With Brady under center, the Patriots were 32-3 against the Buffalo Bills.
Tom Brady has started a record 41 playoff games. Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini
Over the 20 years he was with the Patriots, Tom Brady did some remarkable things. Here are 10 numbers that explain his greatness:
.750: His regular-season winning percentage against the NFC South. In his 20 years with the Patriots, Brady posted a 12-4 career mark in games against teams in his new division. In those 16 games, he had a 66 percent completion rate, 4,526 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
7: By our count, the number of Super Bowl records he owns: appearances (9), wins (6), MVPs (4), passing yards (2,576), passing touchdowns (18), completions (256), and pass attempts (392).
32:
There’s a reason the mayor of Buffalo made a joke about local Bills’ fans celebrating in groups of 10 or less when it came to the news that Brady would be leaving the AFC East . With Brady under center, the Patriots were 32-3 against the Bills, and those 32 wins are an NFL record for most victories against one opponent. For the record, the folks in North Jersey and South Florida are also probably pretty excited about him leaving the division — his 29 career wins over the Jets is second on the list, while his 23 victories against the Dolphins is fourth. (For those of you asking, Brett Favre is third with 26 career wins over the Lions.)
41: The number of playoff starts. Even if he never reaches the postseason again, this remains Brady’s most unassailable record – only two other players (Devin McCourty with 23 and Ben Roethlisberger with 21) have more than 20. The only guy who might have a shot is Russell Wilson, but he’s still only at 15, and he’s 31 years old. (For the record, Jerry Rice is second overall with 29, while Peyton Manning is third with 27.)
41, 184: Brady’s age, in years and days, when he and the Patriots beat the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. With that victory, he became the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl as a starter. However, he’s still chasing one record, as it relates to age: the oldest quarterback to ever start an NFL game. That belongs to Steve DeBerg, who made the final start of his career on Oct. 25, 1998 for the Falcons against the Dolphins. He was 44 years, 279 days old, and finished 9-for-20 for 117 yards and a pick. Bottom line? Brady, who will turn 43 in August, has a ways to go if he wants to break DeBerg’s mark. (It’s also interesting that DeBerg would end up being the oldest player ever included on a Super Bowl roster — he was 45 years, 12 days when the Falcons lost to the Broncos, 34-19, in Super Bowl XXXIII.)
77: The number of different players who have caught a touchdown pass from Brady. (Look for that number to increase – as of this week, none of the players on the current Bucs roster has caught a pass, touchdown or otherwise, from the quarterback.) Currently, Rob Gronkowski leads the list with 78.
100: We occasionally sleep on Brady’s durability, but consider the fact that he was the only quarterback in the history of the game to put together two streaks of 100 consecutive regular-season starts. His first streak of 111 games — from Week 3 of the 2001 season to Week 1 of the 2008 season — was snapped when he tore his ACL in the opener that year. His second streak of 112 games went from Week 1 of the 2009 season to Week 17 of the 2016 season, and was halted when he was suspended the first four games of the 2016 season because of Deflategate. (Let the record show that a third shot at 100 straight regular-season starts is still a remote possibility – he’s currently at 60 and counting.)
249: While we’re still convinced quarterback wins is a dodgy stat – football is the ultimate team game — the fact remains his 249 wins (including the regular season and playoffs) are most for any signal-caller in the history of the game. (Manning is second with 200.) Those 249 victories have come alongside Bill Belichick, which makes them the winningest coach/quarterback tandem of all time. (While this record might not be as untouchable as his total postseason starts, looking at the landscape, it’s pretty close. When it comes to the Super Bowl era, Sean Payton and Drew Brees are second with 134 wins.)
265: The total number of games it took for Brady to reach 1,000 yards rushing for his career. It’s a league record for most games needed to get to the 1K mark.
74,571: The total number of passing yards he’s accumulated over the course of his career, good for second-most in the history of the NFL. One thing that should be fun for football fans is to follow the statistical chase between Brady and his new NFC South buddy Brees: Brady is second to Brees, 2,845 yards behind the New Orleans quarterback. Brees also holds a narrow lead when it comes to most career touchdown passes: 547 to 541. (For the record, if you include postseason play, both of those records belong to Brady.)