (71,838), Drew Brees (64,490) and Dan Marino (61,361).
Of course, none of this may not have been possible if it weren't for Mo Lewis' infamous hit on Drew Bledsoe. The former Patriots quarterback took a moment to reflect on Brady's career last week.
“The fact that Tommy is still playing at the level he’s at is pretty impressive,” Bledsoe said. “He’ll wear everyone out talking about his diet and workout regimen, but it’s working. That, combined with that you can’t hit the quarterback these days, is going to allow him to play a lot longer. He takes great care of himself and he’s been such a great leader for this organization.”
Many esteemed quarterbacks have joined in on praising Brady, with some willing to go as far as to call him the greatest ever. Former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and current Saints' quarterback Drew Brees each commented on Brady's latest record and his standing in the game.
“I don’t mind saying that,” Kelly told ESPN’s Chris Berman. “The consistency, every single year he does it. And he doesn’t have, all time, the greatest players around him ... but the thing is he makes it work and it doesn’t matter what it is."
“It’s probably the most important stat. There’s no surprise. He’s earned it,” said Brees. “He will go down certainly as one of the best, if not the best for that reason. The guy is a winner; he’s a proven winner. While he’s been there with Coach Belichick and had that level of consistency, there’s been a lot of players come through there when he’s been there and it’s been a very consistent result all the time. I’m sure there are many in that building that deserve credit, but none more so than him.”
In their first game following news that tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss the remainder of the season, New England was able to find early success on the ground behind LeGarrette Blount 88 rushing yards. In Gronk's absense, both Julian Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell eclipsed 80 yards receiving.
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