5 most underrated games of Tom Brady’s Patriots career
By Jerry Trotta
1. 2017 AFC Championship Game
Tough to get more “underrated” than the Patriots’ path to the Super Bowl back in 2017, right? Of course, they disposed of the Titans 35-14 in the Divisional Round and faced the Jaguars in the AFC Title Game after Jacksonville upset the Steelers, whom many pegged as the team best suited to topple Brady and Co.
Ironically enough, Blake Bortles and the Jaguars’ league-leading defense proved to be a handful for New England. They led all game and held a 20-10 advantage early in the fourth quarter after a 54-yard field goal from Josh Lambo.
That’s when Brady decided to kick things into high gear.
While fending off a hand injury, Brady led an eight-play, 85-yard scoring drive in just over three minutes to bring the Patriots within three points, The drive included a monster 3rd and 18 completion to Danny Amendola and a 31-yard pass to Philip Dorsett to get within striking distance.
Without those completions, who knows how this game turns out.
The next three drives (one Patriots, two Jaguars) all resulted in punts, but took a combined 3:06 off the clock, giving Brady nearly five minutes to score a minimum of three points to tie the game. Lo and behold, TB12 went for the jugular, connecting with Amendola from four yards out to put the Pats up for good.
It was a near disaster for New England, but Brady was as unflappable as ever. This game gets glossed over for obvious reasons since it came against the Jaguars, but don’t let the recent dysfunction engulfing the franchise make you forget how dominant that 2017 defense was.
It held the Patriots in check for three-plus quarters, but all it took was a little pressure for Brady to remind everyone why he’s the best to ever do it.
