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Tom Brady has appeared in ten Super Bowls since 2001, and won a total of seven championship rings. [1]
His first ring came against the powerhouse St. Louis Rams as a heavy underdog and was followed two years later with back-to-back titles. [2]
Brady didn’t return to the playoffs until 2014, winning a memorable Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks. [3]
And his 2016 ring against the Atlanta Falcons cemented his legacy, coming back from a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter to win in overtime. [4]
The Rams were again his victim for title number six, his last with the Patriots. [5]
Brady’s final ring (at least for now) came against the Kansas City Chiefs in his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Key Takeaways
- Brady has won seven titles with ten total Super Bowl appearances
- Six of his championships have come with the Patriots, and one with the Buccaneers
- All but two of the Super Bowls Brady has played in have been decided by less than ten points.
The Patriots’ First Title
Tom Brady didn’t begin the 2001 season as the Patriots’ starter until a long-time quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured in week 2 of the season, opening the door for Brady and a starting spot he would never relinquish.
With Brady under center, the Patriots went 11-5 in the regular season, and with the help of kicker Adam Vinateri, snuck past the Raiders and Steelers to reach the Super Bowl. [6]
The Patriots’ entered the Superbowl as 14-point underdogs. But their defense was able to slow down the Rams’ high-powered defense, and it was Vinateri once again that delivered the knock-out blow. [7]
Back to Back
Despite winning nine games in 2002, the Patriots didn’t qualify for the postseason and had no chance to defend their title. They returned with a vengeance the following two seasons, going 14-2 both years, defeating the Carolina Panthers 32-29 and the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. [8, 9]
Brady was excellent in both contests, throwing five touchdowns against just one interception. His performance against the Panthers was especially impressive with 354 yards passing and another game-winning drive capped by a Vinateri field goal in the final seconds. [10]
The victory against the Eagles was less dramatic, despite the final margin being just three points. The Patriots led 24-14 late into the fourth quarter, with the Eagles’ final score coming too late to mount any real comeback due to poor clock management by the Eagles coach, Andy Reid. [11]
Ending the “Drought”
It would be unfair to characterize the next nine years of Tom Brady’s career as disappointing. He reached the playoffs eight of those seasons, and the one year the Patriots didn’t qualify, was the season Brady missed due to injury. [12]
Brady and company appeared in two Super Bowls during those nine years, losing to the New York Giants both times including in 2007 when the Patriots entered the championship game undefeated in one of the best Super Bowls ever played.
Brady was named MVP of the league twice during the “drought” and made the Pro Bowl every year he was healthy. But it wasn’t until 2014 that Brady would finally get his fourth ring. Like every other Super Bowl he’d played in, the battle with the Seattle Seahawks was a nail-biter. Brady led a late drive to give the Patriots the lead, but it required a miraculous play by Malcom Butler to save the game.
Read more: HOW MANY SUPER BOWLS HAS TOM BRADY LOST?
The Best Ever to Do It
For the next two years, Brady was hounded by the “deflate-gate” scandal, an inquiry into whether Brady and the Patriots had tampered with footballs to gain an advantage. [13]
Brady, the Patriots, and the NFLPA filed appeals and grievances against the NFL in response to the investigation, but eventually, Brady served a four-game suspension at the start of the 2016 season. [14]
The 39-year-old Brady would get the last laugh though, winning title number five at the end of the 2016 season. In the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, Brady rallied from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit, including the game-winning touchdown pass to James White in overtime.
Read more: WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HATE TOM BRADY?
After so many dramatic victories and defeats, perhaps Brady and the Patriots were due for a boring Super Bowl. Brady’s sixth championship was a snoozefest, with the Patriots’ defense stifling the Rams’ offense. Brady didn’t need to do much, throwing for 262 yards and no touchdowns, but it was more than enough for a 13-3 victory. [15]
By 2020, Brady was defying all logic. He was 43 years old, but still playing at an MVP level, tossing 40 touchdowns. [16]
The only difference, was that now he was doing it for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With explosive weapons like Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and old friend Rob Gronkowski, Brady guided the Buccaneers back to the Super Bowl, taking on young phenom Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. [17]
But the much-anticipated battle between the two generational quarterbacks lacked drama, with the Bucs’ defense harassing Mahomes all night on the way to a 31-9 beating. [18]
Brady didn’t need to do much with his defense keeping the Chiefs in check, but he still tossed three touchdowns while throwing for 201 yards. [19]
Brady and the Buccaneers again reached the playoffs in 2022. Now 45 years old, could this be Brady’s last chance at ring number eight? If so, it will be a challenging road that will require the Bucs and Brady to win three games just to reach the Super Bowl. But after decades of dominance, the last thing I’m going to do is count out Tom Brady.
Read more: TOM BRADY DRAFT PICK: FROM 199TH SELECTION TO THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME.
References
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BradTo00.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201502010sea.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201702050atl.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201902030ram.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2001.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200202030nwe.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200402010car.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200502060nwe.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200402010car.htm
- https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/1/18/18185839/andy-reid-kansas-city-chiefs-clock-mismanagement-timeouts
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/
- https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/new-england-patriots/deflategate-timeline
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/2016.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201902030ram.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BradTo00.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BradTo00.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202102070tam.htm
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202102070tam.htm
