New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins: Top 5 Takeaways From Week 17
By Hal Bent
1 – Record day for Tom Brady
It was just another day at the office for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he crossed Miami off his Revenge Tour following his ridiculous “Deflategate” suspension. As the NFL Headquarters offices remain shrouded in silence during the season with deflated footballs being squashed and teams using non-kicking footballs, every week Tom Brady continues to show how ridiculous it is that anyone realistically believes that air pressure in footballs had any bearing on Brady’s performance before 2015 and 2016.
Brady came back with a flourish in Week five lighting up the Cleveland Browns. The only hiccup would have been the loss to Seattle (where Brady played well in the loss) and Denver (where the defense stifled the passing attack but the team still won). Brady finished 25-for-33 for 276 yards and three touchdowns for a 130.4 quarterback rating (all statistics from Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise stated).
According to ProFootballFocus.com, Brady’s adjusted completion percentage on Sunday was 89.7% as five of his eight incompletions were throwaways, drops, or batted at the line of scrimmage. Basically, only three of 28 on-target passes were not completed. Just another ridiculous performance which has become the norm.
Brady finished 2016 with an 11-1 record and 291 completions on 432 attempts (67.4%) for 3,554 yards and 28 touchdowns and just two interceptions. The touchdown to interception ratio is an NFL record beating Nick Foles 27-2 record. Brady had a 112.2 quarterback rating (or an 89 QBR rating if you prefer the ESPN stat). He was sacked just 15 times in 12 games.
The touchdown to interception ratio record was initially set by Brady in 2010 when he won the MVP. He had a fantastic season with 36 touchdowns and just four interceptions that year. After Nick Foles had that outlier season in 2013, Brady took the record back this season.
Also, with Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett not throwing any interceptions in the first four games of the season the Patriots’ offense set an NFL record for fewest interceptions with just two. This record shows how the three quarterbacks taking snaps for New England this season were able to minimize costly turnovers and help keep the defense out of difficult situations.
Brady also passed Hall-of-Fame Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino and is now fourth all-time in career passing yards. Only Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning are ahead of Brady on the career passing yards leader chart. That trio is ahead of him in passing touchdowns as well.
It was a record-setting day for Tom Brady, but the records are something he is not focused on at this time. Right now, the focus is on getting ready for the AFC Divisional Round match-up at home in less than two weeks.