Tom Brady has officially retired from the NFL. Have you heard?
The seven-time Super Bowl champion has written his final chapter, but the memories of Brady will live on forever. Thankfully for Eagles fans, Brady didn’t torment us as much as some teams. Though he still went 7-2 against Philadelphia in his career including the playoffs, the two victories the Eagles were able to snag over the GOAT will always be memorable.
Who could forget that one time the Chip Kelly led Eagles went into Foxborugh and upset the 10-1 Patriots. Two special teams touchdowns and a 99-yard pick-six by Malcolm Jenkins paved the way for one of the most unbelievable upsets in Eagles history. Yeah, that was pretty cool.
But you know what was even cooler? I know you know.
Remember when Nick Foles outgunned Brady on the biggest stage in professional sports to earn the first Super Bowl title in Eagles history? That happened. Crazy to think about it now, but it was an actual event in NFL history. And we were a part of it.
In honor of Brady’s legacy, Pro Football Focus ranked all of Brady’s Super Bowl performances from best to worst. In reality, Brady has never had a truly ‘bad’ Super Bowl performance. PFF ranked his first Super Bowl appearance against St. Louis as his worst, but he still won the game and orchestrated the first of many Super Bowl winning drives to bring that one home.
His best Super Bowl outing came against the Eagles, according to PFF. But it wasn’t his 505-yard showcase in Super Bowl 52, no, it was his first Super Bowl matchup with Philadelphia in 2005. You’d be hard pressed to find any pundit that cites Brady’s SB 39 performance as the best of his career, mostly because it wasn’t flashy. It was the slow, methodical, death by 1,000 papercuts type of Brady performance that makes you want to pull your hair out.
He went 23-for-33 for 236 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Brady averaged 2.38 seconds from snap to pass and his throws registered a 6.8-yard average depth of target. Under pressure, Brady posted a passer rating of 89.6. The vaunted Jim Johnson defense barely sniffed Brady during that game, registering zero hits on the quarterback.
Brady’s performance against the Eagles in Super Bowl 39 was really a quintessential Brady game. He took what the defense gave him all game and never put the ball in harm’s way.
His second-best Super Bowl performance, according to PFF, was also against the Eagles. His explosive SB 52 performance will go down as the best SB performance by the losing quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 505 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Under pressure, Brady completed 9 of 18 throws for 237 yards.
He only took one sack in the game, and it was a pretty big one.
The Australian call of this play is easily my favorite.
“Tom Brady, bereft on the turf!” That’s just awesome.
At the end of the day, even as a psychotic Eagles fan, it’s impossible to deny Brady’s greatness. It’s what makes the Eagles Super Bowl victory over him that much sweeter. His final Super Bowl loss came against the Birds, and his final playoff victory coincidentally also came against the Birds.
Knowing the Eagles hold a chapter in the legacy of Tom Brady is something we shouldn’t take for granted. Now, hopefully he comes out of retirement and joins the Eagles to help us win another Super Bowl.