Brady's final numbers weren't that dazzling (27 of 51, 280 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and a pedestrian 57.6 rating), but when has Tom Brady ever been about the numbers? Tom Brady is about one thing, period.
He's about winning the game.
This was a long, tough afternoon for your New England Patriots, who had two leads: 3-0 and the final score. The rest of the day was a brutal struggle to keep from getting destroyed by a 14-2 team that had been 8-0 at home. But the Patriots had two big things going for them, the first being San Diego's peculiar self-destructive nature and the second being their battle-tested quarterback. In the three most crucial offensive situations of the afternoon, Tom Brady made the plays he had to make.
Ever heard that one before?
The first situation occurred late in the first half. The Chargers had just gone ahead, 14-3, with a four-play, 77-yard drive highlighted by a 58-yard screen pass and run by LaDainian Tomlinson that gave the home squad a first down at the New England 6. So the Patriots rather seriously needed a score before the half.
Ever heard that one before?
And, of course, they got one, with Brady completing passes of 17, 16, 9, 7, and finally 6 yards, a pass to the left rear corner of the end zone to the ever-improving Jabar Gaffney.
The second situation began with the Patriots taking over at their 37 after San Diego had gone in front by a 21-13 score with 8:35 remaining. The official record will show a 32-yard drive, but it was, in reality, a 63-yard drive, since it was broken in two once the Patriots emerged from a bizarre play in which Brady had thrown a fourth-down interception, only to get the ball back when Troy Brown, a.k.a. Mr. Reliable, stripped the ball from San Diego's Marlon McCree and Reche Caldwell recovered at the Chargers' 32. Brady got them to the end zone in five pass plays, and Kevin Faulk got them the needed 2-point conversion on a direct snap play featuring a superb left-to-right improvisation.
